My axolotl is sick.....Please help

Hi all,
my axolotl is in trouble!He is wounded on his back left foot and also most of his nails are red. He also eats every 2 days, lives within 60 l of water and the water's temperature reaches 27 degrees.

Hi mpikis,

Indeed he is in trouble! You need to get the water temperature down now. It should not get warmer than 22°C for any length of time.

60 liters is also very little water. What are your water parameters? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate? The intake pipe of your filter looks like the filter needs to be cleaned, too.

Oh, and the rocks at the bottom of the tank are a danger as well; axolotls are bottom feeders and suck in everything that fits into their mouths. What goes in, however, does not necessarily come back out again. Instead, it stays in the digestive tract and causes blockages.

In addition to fixing up the tank, I suggest reading up at www.axolotl.org - particularly about housing and requirements.

Good luck to you,

-Eva

You also need to remove the gravel from your tank.

The foot doesn't look too bad, but with very high temperatures and possibly problems with your water quality you need to be keeping an eye on the injured foot in case of fungus setting in.
Perhaps put your axolotl in the fridge until you get the tank sorted out (temperature and removal of the gravel).

Thanks for the answers..I used to keep tanks with fishes for many years and its my first time I have an axolotl!i don't have test for water parameters!Its alone in the tank with a mopani wood java moos and ceratofilum!i have the lights for at least 8 hours on thats why my temeperature if high!water change the 30% every week!My filter is biologic with biologic materials in it Sponges, plastic bioballs, ceramic tubes!I think that the temperature is the thee cause.....You said to change the rocks?and to put what?sand?

Hi mpikis,

The wound on your axie's foot is getting gangrenous. The tissues are dying hence the darkenened, malformed appearance. The tips of the toes which are reddish are active sites of inflammation. Complications can set in, including secondary infections by fungus and bacteria.

At the high temperature the axie is kept in, the axie is also stressed and immunocompromised. It can no longer fight off the infections as easily. What i am afraid of is that wounds like that can in severe cases lead to bacterial septicaemia, in which a bacterial infection release bacterial toxins into the bloodstream. This is fatal.

I suggest what you do now is to fridge your axie immediately. Fridging your axie will destress it, boost its immune system and render harmful pathogens (both bacterial and fungal) less viable.

- Set your fridge to about 5 degree celsius.
- Put your axie in a container large enough to allow it to stretch its limbs and tail comfortably.
- Fill with fresh dechlorinated water enough to submerge it but not allowing it to float.
- Cover with a lid. You can use a perforated lid or netting to prevent it jumping out.
- Use a tea towel to cover it to keep the environment dark.
- Perform 100% water changes daily with clean dechlorinated water.
- You can pre prepare bottles of water in the fridge.
- Continue to offer a variety of nutritious food daily. Try live wriggly food like blackworms, bloodworms, earthworms. You can also try the usual pellet, offer treats of shrimp and fish etc. Otherwise you can also blend everything in a food processor and then roll the resultant mash into a pea sized ball to try offer your axie. Remove uneaten food within 20 min.

I would try fridging your axolotl for 2 weeks and continually monitor for improvement. Please update on the progress every couple of days. Meanwhile, this would buy you some time to work on rectifying your main tank and gather the necessary items.

You definitely need to invest in a colourimetric solution type test kit that at the very least, tests for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH. You should test your water at least once if not twice a week. You want to aim for 0 ammonia and nitrites and <60 nitrates. pH should ideally be neutral around 7. To keep the water parameters well within range, you would need to perform regular 20% water changes and siphon up detritus and uneaten food.

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cyclingEDK.shtml

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/waterquality.shtml

Secondly, as well adviced by the others, you have to keep the water temperature down, ideally around 16-18 degree celsius without excessive fluctuations. The best way to do is to invest in a chiller unit. However there are other ways to keep the temperature down. If your tank is in direct heat or light source, move it to somewhere shaded and cool. Use mesh netting tank lid rather than a full glass lid to increase evaporative cooling. You can try mounting small fans on the tank to further improve evaporative cooling. Take a look at the equipment in your tank, are you using a submersible type filter? Such filters can generate excessive heat. You might like to consider a mini external canister type filter or mounted waterfall type filter.

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cooling.shtml

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/filters.shtml

There is no necessity for 8 hours of aquarium lighting. Six hours of lighting per day will suffice. Try to coordinate your lighting period during the day time so that there is still a regularity in light hours. Reducing the hours of lighting will also prevent water from heating up.

You can keep your axie tank bare bottomed or use sand. Suitable types of sand include pool filter sand, freshwater aquarium sand or children play pit sand. Only an inch depth of sand is enough to prevent air pockets from forming.

Cheers

mpikis said:

Thanks for the answers..I used to keep tanks with fishes for many years and its my first time I have an axolotl!i don't have test for water parameters!Its alone in the tank with a mopani wood java moos and ceratofilum!i have the lights for at least 8 hours on thats why my temeperature if high!water change the 30% every week!My filter is biologic with biologic materials in it Sponges, plastic bioballs, ceramic tubes!I think that the temperature is the thee cause.....You said to change the rocks?and to put what?sand?

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Hi mpikis,

The only thing that axolotls have in common with fish is that they are aquatic. You will need places for them to hide - caves, tunnels, heavily planted areas, piles of rocks, whatever - most especially if you are lighting the tank for 8 hours a day. Axolotls normally live at the bottom of a cold lake - they like soft, fine substrate and cold, shady surroundings.

You can usually take a water sample to a pet store and they will test your water for free. That should at least give you an idea of what is happening with your water. Axolotls produce a lot of waste (ammonia) and if you have had aquaria before, you will be aware of "new tank syndrome" - this is extreme with axolotls. Again, they produce a lot of waste, mainly through their skin (so cleaning up poop is not enough to manage water quality).

The main thing now, I think, is the temperature. I assume your lights are on a tank cover. You will need to uncover the tank - maybe you can mount the lights to the wall above the tank, or hang lamps from the ceiling?

As to the injury, the axolotl will heal itself, as long as its environment is healthy.

Substrate: The best thing is sand (play sand like you put in a child's sandbox, or pool filter sand are inexpensive options - the stuff you buy at the pet shop is just overpriced!).

Your filter should be fine - any filter will do, really - I just mentioned it because the intake pipe looked like it needs a good brushing.

Please keep us updated, and good luck to you.

-Eva