Is my axie ill???

Raziela · Feb 7, 2011

Recently my (almost) 6month old axie has been sarting to fall over when trying to walk, and can barely swim anymore

All the conditions in his tank are to spec, and gets cleaned every other day with a part water change every 5-7 days, and this is a fairly new problem (past 2 days)

Also, has lost all the pink colouring in his gils, but other than that there are no obvious signs of what could be wrong. I'm really worried

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated

palatimo · Feb 7, 2011

any pics?

Raziela · Feb 7, 2011

I'll try to upload one now

not able to upload a pic, laptop is spazzy. but my axie is leucistic and his gils are almost the same colour as his body instead of their usual pink

animalloversfb · Feb 7, 2011

What are you feeding and how often? What is your set-up like(size, substrate, any decorations that might have sharp edges, type of filter/flow), etc? The color of his gills is probably lighter due to being inactive and not able to move...

Raziela · Feb 7, 2011

fed bloodworms daily, switching to earthworms soon (can't use garden ones - parents and their goddamn pesticides, no fishing shops close but i've had no problems with feeding)
set up is a glass tank (plenty of space), big pebbles over sand, a few fake plants and a cave he can hide in (smoothed off, rounded sides)
filter is on low setting otherwise it causes too much water flow (learned that within the first few hours)

Raziela · Feb 8, 2011

just noticed that the temp in the tank is at 21C, could this be a bit too warm? if so how do I get the temp down?I have no heating on in this room at all, and the tank is on the outer wall (not quite under the window) in the coldest part of the room...

animalloversfb · Feb 8, 2011

How large are the "big pebbles" - if they're not larger than your axies head, its possible she ingested some. It could also be bloat and there are several posts on here you can search for to see if you can remedy the situation.

Your tank is a little bit on the warm side - you can add a frozen water bottle to the tank. If you have a fan, you can use that to blow across the surface of the water. Just monitor that it doesn't change the temperature too rapidly.

Raziela · Feb 8, 2011

All are around the size of axie's head maybe a few smaller so may have swallowed one so fridging will be tried in the morning.

I'll be switching to a full sand base soon, just looking for the right type of sand.

And in regards to a bottle of frozen water, is it like a 500ml coke bottle or something a little bigger?

also, my axie is only just under 3 inches at almost 6months old, is that normal?

AuraCantos · Feb 8, 2011

You'll have more luck using a fan blowing across the top of the water, than using the frozen bottles. Frozen bottles tend to take alot of work to keep the temp stable, and can make your water fluctuate pretty rapidly, which isn't good for your lotl. Any kind of fan will work really; a computer fan, a desktop fan, a specific clip-on aquarium fan... You can find any of those on ebay/amazon/craigslist, ect, for relatively cheap.

Of course, if you're in a pinch, the frozen bottle trick will work until you find something more permanent.

(Like a fan, or a cooler room, ect). Like animalloverfb said, just make sure you monitor the temp so it doesn't go down TOO rapidly. Perhaps try to move your tank to a basement, if you have one? They tend to be alot cooler. Also keep the tank away from radiators, vents, windows, ect.

As far as your lotls gills go, my leu. lotl Rai gets very pale gills when she's not moving around much. The more active the axolotl, the more blood gets pumped around the body, thus flushing the gills with color.

Pics would be nice, though, just to be on the safe side.

Sorry for the rant.

Raziela · Feb 8, 2011

Heh np, rants are useful when I'm stressing about my pets (I also have a rescue corn snake that is ill atm

)

I think I can get a fan easy enough tomorrow, along with sand fot the bottom of the tank, axie should be ok till then, right?

My bedroom is the coldest room in the house because my idiot family like the heating on all the time, regardless of the time of year

Will get pics up tomorrow, finally figured it was my blackberry being spazzy not my laptop. lol

Raziela · Feb 9, 2011

2 pics from last night

Bellabelloo · Feb 9, 2011

That is a tiny little axolotl

As you know now the gravel needs to go as soon as possible. Apart from the risk of accidentally being eaten, it is an absolute nightmare to keep clean.
I would be tempted to take your little axolotl out of this tank while you sort it out. In the mean time, keep in a smaller covered container of clean dechlorinated water . You'll need to do regular daily water changes while this is going on. You could put this in the fridge ( check the temperature is above 5 degrees) or if you have a safe spot in a shed even out side. just make sure the container can not be got at by cats/ dogs . While in the container you can feed preferably small eartworm, daphnia, bloodworm etc. As your axolotl is so little still you could try food once a day.
Here are a couple of links that may help :-
This one is a guide to fridging...you could use your fridge or out side
Axolotl Sanctuary

This one takes you through cycling your tank, as once the gravel is removed it may need to cycle again. You'll need to get a water testing kit for this .
Caudata Culture Articles - Cycling

If you have any questions, ask away

Raziela · Feb 9, 2011

Axie is now in the fridge in dechlorinated water

And I'm sure he/she is a bit on the small size for 6months old, and is eating a bloodworm every day, has been since coming to me, hasn't really grown much since i got him/her in november tbh, possibly 1.5cm max.

Raziela · Feb 10, 2011

ok, so when I left for work yesterday morning, axie was in the fridge looking a bit worse for wear tbh

Got home and found axie back in his (slightly) cooler tank (complete with sand) looking a bit happier, then, around 10 mins ago I noticed the ends of all fingers and toes were dark and tummy area slightly swolen. Surely my 6 month old, 3" long axie is not maturing yet??? still kinda transparent tbh, can still see all internal organs quite clearly... got a few pics, but cant get a decent one of fingers/toes as they're not showing up properly on sand...

Raziela · Feb 14, 2011

So today we did a 50mile round trip to the vets, who said axie had definitely swallowed a stone before I'd changed to sand, and that if this wasn't either thrown up or passed the other way by friday he/she would need to go back for an op to remove it next week. I really hope it doesn't come to that, I don't think it could take being under anaesthetic

Also, this vet, who has worked with exotics for years has never heard of fridging an axie, but recommended i try it after trying to get the axie to eat cucumber to help it regurgitate the stone... (she also said axie was a bit underweight and a little small for its age, but nothing that can't be sorted after the stone is gone)

But now axie is really looking worse for wear, I'm not sure if its the stress of being taken on a 50mile trip, or the fact that there is *still* a stone inside him/her but I'm really worried. He/she is just lay there, arms clenched to side, gills kinda forward, barely moving even when i try to move him/her :'(

lea · Feb 14, 2011

I hope everything turns out for you and axie. Please keep us informed on how he/she is going. Hang in there you are doing everything you can.
lea

animalloversfb · Feb 14, 2011

Make sure you keep him covered while in the fridge and do daily water changes with same temp. water. Hopefully your axie will be able to pass it. Did the vet take an x-ray to determine the size of the stone? That would make a difference in the likelihood of it being able to pass.

Raziela · Feb 15, 2011

No, no x-rays were taken, not really needed as you can see the stone, its about half a centimetre, possibly a bit bigger.

My fridge is too cold for fridging him/her, I understand it needs to be between 5 - 8 degrees, but my fridge is at around 2 and won't warm up at all. So I'm stuck for what to do.

And to make things worse, he/she has now stopped eating. But if I remember correctly from the day I bought him/her home, after a long day of travelling it took about 3 days to start eating properly anyways, could this be the case again?

Raziela · Feb 16, 2011

Axie passed away this afternoon

freya · Feb 16, 2011

im sorry for your loss...

Is my axie ill???

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