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Patchy Axolotl

AjaMich

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Hi Forum,

I recently acquired two adult axolotls. They were donated to me by a local museum. Unfortunately, they were not provided proper care. One (a female i think) looks pretty terrible. She is missing all of her gills, is patchy, and at some point suffered a broken leg (i think) that set and healed in the wrong direction.

But she has a great appetite.

She is covered in patches of varying pigmentation. Some are red, some orange, one is pale yellow, but most are golden. Is this normal, and if not, can anyone provide a hypothesis as to what they are?

At the museum she and her tank mate were fed three adult crickets, twice weekly. These are my first axolotls and that does not seem like enough food. I am feeding them salamander kibble, beef heart, and blood worms.

They told me her tank mate (a male i think) bullied her some what, and the day i picked them up, had actually bitten off the end of her tail. A piece was hanging and eventually fell off. I haven't seen them squabble at all, except once when they were both going for the same piece of kibble.

They were contained in a thirty gallon tank, on a gravel/marble combination substrate which i removed the day i brought them home. Also, i know the water flow was quick and noisy; the tank was filtered with a thirty gallon fish filter that poured water like a waterfall. They had no hides. I know that this filter isn't going to cut it and i've already picked out a replacement (Zoo Med 501 Turtle clean). I have provided them with hides and have changed the water completely through a transition over several days.

There is an aquatic plant in their tank; i don't know the species.

I have them in filtered 63 degree Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius) water. The tank is full so the filter is now very quiet.

We are about to complete a three day penicillin treatment recommended to me by a local retailer.
 

AjaMich

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Here are some pictures:
 

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AjaMich

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And some more:

Also, both axolotls have black residue on their gills. I think it might be fungal.
 

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dragongirl413

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Sounds like you're providing a nice new home for them :) That poor girl does look pretty worse for wear, I don't know what those patches could be about... Do you have a water testing kit yet? Keeping tabs on ammonia, etc. levels might help you on her road to recovery. That's some pretty serious gill loss, maybe the other nibbled on her because of lack of food? Generally axies about the same size don't pick on each other that harshly. Switching to a lower current filter will probably be very good for them. As far as diet goes, sounds like what you are choosing to feed is pretty good, however, if there are earthworms/nightcrawlers available in your area, you might want to consider using those as a main staple and the pellets to supplement. I don't personally use bloodworms, but they seem to be pretty high in nutrition, too. Animal organ meat is generally discouraged as a staple. Anyway, someone more well-versed than myself should come along soon, congrats on your new pair!
 

AjaMich

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Yes i have a testing kit. I haven't started tabs because they're in completely new water but i definitely will. And i've been looking for a place to purchase earthworms/nightcrawlers. I should be able to pick some up at a feed store.

And thanks! i'm happy i have them. : ] I've had them for a week so far.
 

AjaMich

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So my female axolotl passed away.

She was floating fairly often when I got her and after the penicillin treatment, stopped for the most part However, she began floating again and even more often than she was prior to the treatment. Before I could even attempt to medicate her she stopped eating and passed away on Sunday.

My male started acting strangely, but not in a manner that lead me to believe he was ill. Honestly, not to anthropomorphize, but he actually seemed confused or maybe kind of sad. He's acting normally now. The recent cold front has translated to tank temperatures of 55 to 62 degrees Fahrenheit and his pH is between 7.0 and 7.5, so I think he's been especially comfortable.
 

kuphie

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Sorry to hear she didn't make it. You gave it your best. She was pretty far gone by the look of things.
 

mewsie

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Oh, that's really sad. At least you gave her a chance, Aja.

I'm glad your other axie is doing well :)
 
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I'm sorry to hear that she passed. Sounds like she was neglected for a long while, and its crazy how she even survived to get to your home.

Those patches are very odd though - I haven't seen anything like that before. My best guess would be injuries that were getting picked at. Were they raised at all, like scabs? And maybe the lighter ones were as they were regenerating/healing over
 

AjaMich

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@ animalloversfb: it was weird because no patch resembled another. They were all different colors and textures. Some were raised, some were fuzzy, and some looked like pigmentation.

i think she was metamorphosing and by the time i got her, the metamorphosis was too progressed. Who knows how long she looked like that. The folks i got her from couldn't even tell me.
 
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