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Sick axi that wont eat, she has lost weight and has fluff.

cshan

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Hiya

um first off sorry if this has already been put up already, if so can you send em to the link or thread.

like the title says Oreo (brown one?) wont eat at all, pellets, went off ox heart, tried an earthworm and gave up, frozen bloodworms my dad refuses to use.

she stares at the food and leaves and i cant leave the earthworms or else they go into the gravel and stay there which then i spend ages look for it.

i can literally see her thigh bones? she has lost so much weight and to top it off she has white fluffy stuff on her gills. she occasionally gets white peeling sick but that comes and goes. the ph is fine and my dad told me the other stuff is as well.

she has a fatty friend called pokeball but that one seems fine and just roams around but im worried about her gills as well since they all scrawny.

I'm really sorry for the little amount of info but these guys just got dumped on me when my family got bored with them.

I am really lost and i dont want oreo to die :(
 

Crysta

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firstly, you shouldn't be using gravel, one common things with impaction is that an axolotl will refuse to eat - which is more than likely why your oreo wont, she's probably impacted. you'll need to put her in the fridge (to help her poop out the gravel) while you get rid of the gravel in the tank Here is a how to on fridging.

secondly, the white fluffy stuff is fungus - she'll need salt baths to remedy this. here is an article on that

again about gravel, it's most likely that your water quality is not good, what with food disappearing under it. it will need to go, if you wish your axolotls a happy, full life - here is an article on substrate


Just so you know, ox heart is no good for them, on food Here is a good list, of what's suitable - and not it's a very easy guide with pros and cons.

pokeball is most likely ill also, if there's fungus in the tank. Water quality is closely related to the size and condition of axolotl gills - again, it's most likely bad.


All in all i suggest you give Axolotl.Org a very good and thorough read. try looking through pictures of ill axolotls also, and see if you can relate anything in those, to your axies.

Substrate - the most commonly loved substrate is sand - worms won't dig under it - everything just sits ontop - including the gunk you will find under your gravel. the same goes for tile, and barebottomed tanks.

In my opinion Oreo is impacted, and will need to be fridged - this won't harm her, and it will greatly reduce the stress that she most likely has (what with being ill) your pokeball will need to be seperated from her (to reduce the risk of him getting ill also) and is probably stressed himself, if the conditions in the tank are the reason oreo is ill, and it wouldn't hurt to put him in the fridge too. the best course of action right now is to clear their tank of gravel (while they're having a holiday in the fridge) and completely re-cycle the tank. don't put the axies back in there until you're perfectly sure they're well again.

You will most likely find that some gravel keeps 'appearing' in with oreo, and possibly pokeball too, better out than in. with salt baths fungus generally clears up very well fairly quickly.


if you can be any clearer - ie pictures of your axolotls and their tank set up. we oculd probably provide more accurate help.

all the best for them.

___

Sorry if I sound patronising, but gravel is un-suitable, inappropriate and potentially lethal. for axolotls
 
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lea

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hi
earthworms are the best food for axies so keep trying.....i feed mine bloodworms and pellets( they wont eat earthworms) in a feeding jar so they dont go all over the tank. Why wont your dad use bloodworms???
The gill problem sounds like it is your water....can you do a 20% water change and then test ammonia, nitrate and nitrites again...if there is still ammonia after you test it you could do another water change.
the fluffy bits sounds like fungus.....you will need to do a salt bath.....2 teaspoons of salt per litre of water and do this morning and night(12 hours apart).
You will have to put oreo and maybe pokeball in the fridge until he is showing signs of improvement.
How big in the tank you have them in???

sorry for the long reply
lea

Sorry cloudy I must ve been posting at the same time.
 
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cshan

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ok ill try and get rid fo the gravel. on the food i have a bucket of earthworms for them, got into troubel for that one.

heres some pics to show you what i mean.

thanks for all the advice by the way.
 

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Jacquie

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Hi there.

I'm sorry. Oreo is in a very bad way. He is terribly thin, and if he gets too thin (looks like he is at this point already...I'm so sorry), he won't have the energy to eat, and will likely die of starvation.

I can't see any fungus, and believe salt baths will further stress him - please don't salt bath him.

If you can, I would move him into a container (a bucket, Tupperware container, ice-cream tub, etc) of fresh dechlorinated water, and keep him on his own somewhere cool and dark. The still, fresh, and cool water will hopefully stimulate him to feed and eat in peace (the other axolotl is likely stealing or beating him to the food). He needs to be able to eat, and he needs a hell of a lot of help in order to eat...a still and quiet environment would be most ideal, as it would help you monitor his intakes and outtakes (food and waste).

While being housed in a tub, he will need his water changed each day.

You may need to "mush" the food down for Oreo (including worms), to help get some food down him.

As Crysta and Lea have advised, please remove the gravel from Pokeball's tank, and keep an eye on the tank parameters. Water quality is most important for an axolotl's health and well being.

