White spot, skinny non active wont eat axolotis

Help!!! I have a grey axolotis. He was fine have had him for 4 mths now he has gone all skinny and sits at the bottom of the tank with his mouth wide open. I thought he was dead but he is alive he has white spots on his wole body. The pet shop gave me some medicene to put in the tank over 3 days for the white spot but they were not really that helpful. I have a light and a filter on my tank some rea plants and some pebbles and a bit of gravel but thinkin of removin the gravel. He has nt eaten for 1 week and just isnt active at all. Very worried. I feed him axol pellets and he seems to like them. Please help my little boy will be so upset if something happens to him....Mel

hi mel
can you post a picture of your axie and the tank set up please. Does the white spots look like cotton wool??? what are your water parameters?(ammonia, nitrate and nitrite) Waht is the water temp?
Please remove the gravel and anything smaller than his head he could eat and it might get stuck and course all sorts of trouble for your axie....
lea

If you have carbon in the filter that will pull the medicine right out of the water. Make sure you have this out for the duration of the treatment if you are medicating...

When did you first notice him starting to become skinny?
What medicine did the fish shop man give to you? Can you see what the ingredients are?
Is there anything else living in your tank along with your axie? Have you added anything new?
Can you describe the white spots in any more detail, are they smooth? Do they have any kind of visible texture to them?
And las Leanne said, have you tested your water parameters and you absolutely definitely should remove the gravel right now. When did you last change your water and siphon/hoover out debris etc?
A spell in the fridge might be advisable except your axolotl is very thin.

Sorry about the double post but I'm quite worried about the medicine the fish shop man gave to you. Can you check the ingredients against this list here - Axolotls - Health & Diseases
there is a good chance the medicine you have been using is inappropriate and poisonous, especially if it is intended for treating fish with white-spot. If it contains anything like malachite green or any of those other ingredients you should take your axie out of that water and put it in fresh dechlorinated water and give it intensive care by fridging.

The spots do sound like an advanced infection see http://www.axolotl.org/health.htm#bacterial
and it sounds like your axie is critically ill.

The usual recommended treatment for white spots etc. on axies is salt baths and it may be advisable to try that but be warned they do also cause some skin damage and to gills etc. as well as helping to cure the infection. As your axie is in poor condition now it may be too weak to cope, but then again inaction here will also lead to great harm and potentially death.

I think if I had this I would try salt baths and fridging but I would be prepared for the worst.

Two more questions - can you read the ingredients / protein to fat ratio of the pellets? Have you ever tried live foods such as earthworms?

Hi everyone the medicene the pet shop gave me is called ichonex and it has malachite green in it.What should I do???? the pellets contain 48% protein 9% fat. Im not good at posting photos and havent checked water temp. When u say fridging what exactley do I do. He is barely breathing and still has his mth open. When I turn the filter off he moves a LITTle not much but more than he does with it on. I have given him this medicen for two days tomorrow is the last day do I take him out now and FRIDge him?

He's very very very poorly and in addition to the infection he has been poisoned. I will have a look on here for anything relating to malachite green which might help you.

For now, get some totally fresh water, dechlorinated, or some spring water. Put it in a tub which is large enough to fit in your fridge and fill the tub so that it is about as deep as your axolotl. Use something like a large tub or net to carefully take your axolotl out of the tank, avoid touching it yourself but don't let it get stressed as this might be enough to finish it off. Put it in the tub with the clean water in and place it in the fridge. Don't let any of the water from the tank into the tub you will use to fridge your axolotl as this water is now contaminated. Cover the tub once it's in the fridge with a tea towel to keep it dark as you open and close the fridge door.

You should check the water temperature in the tub after an hour or so, if the temp is less than 5 degrees C you will need to turn up your fridge thermostat slightly.

I'm guessing the man at the shop you got your axolotl from has given you some really bad advice on how to take care of it.

