My leucistic axolotl is turning black?

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Zjo

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Hi,

I posted in november about my leucistic axolotl who was turning black.
There was nothing wrong someone said.

But now, my axolotl doesn't look healty. His eyes also covered with these black/green spots.
And his gils had shrunk.
I'll post some pictures:

November 2008:
1245147310-710.jpg


June 2009:

1245147943-880.jpg

1245147943-891.jpg

1245147943-892.jpg

1245147943-93.jpg

1245147943-914.jpg


He is still eating fine and his behaviour is also normal.
But I'm worried about this.

Does anyone knows what this is?

P.S. sorry for my bad english
 
His pigmentation is normal for an axolotl. He appears to be malnourished.

What does his diet consist of?

How often is he fed?

What are the results of water chemistry tests?

What temperature is his water?
 
Nice colours. I second SludgeMunkey of his weight - and his gills don't look great either (again, as SludgeMunkey says), check your water conditions mate. Cheers, Phil
 
Thanks,

What does his diet consist of?
Bloodworms and sometimes earthworms

How often is he fed?
every two days

What are the results of water chemistry tests?
Don't know how to do that

What temperature is his water?
22 C
 
Hi,

the black spots are quite normal, but your axie is looking a little bit thin. What and how often do you feed him? The shrinking gills are mostly indicated by bad water-conditions. What are the water-parameters (nitirte, nitrate) , temperature and how often do chnage the water?

-Tina-
 
Hi there,

Water is on the warm side (could explain the gills and weight) - you can get chemistry kits from your local pet/aquatics shops.

Seem to be feeding him regular enough - give him more earthworms, slugs and other bugs. Try him with some prawns every now and then - with maybe the occasional sinking fish pellet.

Cheers, Phil
 
Hi

I agree with the other posts. I really like the colour and am interseted to see if the colour change continues.
 
Increase the amount of earthworms in his diet, and feed him every day until he gets up to a better weight.
 
Thanks everyone.

I put my axolotl in new clean (cold) water and today I gave him two earth worms.
I'll feed him everyday now, I hope he's getting fatter soon.
 
Hi Zjo,

Any news or improvements?
 
There is news, bad news, my axolotl stopped eating since 3 days.
I fed him every day last 3 weeks (earthworms and bloodworms). And he didn't get fatter.
And now he has stopped. :(

Also it looks like he is blind. Because his eyes are also covered with this weird black spots.
He just floats and his gills are still realy short. I dont's know what to do, and I'm worried. :(
 
Hi Zjo,

I don't think any of the issues are realted to the colour change, Many leucistic axolotls experience colouration changes. I would say your issues relate almost entirely to water quality and temperature.

3 days without food whilst concerning is not a major issue for an axolotl they can go for 3 months without food. Why it has stopped eating could just be its full up, try some diet variations or live food to try and stimulate a feeding response.
 
The earthworms are alive.. but he ignores it. I'll try other food.

is it meaby a good idea to fridge him?
 
Fridging will help an axolotl destress and aid in recovery, Because the axolotls metabolism slows down so does the desire to eat, it is a good idea to offer food whilst fridged but many axolotls don't eat when fridged. Perhaps you could give it some fridge time maybe a week and then start trying as many different varieties of food as you can.
 
Hi Zjo!

It sounds like you are going through quite a lot with you axolotl at the moment. I'm afraid I cannot offer you any real advice as I am only learning about them myself. However, testing the water quality need not be difficult. I bought a kit at my local store. It was not as expensive as I thought it would be. You can spend a lot of money on them if you want, but a cheap kit should tell you what you need to know. When you test the water you are testing for the ph. level which should be about 7.5. And the other bits, like the ammonia, nitrate and nitrite want to be as low as possible. ie 0. It really is not too complicated. In the kit you get small testing strips which you swirl in the water a few times, remove from the water, then after 60 seconds you compare your test strip to the colour chart provided. It really is so easy.

Other than that, the only advice I want to give you is not to worry too much yourself. Okay your beloved axolotl may be having some problems, but it will be better off if you can deal with the problems calmly and with confidence. So take a deep breath. Read through everything that the other members have written (they are really good and know what they are talking about) and act on what you now know.

I wish you and your axolotl well.

Fiona x
 
Thanks for the help but yesterday morning I found Koe, the axolotl who I loved for two years, dead.
It was always a happy smiling axolotl, but the last weeks very ill. It was hard to see. I hope he is now in the axolotlheaven.
:(
 
I'm so sorry to hear that Zjo, I know you tried your best to make him well.
 
I am so sorry for your loss. I admire how you tried your best to look after your very loved axolotl 'Koe'.
 
Very sorry to hear about your loss, You have done an excellent job in trying to work out what was wrong and remedy it.
 
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