Question: Violent, erratic behavior

I just recieved three axolotl's from Kim's batch in Texas: A 5.5 inch leucistic, a 5 inch malanoid and a 3-inch golden albino. All three are siblings and were living in the same 29 gallon aquarium until I began to feel nervous about the smaller goldie living with the two larger, more agressive axies. Today I separated him into a 10-gallon tank with three hiding spots, 64 degree water temperature and dark lighting, and no mechanical filtration (just water changes) hoping it would give him some safety until he can grow enough to match the other two in size. 30% of the water in his tank is from the 29 gallon tank; the rest is dechlorinated hard tapwater. That being said, he goes between hiding in his cave to swimming around rapidly, twisting and turning and smashing into things. I've seen him twist and try to bite at his tail while doing this. Other times he sits calmly on the sand. I'm worried that he might injure himself. Any ideas?

I put him in the recommended salt bath for 15 minutes and some white, cloudy flecks appeared in the water. His gills are pink but have a frosty white coloration: fungus, maybe? The salt bath seems to have calmed him down and he's not trying to scratch his gills with his hind legs anymore, but now he's floating at the top of the water with his back arched... and now he's back on the substrate, looking fine. Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated.

You need a test kit so that you can determine the animals water Parameters. The new tank is not cycled. You'll need to do frequent water changes, the amount and frequency to be determined by Water Parameters and people on here who are smarter than I am.
Did any of the hides come from the old tank? Any live plants? Pictures?
What made you decide to do a salt bath (Kim's animals would not have had fungus) and what is the substrate?
Sorry for all of the questions... but we need more information.

To clarify, the other two animals are quite healthy. I'm not suspecting Kim of poor care for the critters; she's been great to deal with and I'm extremely happy with the three. I've had them for a week and a day, as of today, have been feeding them chopped up nightcrawlers and sinker pellets. I'm just concerned for Little Man. I suspected fungus because he's trying to claw at his gills with his hind feet, and he kept flapping his gills every few seconds. Also, as previously posted, some small feathery white particles appeared in the water during the initial salt bath, and he isn't flapping his gills anymore. Fungus seemed a strong possibility, though I've also read that it might be a roundworm. I haven't seen any evidence of a roundworm on Little Man, but I'll keep looking. Following the salt bath, he seemed to be quite passive, though he continues to occasionally go into fits of violent movement in which he continues to seem to want to claw his gills off. Trying another salt bath today. The pH is around 8, no ammonia or nitrite spikes yet (Little Man is showing little interest in food), the water is hard, he temperature is 64 degrees, all three hides are from the previous tank, the substrate is thoroughly washed play sand, as is that of the old tank. There are three live plants in the old tank: two sword plants and one moss ball.
As previously stated, he was given another salt bath and I observed some whitish crud coming up and away from his gills, and he seems less irritated. His gills are pink where they sprout from the stalks, but they are ragged and white further up. Hope that helps.

Having trouble uploading a picture.

I really wish I could provide some helping advice in this situation, but I havn't had any expereince with treating a sick axolotl.

Sorry,
Kim

Thanks Kim, I appreciate it. It's painful to watch him thrash around like he has been.

Usually gill flapping is a result of stress caused by poor water conditions (As far as I know). :happy: What are your parameters?

How is he now? Is he still thrashing? Thrashing can be a sign of an internal parasite. Something could have hitchhiked in on the plants.

If he is still having issues, keep up with the salt baths every 12 hours but I wouldn't keep him in any longer than 10 minutes at a time. At his size, the salt baths are extremely irritating and can begin "burning" off his "feathers."

The white that you mentioned on his gill, is it a part of his gill or does it appear to be a fluffy bit of cotton like substance?

Mac,
What parameters are you looking for outside of what's in my posts? I can't think of what you're asking for.
Shannon,
He's not thrashing anymore; at least he wasn't before I put him in the fridge last night. He's been calm since the first salt bath. I've kept up with the salt baths; thanks for the tip Shannon, I'll make sure to shorten the time he's in there. I don't know how "cottony" it looked, the white was more like short thread-like streamers hanging from the gillstalks. They seem to have disappeared, but he's fairly short on "feathers" now, possibly because 15 .minutes in the salt bath might have been too much, he may have successfully stripped them off with his hind feet, or whatever is agitating his gills may have eaten them up. He refused eating for the last four day, which is why I fridged him. I'm changing his water in about six hours and giving him another salt bath.