See this for more information on fridging - Axolotl Sanctuary

yes I am going to take this medicene back 14.95 it cost!!! I have now put him in the fridge and all I can do is wait and see. There was nothing else with him in the tank and no I havent fed him anything else except the pellets which he loved. Should I put pellets in his container while he is in the fridge? What about salt baths I keep reading about. I personally think he is too weak to do that. He got so skinny so fast.The white spots are like someone has spilt drops of paint on him. Nothing furry. i did see him do a poo though. thanks everyone this is a great forum. Petshops they know nothing

I'm sorry I cant really find anything useful on how to treat a poisoned axolotl. Every reference I've found to malachite green being used on an axolotl has led to it's death. So, again, I'm really sorry but you must prepare yourself for this outcome.

I suggest you continue fridging your axolotl. Keep a bottle of water in the fridge as well so that every day you can change the water with fresh water which is at exactly the same temperature.

For the future - the make-up of those pellets you were sold sounds inappropriate. If your axolotl recovers or if you get another then this forum is the best source of advice on looking after them and this website is absolutely required reading first : Axolotls: The Fascinating Mexican Axolotl and the Tiger Salamander

Wishing you the best of luck.

Thanks so much for all your help.ounds like I will need amiracle for axel to pull through. Should I go back to petshop and get money back or something done about what they have done to me in terms of what they sold me and there advice

Question for any chemists out there - "[...]. You should be aware that KMnO4 inactivates formalin and malachite green; " from The Skeptical Aquarist

Could potassium permanganate be used to treat an axolotl poisoned by malachite green?

I think I've completely nuked my daily post quota today - the dangers of having a day off work. Nevermind.

Couple (actually several) of points,
1) Don't try anything in relation to using potassium permanganate as in my post above, in itself it's also toxic. I was wondering if anyone with the right knowledge could suggest a way that it could possibly be used as a treatment or just simply tell us that it's a definite no-go.
2) As your axolotl is now in the fridge - you should work on decontaminating your tank. I would recommend changing all of the water, siphon it all out and replace all of it with fresh dechlorinated water. And then over the next week or so do some very large water changes for good measure. You might be able to avoid the need to re-cycle your tank if you happen to own any fish who could live in there temporarily in order to keep the cycle going. That way your tank will be ready for Axel to go back in if he recovers or if the worst happens and you decide to start again with another one then you will have a tank ready to receive it.
3) At the very least I would try to educate the fish shop owner who sold you the axolotl, the pellets and the 'ichex' (or whatever it was called)
4) You should try to determine what caused the infection in the first place. How big is your tank? What temperature is the water? Do you have a water parameter testing kit? They are expensive but an infinitely better investment than bad medicine. Bad water chemistry could have allowed the infection to take hold and a water testing kit will allow you to monitor what's going on in your tank. I'm quite suspicious of the pellets you have been using, malnutrition may have caused your axolotl to become ill.
5) It's a shame you had such awful advice for looking after Axel, if he doesn't make it I personally would highly recommend starting again after you have thoroughly researched on here and on the www.axolotl.org website.

how is he today??? You could put a earthworm in the fridge with him and he might have a nibble when noone is looking.

yes he looks ok still not the best he has done a poo. i put a pellet in for him but he hasnt touched it. I am going to change water every day is that right? When u say earth worm is that mean go out to the garden and dig up a worm or do I go buy them from somewhere. I went into pet shop and she gave me my money back without me even asking. I told her about my research on this site aboout the toxic ingrediant and she said that they deal with bredders of axies and she didnt apologise or really seem to care. I tiold her I was fridging she said what is fridging???? I couldnt beleive she had never heard of that and she is the owner I wrote down the website etc for her but she was not interested. I walked out feeling very disheartened about her owning a petshop(one of two in our town) and giving people wrong advice. anyway will keep u updated thanks again so much for your always fast response.keep in touch

he is barely moving. Thought he was dead but poked him a little and he moved around. Ahhhh