My big boy is sick

My 13mth old Axolotl is not well, He was fine last night today well his gills are all black and just after lunch I checked on him to see he had blood coming from his gills he is off his food.
I have moved him out of the big tank and have him in a cool area
Not sure what is wrong with him.
I looked to see if it was fungal but no fluffy/webby look at all.

Any ideas what it could be??????

Thank you
Kylie

This pic shows the black gills

Hi kylie. What are your tanks ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings? Water temp? What size tank does he have and what substrate is he on. This info might help. But i'm Not sure whats happening to him. i would seek out advice from a vet to be honest. Good luck. Mel

Hi, I am not sure on levels need to buy a test kit. Water is cool the thing I put him in for now has a ice pack around it, My fridge is way to cold even my veggies have ice so didn't want to put him there. He has been feed beef, blood worms and ox heart.
He is moving more today he did go for food last night and spat it out. He had a poo and add little stones so when he goes in his new tank no stones will be in there.
I rang a Fish lady she said maybe stressed and he may turn into a land critter. Not sure on that.
I could see him being stressed as I moved his cave out as he was to big for it and was getting stuck.
Might ring the vet when they open.

Thank you

An axolotl morphing only occurs when the water they live in is unsuitable and there is no other option, but usually results in the animals death. However, this is very rare, so I don't think that is the case. The diet you have him on currently is not suitable. Beef and ox heart should be used very very rarely, and bloodworms only occasionally as a treat. Earthworms should be the main diet. Also, what size were the stones? And was gravel used as his old substrate? Accidentally swallowing these stones can cause serious illnesses.

Shizeric said:

An axolotl morphing only occurs when the water they live in is unsuitable and there is no other option, but usually results in the animals death. However, this is very rare, so I don't think that is the case. The diet you have him on currently is not suitable. Beef and ox heart should be used very very rarely, and blood worms only occasionally as a treat. Earthworms should be the main diet. Also, what size were the stones? And was gravel used as his old substrate? Accidentally swallowing these stones can cause serious illnesses.

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Thanks heaps
The pet shop didn't tell me that. He gets worms (I thought they were blood worms :blush: ) from the garden in the morning my little one loves going out and digging for them But I have been slack with letting her dig as the ground is so dry. The worn farm looks sad as even that is dry. So been feeding the others. Roll on the wet weather

What stones are best? 2 different shops told me 2 different things 1 said stones close to sand and another said bigger stone are better.

What would be best to feed the babies? The lady I got them from said ox heart

Thanks again

I doubt you are finding bloodworms in your garden...give bloodworms a search on google...they are aquatic worms. Either a bare bottom tank or sand is best. Regular old play sand is a great substrate..and you'll find plenty of info about that on this site. If you can get your hands on bloodworms (live or frozen) would be fine for babies...depending on their size.

His Gills fell off. He is still swimming around

hanni plus 2 said:

Thanks heaps
The pet shop didn't tell me that. He gets worms (I thought they were blood worms :blush: ) from the garden in the morning my little one loves going out and digging for them But I have been slack with letting her dig as the ground is so dry. The worn farm looks sad as even that is dry. So been feeding the others. Roll on the wet weather

What stones are best? 2 different shops told me 2 different things 1 said stones close to sand and another said bigger stone are better.

What would be best to feed the babies? The lady I got them from said ox heart

Thanks again

Click to expand...

As shizeric said, bloodworms are aquatic, they're not actually worms, but instead are a form of midge/sangfly/gnat larvae. What we find in the ground here in NZ are mainly European worms that the yanks call Nightcrawlers. Most of our NZ Native worms are forest floor dwellers and don't like living in lawns and paddocks.

The shops were both right in different ways, the axies need either sand or small gravel small enough to go right through the digestive system and out the far end without blocking it up, or so big that the axies can't fit it in their mouths, let alone swallow. Normal fish sized gravel or glass pebbles are in the danger zone they can swallow, but not pass.

How big are your babies? garden worms are good, I feed mine whatever comes to hand check out the "Varied diet" thread for a partial list

Oh yeah, gills falling off is often water contamination, that much less surface area of permeable skin to absorb the poisons.

take a bottle of tank water to a pet shop and ask them to test it with the test kits they use on their shop tanks. Cheaper in the short run than buying a kit. I bet the water is bad.