If you don't see any symptoms, then don't give him another bath. I would put him back in the tank once you acclimate him back to the proper temp and keep him under observation. Salt baths really are stressful to the little ones. Hopefully, once he gets back to room temp, he'll be hungry.

What are you trying to feed him? I have 2 of Kim's and they are really good eaters. Keeping him in the fridge can stunt his growth in addition to slowing his metabolism. Mine eat red wigglers, pellets, and frozen bloodworms. The wild has attempted a finger too, but so far, he has been unsuccessful in his attempts! lol

Were the other two really being aggressive towards him or were you just being cautious?

thetoastyturtle said:

Mac,
What parameters are you looking for outside of what's in my posts? I can't think of what you're asking for.

Click to expand...

Just the current ammonia and nitrite levels...plus nitrates. :happy:

I hope he'll get his appetite back. He hasn't eaten in four days and he's looking quite puny. I'll pull him out of the fridge tonight and see if I can get him to eat after he's adjusted. He's successfully eaten chopped up earthworms, though he shows no interest in the sinker pellets his larger siblings also will eat. As far as why I separated them; his head is small enough to fit inside the leucistic's mouth. Though they hadn't made any nips at eachother so far, any risk is too much risk for me. I'll reintroduce them when he's not half the size of his tank mates. Thank you very much, you've been very helpful. I'll keep you posted on how he's doing.

Here's a picture of Little Man prior to his refrigeration. His gills look very bare compared to the other two's. Also, having just checked on the refrigerated Little Man, I can see whitish crud on areas of his gills. Thoughts?

Hi,

Do you have or can you get a better pic? I'm seeing some white, but can't tell if that's just pigmentation or if there's something there. Has he taken anything for you? Try some frozen bloodworms if he hasn't taken anything else for you.

This is the best I've been able to do. My digital camera and his coloration are a pretty poor mix. There are some 40+ pictures of him I tried, and this is the best one. He ate the first 4-5 days I had him; eating pieces of earthworm and chunks of sinker pellet. He then began to chomp things and spit them out on the last day he tried eating; I figured he might just be full, since I feed them each day. I siphoned the leftovers out of the tank and waited for the next day and he showed no interest in food. A day later, he looks like he's having seizures and trying to scratch his gills off. It's been three days now since he was put in the separate tank. I'll try to get a clearer picture, but I'm not so sure what I can do.

Here are a few others pictures. In addition, here's a picture of Little Man the day he started acting crazy.

Update: He was removed from the refrigerator nine hours ago and has been placed in a newly cleaned tank. He is showing none of his previous symptoms (thrashing and scratching) but is refusing food. He hasn't eaten in quite a few days now. He snaps at the food I give him (both chopped earthworms and broken up sinker pellets) and gets them in his mouth, but then promptly spits them out.

Hopefully he'll regain his appetite when he's had a chance to acclimatise, glad he seems better :happy:

My axie also tries to scratch his left gills, only the left ones, he's always done that, since I got him and sometimes still does, he's left gills are almost missing, probably eaten by a tank mate at the pet shop where I got him

It's not fungus or anything visible at all, and since he's having this problem with his feet (bloody fingers and then fungus) I've been salt bathing him and he sometimes still tries to "scratch" his left gills, only the left ones... otherwise is quite normal, when he does that I put my hand on top of the tank and he stops and looks for food...

I hope he doesn't make a habit of it, though it doesn't seem like he is. I worry about him. All he's doing is staring at his reflection, occasionally swimming to the top to get a breath. I hope he's just sluggish from his fridge vacation and that he'll be sorted out when he comes around. The main concern is that he still won't eat a thing.

Indeed, I wouldn't worry too much about the scratching, it may be just a reaction, but as long as he eats he will be fine.
just keep trying to offer food... mine also gets scared of my getting him out of his tank for the salt baths and if I get too close to offer the earthworm he may retreat, but if I show it on the surface he comes at once.

Maybe you can try that? he could be stressed for all the movement and if he sees a big hand coming at him he may be scared to eat...

Also maybe reptomin floating pellets? you can leave them for a while floating and he can "hunt" for them without you being there, mine was raised on reptomin and he got used to eat on the surface, if the food falls to the bottom he doesn't even notice it (even when big wriggling earthworms have fallen right next to him!!)