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Too late for my axy

Melinda

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Hi there,

well this is my first post, and perhaps my last. My poor axalotl died this morning. Had him/her for over a year and all was fine, until last week, when it decided it didn't want to eat anything. Been feeding it pellets, which it would eat with no problems.

So when day 3 passed, and it refused to eat..but i read some where that sometimes axy's tend to go off their food for a few days...so i wasn't too worried right away, i also changed the water, even though the water still looked good. But i think the hollowed bridge statue that contained yucky algae inside it, may have caused it to get sick though? I didn't realised this, until i lifted the bridge statue up, and yuck came out of it. Mind you, i didn;t have this bridge statue very long in the tank either.

As the days went by, the axolotl started to appear boated, except it wasnt floating, but still sitting at the bottom and only seemed interested to swim up and gulp air. I then went to the pet shop, and they sudgested to change its feed, to entice it to eat. So i got meat for it. Again it didn't want it, and avoided the food.

Getting desperate, i check the internet, and came across this website looking at threads with bloating, and swellling etc.

By the end of the week, he was getting more bloated, and no he still wasnt floating. I noticed on his rear end, like a clear fluidy balloon like object pretuding out. I though it couldn't be eggs, because its by itself. On closer inspection i noticed this balloon had fine veins on it, and knew that it must be something internal from the axolotl. Poor thing. So i didn't want to pull it out. :confused:

In regards to the tank, yes i have gravel on the base. But how was i too know that this is a NO NO...when the pet shop people were the ones who gave it to me in the first place, when i purchased axy!!!.
So im thinking, it could be that he got blocked up with gravel?.

Now at the end of the week, i woke up and found poor axy still at the bottom of the tank, upside down. And dead. Im thinking of dissecting him, to get the answers.
Poor thing.:confused::confused::confused:

I guess my point of the post is, check if you have statues in the tanks and whether they suck water in it. I didn't realised with mine, as i though it was a solid bridge statue, but it had tiny holes in it, that sucked water, holding yucky algai in it!.
 

toxictart

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Hello sorry to hear about your loss:( i am pretty new to axolotl's however i know a little now, when you say you have gravel was it bigger then his/her head?, axolotl's tend to suck in any thing near food literally any thing smaller then their head will be sucked up and swallowed did you notice your axie passing any waste?, too me it sounds like impactation as you mentioned they where bloating quite a little the poor thing. When you brought the axolotl the pet shops do not know alot about them when i brought my 4 they gave me tiny bits of gravel to put with them however that is not the right substrate, meny pet shops just sell them as fish so i never really trust them when they say things such as gravel is sutible sorry for your loss it sounds like it ate a couple of pebbles i fringed my axie when he ate a couple witch does work hope your ok.
 

mifuneaxie

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Yeah it sounds like your axie got impaction to me too. Did you test your water at all? If you were worried about that algae in your tank you should of tested the water to help eliminate the causes that it could have been. There's nothing to do for impaction except wait it out or take a trip to the vet. Putting the axolotl in the fridge may have helped him into recovery though, but impaction can be very deadly. If you ever think of getting another one, make sure you read up. Axolotl.org is the best place to get that kind of information.

Sorry for your loss.
 

Melinda

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Hi,

thanks for the replies. Well i had a look see, ie dissected it. And all this yellowy fluid poured out. But straight away i could see that the lungs had yellow like cysts at various spots, almost like a cancerous thing. That would explain why he was gulping for air then, i guess. However, there was no gravel in the stomach though even though the gravel i had was small and could be easily swolled.
So I'm thinking he/she must have caught some sort of disease or something?

In regards to the tank, there was never any appearance of algae, as the water always seems to be clear enough. And also the filters were clean, and gravel itself. I believe it was the stupid bridge statue though, as it contained water inside it, and had black muck that came out of it, when i picked it up!, otherwise i would have never have known.

I guess thats a lesson learned. Be wary of tank deco's.
 
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lea

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hi melinda

im sorry for your loss.....have a look in axolotl sanctuary and see if your axie looks like the axie in the picture with a prolapse cloaca........you said is was like a bubble with veins on it coming out of your axie.....maybe this is...
lea
 
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