Help!

Hi again,

Some of you may have read my question about nitrite, ammonia and nitrate in the tanks forum.
If not, I'm a teacher and have an axolotl, Olive as a classroom pet and have one at home called Charlie. The tank at school has been set up between 4-8 weeks and I cannot get the nitrite/ ammonia/ nitrate under control.

I ended up taking Olive out of the tank at school and bringing her home to put in the tank with my other axle, Charlie. I did this because on Friday I noticed she floated on the top all day, not swimming around at all. I know sometimes Charlie likes to float in the plants, but not all day. So I was very worried as her gills are also still really shrunken looking.

So I put her in with Charlie, but Charlie was not happy with the situation at all. It really showed me what a bad way Olive is in though, when I could see her compared to Charlie. She looks a lot thinner all over, and even when she was on the bottom of the tank, the middle of her body seemed to be floating, as if she had to really try to 'sink'. Anyway, I thought her and Charlie had become accustomed to one another, but alas Charlie has now bitten a piece from the end of Olive's tail. Poor Olive I feel so horrible as I don't know how to help her.

When I saw what Charlie had done, I thought it would be best to fridge Olive.

So she is in the fridge at the moment.

I'm at a bit of a loss for what to do next though, I'm working on getting her tank's water parameters ok so I can return her to her tank, but any ideas why the floating? Is this an effect of the nitrite/nitrate in her water?

Thanks, Rachel

Hey Rachel,

I'm no expert and I'm new here but I can suggest you work on Olive's weight problem first. Feed her every second or third day so she can regain her lost weight and give her health a boost.

Keeping her fridged is a great idea especially after her tail incident. It should help with healing that tail of hers and lower her stress level.

At the school, where is she placed and is there any live plants in the tank? I'd suggest keeping her near the teacher's desk so the constant movement of the children doesnt spook her. Live plants tend to help keep the eco-system in the tank balanced and after they poop, try to clean it up quickly, it could be playing with the water's levels. How big is her tank at school?

I'm sure other awesome experts here will give you more advice and probably correct me as well if i'm wrong!

Viviane

Thanks Vivienne,

The classroom tank is about 2 ft, and in a quieter area of the classroom. I am feeding her every day at the moment, one or two earthworms a day. I have live plants in the tank as well.

Do you know how long it usually takes for a tail to heal? It's sort of 'forked' on the end, torn really rather than a piece bitten out.

Slime in the 'fridge' water?

Update:

I just changed the water over that she is in in the fridge. The water is all murky and it has little pieces of slime-like substance floating. It didn't seem like poo, as I could see that as well. When we fridged our other one for when she needed to pass some gravel, the water did not look like this. Could she have a fungal infection?

Hi Rachel,

You are off to a good start with your troubleshooting. Isolating the sick axie in the fridge is an excellent move.

If that axie has a constipation problem, the fridge will help facilitate defecation. If It has a bacterial infection, it would greatly slow down or even treat the infection.

Diet wise, earthworms are fantastic. If your axie still has a good appetite, offer more live earthworms or blackworms. They build up body condition fast and safely, ensuring optimum nutrition.

Could you post up some photos of the strange slimy substance?

Skin shedding and some fungal infections can resemble slimy floaty things so it would be a good idea to discern them.

Vivian offered some good advice as well.

Cheers.

white cloudy peeling

Thanks Rayson,

Unfortunately I had tipped that water already, and it hasn't been the same colour since (greenish). However now the floating bits are whitish-clear and it looks like skin shedding between her toes and the sides of her body look cloudy.

Her appetite is gone now as well, not interested in the earthworms at all.
Do you think this is a fungal infection?

Rach

Hi,

Could you post up any photos of the axie? Without taking a look, its quite hazardous a guess.

Hi Rayson, I have been having lots of problems with cameras etc, but everyday there is def white floating substance in the water, which def looks like shedding skin. Should I do a salt bath?
Should have photos tomorrow

axlotls are pretty much resistant creatures,floating around doesnt have to mean water is bad,maybe he is stressed out for nuber of other reasons,watch him and see what is problem,probably is something small

Don't do a salt bath for your axie unless you are SURE there is fungus present. Salt baths are uncomfortable for axies and should not be used unnecessarily.

Thanks guys, I know salt baths are stressful if they do not in fact have a fungal infection, which is why I haven't given her one yet, but it is hard to be definitely sure if she does. I know she is definitely shedding skin, as I can see it in the water everyday (I still have her fridged). So does this mean fungus or not necessarily?

Photos

Ok, so here are some photos, they are not the best.

You can probably see her shrunken gills, but probably not the whitish fuzz on the sides of her body. It is white around the little rip in her tail too. Do you think she is skinny? She definitely is in comparison to my healthy axie, Charlie.

Hi,

Definetely looks like fungus to me.

Is it on the gills?

And maybe you could borrow a better camera off a friend so we can get another look.

Thanks Drew,

Here are some more photos, a little bit clearer. It is white and cloudy down her sides and around her gills. I have also noticed that her "fin" down the middle of her back is very tiny compared to Charlie's. Don't know if this is normal or not.

In one of the photos you can see a bit of floaty white stuff which looks like skin to me.

smell

One more thing, I noticed the water smells a little bit too

photos

I think there is a problem with my connection to the site at the moment, it will not upload the photos. I will try again a bit later

Actually in my opinion, i think your axie has a bacterial or parasite problem more so than fungus. I would go with giving a course of broad spectrum antibiotics from the vets (amikacin + piperacillin) and try with once daily salt bath for 10min for 5 days. The salt baths are effective for treating parasites and also fungus if present.

photos

Thanks Rayson,
So would I bring the axie to the vet? or just try to get the antibiotic? I'm in Central Queensland and highly doubt vets around here would know about amphibians... Do I need to keep her in the fridge still or should I return her to the tank?

Salt bath

Also, sorry I know I have seen how to do salt baths somewhere on here, but can't find it now... ?

Hi,

Have a look at this list.

http://www.caudata.org/axolotl-sanctuary/vets.shtml

Top three things you can do to help.

1 - Offer plenty of live blackworms and chopped up earthworms. Feed small quantities daily if possible. Your axie is getting emaciated and you want to try maintain normal metabolism as much as possible.

2 - If you can keep your tank around 16-18 degree celsius with good water parameters , it might be better to leave your axie in the main tank so that it has the appeitite to regain strength. If you cannot keep the main tank stable temperature or parameters wise, it is better off in the fridge.

3 - Try 3 flat teaspoonsfuls of non iodised salt per litre of water. You can use tank water or fresh decholorinated water for this. Put your axie in a separate tub for the salt baths. Follow the frequency and duration as in my earlier post.

Regards