Illness/Sickness: Very sick axolotl, urgent help please!!

Dear everyone,

Hello! I joined this board because I have a very sick axolotl, and I am at a loss as to what to do, any help would be really, really appreciated!

This is the details:
I brought my 4-5 inch axolotl home from college, and I think that the trip was really rough on him. Since he got home he wouldn't eat (for 4 days) and every day became more and more lethargic until I finally decided to fridge him.

So he's been in the fridge (distilled water all throughout since i was worried about my well water, its pretty hard) for three days --- I have been putting food in with him, but he hasn't been touching it. and is now super skinny (see attached pictures).

What should I do? I'm afraid if I take him out of the fridge his metabolism will pick up and he'll starve. Please help!

Thanks!

It could be the distilled water! Axolotls need certain ions in their water. They exchange them quite rapidly through their skin with the water they are in and they are vital for their metabolism, nervous system etc. etc.

Distilled water is completely devoid of any kind of ions whatsoever. I'm not a chemist but I do remember from my secondary school that if you have a concentration gradient it will try to even itself out, ie. your axolotl is a big bag of chemicals in a semi permeable membrane (its skin) and it is floating in a substance which is totally devoid of any chemicals at all then all the chemicals may welll try to even out between the inside of the axolotl and the water, leaving your axolotl horribly deficient.

edit - At the very least, even if the ions are not leaving the axolotl then there are no new ones coming in to replace them as they get used up which would still lead to a deficiency. You should also read the sections on housing and requirements in the website www.axolotl.org, in fact, read the whole website, but first you need to sort out the lack of any kind of water hardness. Water hardness is a vital axi requirement.


I would take it out of the distilled water quick and try dechlorinated tap water, bottled spring water or add Holtfreter's solution

Steve,

Thanks for the quick reply. Remember, though, that he was sick well before I started using distilled water. I'll replace the distilled water with proper water, but I don't think that will cure anything.

Anyone else have any suggestions as to encouraging an axolotl to eat?

Please help!

Thanks!!

Some axolotls tend to get stressed by a move / big change in environment and stop eating. When I first got my two a year and a half ago one of them refused to eat. Wouldn't even look twice at a big wriggly worm. That went on for about a couple of weeks then he came round and started eating.

[edit] - in the picture he looks a little bit skinny perhaps but is not exactly emaciated.

Axolotls can actually last for a few weeks with no food and are fine so no need to worry about not eating for 4 days and the lethargy you noticed might just be a symptom of stress.

Assuming your tank conditions are otherwise good I would return your axi to your tank to let him get acclimatised to his new home, that's not going to happen in the fridge. I would tempt him every day with something wriggly like a nice juicy live worm / nightcrawler and dangle it in front of his nose. Don't be disheartened if he doesn't accept it for several days to a week or so, he will probably come round eventually.

Keep your eyes open for signs of anything untoward like the cotton wool-like 'columnaris', mucus patches or a pronounced curl right at the very tip of its tail.

Steve,

Thanks so much for the advice, that sounds good, I'll get him acclimatized back to the tank tonight and let him relax overnight.

Up to this point I've been giving him frozen/freeze-dried brine shrimp and sinking pellets, since this is what he was raised on. Should I still try to get a worm and feed him that?

Thanks again!

I'd try to find some earthworms, or fishing worms. I've been feeding mine frozen bloodworms and troutworms and they are definately more prone to eat something that is moving. If I put a wriggling troutworm in the tank both my larvae and juvenile are more likely to find it immediatly and eat it the second they find it. Just so you know freeze dried anything is not the best food for just about any aquatic animal. I'd at least stick to frozen bloodworms until they are big enough to eat actual worms.

Thanks everyone for your help!

I put him back in the tank, half distilled half spring water, and he ate a live waxworm about the size of his stomach two days ago.

His gills are still angled forward though! I've turned the filter off to make sure it wasn't the current but they are still angled forward, and I'm not sure why. Maybe he's still recovering?

When they're young, the gills seem to angle forward more often than they do when they're older. Also, some individuals just have further forward-facing gills. Don't use this as your sole symptom.

Eating is a good sign. How much current does your filter cause? Do you have any plants that sway in the current? You can use these as a gauge for how much the water is moving.

He just ate a pellet, so he is eating non-live foods as well. :happy:

The current is not too much anymore I dont think--I filled the tank almost to the top so splashing and current is minimized.

Thanks so much for your help everyone!

I'm glad he's eating! I'm a college owner, too! A possible explanation for him not eating in the fridge it that their metabolism DOES slow down in the cold. My baby always gets fussy when we have to move, and he'll refuse to eat for a couple of days as well. If you have any issues with feeding, really try nightcrawlers or trout worms. Wax worms aren't very good for them for nutrients. Bait shops (even walmart) have little bowls of worms that you can buy. They're always healthier for the axolotls alive an unfrozen, and it's much more fun to watch them eat the worms anyway. How old is your guy?