Skin peeling - dietary problem?

My axolotl, Scoot loves liver, and i'm a soft touch so I always did give in to him (though I do make him eat lean beef and worms as well), but i recently noticed that his water was getting really cloudy quickly and on further investigation I noticed that skin was peeling off his body. He is still eating loads - he has a massive appetite, and seems quite happy and very responsive when I'm in the room. I figured it could be the liver as it has high concentrations of vitamin A which causes Ricketts? in humans which results in peeling skin. Needless to say I stopped feeding him liver immediately, but is there anything else I can do? Does it sound like it's the liver causing it? Any suggestions?

Hi Breony,

You mentioned the water is getting cloudy quickly - Scoot's problems may be water quality related.

Could you post your tank parameters? (Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate/PH and Temperature) also, what size is the tank?

When Scoot finishes eating, do you clean up the excess food?

How often do you clean the substrate? What type of substrate do you use? If the substrate is stones then excess food and faeces may be stockpiled beneath the gravel contributing to the cloudy water.

What sort of filter do you use? If an undergravel filter, the wastes that the filter captures stays in the tank and can cloud the water.

Cheers Jacq.

It sounds to me like a water quality problem, not a food quality problem. In the long run, liver isn't the best diet, you should try to use more worms and less meat/liver. In the immediate time frame, the cloudiness of the water is telling you something: it's probably a bacterial bloom, and that's what causing the skin to peel.

How much water to you remove from the tank, and how often? What is the tank size and filter type? How long has the tank been set up? Can you take a water sample to your pet shop for testing (as soon as possible!)?

Hi Breony,

Ricketts is caused by a calcium/Vitamin D deficiency. I'm with the other ladies, though, in suspecting the water as a culprit. Do test its levels ASAP, and you're sure to find (and fix) the problem.

-Eva

Hi,

Yeah, Ive been keeping a really close eye on things since his conditions deteriorated - reg testing of ph has seen it keep at 7, sometimes dropping to 6.9ish, but pretty regular. Nitrite has once gotten to 0.2ppm a couple weeks ago, but it is usually at 0. I clean his tank out once a week - it is a 30ltr tank, I do about 20%change and remove any solid debris from the bottom - he has really large gravel so I get in under it with a tube vacuum to make sure all the bits come away. He also has a filter attached to his tank - it isn't undergravel - it's one you attach to the glass near the top of the tank.
I stopped feeding him liver shortly before posting last time and now he just eats worms and really lean 'heart smart' beef. My big concern is the things he has started pooping out. I have another posting on regarding this, but I will attach the photo's here as well. I dont know what they are, and the vets and pet shop here think it's a parasite but can't do anything to help me... He has passed three of them so far, two in the last couple of days. They are around 2inches long (bigger than anything I feed him), flat and scary.
The trouble started after we introduced another ax into his tank. They didnt get along, Scoot bit her tail off, so they were separated. She started displaying the same signs, mucous, cloudy water, lethargy but I just put it down to her living quarters and the fact that half her tail was missing! She is rehoused and still alive, but I dont know any details.
What do you think? I'm going to take some more samples to another pet shop in Thornton tomorrow, but I am at my wits end.
Help...
B.

Sorry, these are the things which are popsted on my other thread.
Any idea???...
B.

Looks like partially undigested food. I would highly suggest to sticking strictly to worms, and cutting out all other meat. I would also test for ammonia, as this is a byproduct that shows up before nitrite does.

Hi!

Thanks for your feedback! I will switch him back to straight worms. Ive had progress actually - intestinal nematode! I travelled to a different pet shop in another city to get an expert opinion and they whipped out the microscope, so Ive got some medication to add to his water. Hopefully that will fix it all and my Scoot will be back to his self again.
Will let you know how I get on!

Best wishes,
Breony.

For axolotls fed a diet of earthworms, intestinal nematodes are completely normal. The nematodes are (usually) harmless ones that live in the guts of the worms and pass harmlessly through the axie's digestive tract. Parasitic nematodes do exist, but these are rare. Was the pet shop able to specifically distinguish these as parasitic? What medication is it (what ingredients does it have)? It's important to be sure it's safe for axies (I wouldn't trust a pet shop to know this).

Is the axie still having skin peeling issues? What about the cloudy water problem? Have you made any changes to the tank or cleaning routine? The photos you posted look like carpet fibers, but it's probably undigested meat.

I think the skin peeling off is from ammonia burns caused by the nematodes making the poo go like that, so hopefully clearing up the worms will clear up the skin too.