If you cannot keep Oreo in a separate container (for whatever reason), I would suggest a tank divider, and keep Oreo in the quietest section of the tank.

Are you able to take Oreo to a vet? Here is a list of Australian Herp Vets who may be able to help you: Herp Vets in Australia. If you are in Melbourne, I would be happy to PM you the details of the vet who treated one of my axolotls for inappetance due to a bacterial infection. That axolotl is now thriving. Sadly, not many vets in Australia have much experience (if any) of treating axolotls. You may need to do some ringing around.

Please keep us posted, and don't be afraid to ask any questions.

All the best, Jacq.
 

melfly

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Oh no poor little guy. The pictures nearly made me cry!

Please please please follow the advice above, I hope your little guy recovers!

Mel
 

cshan

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iv removed the gravel and bought a 2Ltr contain u know the clip ones. my however said that there wont be enough air in there for her and how do i much up the food?
cause they wont use anythign again iv used for the animals in the house.
um i think iv spoiled them cause they wont hunt anymore cause i was worried about oreo when we first got her so i hand fed them so they will only eat if the tweezers or my hand is in the tank.

even though pokeball will sit on my hand while im feeding oreo, oreo has always been a fussy eater and never got the hang of swallowing worms.

im not sure i can get a vet here im in sydney. the family has just gone and said if she dies she dies.( it hink she is a she)

i got into trouble for getting the earthworms cos they think its a waste of money and had fights to get my brothers (now mine) rat to the vet.

so anythign that i can do at home ill give it my all.
 

zoezakella

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OMG :( poor Oreo I wish you the best of luck as he/she really is in bad shape, I hope you can get him/her to eat, all the best x
 

cshan

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i know this might sound horrible but can I force feed her? i know its a last resort but she just walks away from any food
 

Jacquie

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i know this might sound horrible but can I force feed her? i know its a last resort but she just walks away from any food

One of our members very kindly put together this guide for force feeding an axolotl: http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...olotl/70199-how-force-feed-adult-axolotl.html

Please read through the article very carefully before you begin to force feed, and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Wishing you and Oreo all the very best.

Please keep us posted.
 

cshan

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Thank you very much everyone for all the advice and the support but i guess i was a little bit too late in asking for help and she kind of died but ill use everything that youve told me to keep pokeball happy and if i get a new one then ill make sure this never happens again.

thank you so much.
 

mewsie

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Oh man, poor little Oreo. Those photos really cut me up.

Take very good care of Pokeball, you've been given some great advice above and it applies to her too :)

I know it can be difficult when your family holds a different opinion, but there is years and years of experience on here with axolotls and Pokeball is relying on you now to keep her a happy, healthy axolotl. I think it's great you have taken over her care.

Best of luck, and keep asking questions if you need to. I'm new at this too!

x
 

Crysta

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Sounds like you, dad is it? shouldn't be giving you advice about axolotls at all. if they think earthworms are a waste of money they they need to tape their mouth shut.

Your family sound like they don't care at all about the axies. and quite frankly also seem to be full of s**t.

sorry about oreo :( I hope pokeball gets nice and fat, and lives long.
 

lea

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im so sorry to hear about oreo....you tried. Like others have said you still have one axie that is counting on you to keep her happy and healthy. Now is time to hit the caudata site and do some research before you get a new friend for Pokeball.
lea
 

cshan

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Um hi again, sorry if im not allowed ot post on this anymore, if not you can slap my wrist and ill do the right thing, but pokeball has just lost 1/3 of her weight and i can see little hip bones again (slightly).

she is eating she ate 3 earthworms yesturday and when i saw her weight lost i ran off and got 2 more. she snatched the one from me and she is hunting the other but im really dumbfounded now.

i think it might be the filter that we have so my dad has been looking for a new one, to be honest i dont think we have been using the right filter form the beginning and just found out that the tank has a wide reputation of being a fish killer from three different places.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi, um some might know about oreo that refused to eat that had a tank mate called pokeball.

pokeball eats all her food like 2 earthworms every 2 days but even though she shows he eagerness on munching the worms she is losing weight, i can see hip bones again :(.

i have a new filter that has made the water like mega clear which im happy with and am gonna try cool the water it says its 27 c :S.


but i was wondering is there a possibility that she can get worms that stopping her form gaining weight. i need to find the remedy soon cause i have been told that she will not suffer and if she stops eating they're gonna chop her head off.

so PLEASE! help.

thx
 
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Bellabelloo

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I am sorry that you are having such an awful time with your little axolotl. If it is eating daily, this may be good. It may take some time for it to rebuild its lost weight. Would you be able to may be offer a worm twice a day ?
Unfortunately ,with the tank temperature being so high, this may not help with him getting better. Is there anywhere cooler you can place him?
 

cshan

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whoooo, she's back to normal and gaining weight like mad. thanks for all the advice, my little baby is proving everyone wrong ahahahaha (sorry really happy)
 
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