Illness/Sickness: Axie floating Bum Up

Hi all,
Just a quick post to ask a question. I have two axies (one albino, one wildtype) and the wildtype has been acting oddly the last few days. He’s been floating with his butt and tail up in the air and his belly seems somewhat swollen. I noticed the other day that his cloacal area seemed swollen also but after isolating him into a “hospital tank” I found he has done some poop and the area was not swollen any more. My concern now is that he is floating with his head down and butt in the air, and I’ve lowered the water so that it just covers him and put him in a small, cool, dark tank, but now he is sort of floating with two feet in the air (with one foot out of the water). He ate yesterday but just seemed to have gotten fatter overnight with only a little poo in the tank. He’s burping a bit too. Is it possible he is constipated/ has wind, and how do I fix this?
I did a water change of the big tank yesterday, and changed his water also. Parameters are normal, pH 7.1, ammonia 0, nitrite 0. Nitrate is high-ish but am managing that with water changes. Nothing else has changed to make him unwell, they have a chiller keeping the water at 18.5 degrees celcius.
I am getting concerned as it is the third day he has been behaving strangely and I am worried that his limbs are out of the water. What should I do?
Any help is appreciated!
PS I say "he" but I was sure until I saw the swollen area that "he" was a "she" and I am now sure "he" is a "she" once again.
Amira

could you post some pictures of him... is he on gravel??does he share his tank with anything other than another axie?? what is his normal diet??
sorry for the questions but it might help with finding out what is wrong with him.

Thanks for quick reply Lea. I can't post photos now as I am at work. The tank has only one other axie, not even live plants, and hasn't had anything added to it for at least a year. Her normal diet is a mix of worms, brine shrimp and axie pellets as well as occasionally some lamb heart and beef strips. All I could get her to eat the other day was some beef strips (about 3 thin pieces- about 5mm by 10mm, shaped like worms).
The tank has always been filled with very fine washed river sand.
Thanks again!

Hi Amiracle,

Is there anything that could be stressing your axie? Has he been gulping a lot of air from the top?
Also... I find that some axies like to eat sand, do you think yours could have?

I hope we can all figure out what's wrong!

Thanks for replying! Um about eating sand, I've never seen them do it to be honest, they might have, but it's so fine I can't imagine they'd be able to get a good bite on it and if they did I should think it would pass really quickly? My gut feeling is that she is constipated and has wind, I recall having a similar freak out years ago (they're about 8 years old!) but, I am also worried because of age and because of the weirdly swollen cloacal area which I'd never seen before. Plus it's day 3 now and still floating so my concern is skin damage from having part of her body out of the water for so long. Is the trade off to add more water and have her still floating, or to leave less water and have part of her body out of the water?

She's been gulping air, yes but no more than usual. The only thing that could be a problem is water quality, as I said I changed it the other day and everything was fine- but I changed it after the problem became apparent.

ok...you could put him in the fridge, that helps them to destress and pass anything that he has eaten. I would wait for someone with more expereince than me, but a fridge holiday might be the go. I hope he gets better soon...while your waiting for the experts to chime in it might pay to look for a vet that is in your area(just in case you need one). please keep us informed.

Thanks very much for the help! I have an awesome vet, it's just a huge travel and a huge expense to visit him I'm at friging stage, I think, you confirmed how I've been feeling, so that's fabulous, I just can't focus on ANYTHING except poor sick CoCo today

how big is the axie?
My axie used to do that when he was about 11 12 cm, and it passed by itself, he would go about with his butt pointing up for a few hours and then get back to normal...

abby gets red and swollen when he is about to go to the loo and then it goes when he is finished....hang in there....you are doing your best..

CoCo is HUGE...I've had her for 8 years and she is fully grown at almost a foot long, way past the 11-12cm stage I thought maybe she is bloated from wind from not eating often enough, while I was away she was being fed 1-2 times a week...I guess I'll pop her in the fridge, see if there are any poops coming out and just wait...fingers crossed for me please? I'm terribly attached to the ugly little thing!

A pic would definitely help, but I would do as lea suggests and fridge her for now. The fridge will help her de-stress and may help get her "moving" again - if the problem is not more serious. This could be an impaction issue or a prolapse - without pics, it is difficult to say which if either.

It should be noted that mammal flesh is very difficult for axolotls to digest. As she is advancing in age, I would be even more leery of feeding her these things even as treats.

You mention the water quality may be a problem, but you list your parameters as pretty normal in your first post. Is there some other reason you are doubting the quality? The accuracy of your tests?

Also, as large as you say she is, I wouldn't worry about sand ingestion. Sand tends to pose problems in tiny juveniles, not in big girls like the one you have!

Feeding her 1-2x a week is fine too by the way. Just as long as you don't notice her losing weight.

I would also suggest seeking a vet's advice (as lea also mentioned) if the area is as swollen and irritated as you describe. If it is a bad impaction or a prolapse, you will need a vet's assistance. Good luck and please keep us posted.
btw...there is no such thing as an ugly axie...

I know what you mean about mammal flesh, I'll have to be more conscious of what I feed her, but to be honest I was so desperate I think I'd have fed her my finger if she'd eat it!
Water quality I was concerned about only because I hadn't done a water change for some time, and because the nitrate levels were so high, but they always have been, I think it's something about Sydney water because I've had this problem constantly over the last 8 years regardless of how many water changes I am doing.

She's certainly not losing weight, she seems like she's gaining it! I was worried today that she was going to explode, she's so big right now I can't even close my hand around her belly.
My first thought was prolapse- but it was a kneee-jerk because it doesn't look like any prolapse pictures I've seen, plus the swelling has gone now, there was no redness, it just looked like she was trying to do a big poop, and the cloacal area was "open" with a brown thing coming out if that makes sense. She's pooped 3 times in 3 days now, so I feel it might be a lot of poop stuck in there!

She's a funny little thing, not at all ugly to me of course ;-)
if I notice no change after a day of fridging I will call my vet, I don't see being able to take her as a possibility until the weekend because I can't take an axie on the train!

I know you're not supposed to touch axies overmuch, but do you think gently rubbing her tummy might help?

Amira

i have heard of people doing it but i dont know anything about it....someone will be able to help im sure.

New pictures are attached

Hi Amira,

Amiracle said:

She's certainly not losing weight, she seems like she's gaining it! I was worried today that she was going to explode, she's so big right now I can't even close my hand around her belly.

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That doesn't sound good. I agree with the other posters, consulting a vet is the best move for CoCo.

Amiracle said:

if I notice no change after a day of fridging I will call my vet, I don't see being able to take her as a possibility until the weekend because I can't take an axie on the train!

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If you don't mind a suggestion...

I use a small esky (the size that is used to carry a six pack of canned drinks - about 6-8ish litres - you only need fill it to about 2 inchs or so - enough water to cover the axolotl) when transporting my axolotls long distances. Eskys are great as they keep the temperature fairly constant and keep the axie in a nice dark, sturdy, and safe environment. Even as large as your axie is, the esky should allow him or her to stretch out enough to be comfortable during the trip.

Anyone curious enough to ask "what's in the esky?", deserves what they get . Invite them to join Caudata.Org as I'm sure they'll fall as in love with axies as we have.

Amiracle said:

I know you're not supposed to touch axies overmuch, but do you think gently rubbing her tummy might help?

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I would leave this to the vet. Axolotls have very sensitive skin and are quite delicate everywhere else as well - you run the risk of damaging the axolotl, adding to his or her stress.

CoCo is in the fridge right now?

No she isn't in the fridge right now. What she has now started to do overnight is tilt sideways so she is floating on her side. She has developed a bigger bulge on one side of her body and her little arm and leg on that side of her body seems almost paralyzed- they're moving in sort of spastic little motions rather than agilely like the other side of her body. I am calling my vets today, the vet I used to take them to is now no longer practicing.

thats not good. I hope everything turns out ok for you and CoCo. It might pay to put her in the fridge until you can get her into see the vet, it will help her de-stress. Just put enough water(treated of course) to cover her and this will help her not to float. please keep us inform with how you both are going.
lea

Just wanted to thank everyone for their help. I took CoCo to the vet today, she had a massive internal infection (the vet said it could have been caused by anything, but likely because her systems were shutting down, food was not being processed inside her properly and caused an infection) and what appeared to be a tumor on one side of her body, so we had to have her euthanised. I waited with her and she went gently and quietly. Once again, thank you for your help and good wishes.

Amira