Illness/Sickness: Is it curtains for our beloved Rex?

Um.. hello? This is the first time I've used the site. Could someone please help me by offering some advice on my hideously toxic tank! I don't have a water tester. Big mistake! I'll have to drive into town tomorrow and get one, if Rex is still alive. We have had Rex since early March and he thrived. He was eating around 10 earthworms/day and had beautiful fanlike gills that I'd admire for ages. Then we went away for 4 weeks and I couldn't do water changes. When I got back the water was all brown and frothy on the top. I did a 30% change and continued to do them every week. I use dechlorinator and I rinse out the filter (sponge and all) and rinse every item in the tank, including the live plant on driftwood. We have no subtrate as it's too hard (can't have pebbles and sand is too hard to clean, etc etc). About a week ago, I noticed Rex's gills had turned brown and had literally shrivelled right up. He was swimming to the top and gulping air like mad and now he just floats around the top of the tank. Ammonia? So I did a 30% water change at midnight, another in the morning and have been doing 2/day for 3 days now. Tonight, before the change, Rex went nuts and was scrambling to get out! My son was hysterical and I wanted to join him. It was awful! He calmed down after the speedy water change. He is off his food, lost a lot of weight and I'm heading there too. Am I killing him with toxic tap water? Too much dechlorinator? Please help!!

first of all, how big is your tank? what do you feed your axie?

does your tank smell? and if it does, what does it smell like?

My tank is about 40-60L, but I don't fill it to the top. I feed Rex mostly earthworms, although since we've been back from holidays, the pet shop has run out and my garden is becoming increasingly stingey with them, so we bought mealworms and bloodworms. The bloodworms made a gigantic mess and he only eats 2 or 3 mealworms/time.

O yes- it did smell before I changed the water every 12hrs! Like "wet carpet" according to my 8-year old daughter. It wasn't nice!

is there a chance he could be morphing? If his gills continue to shrink, he'll need somewhere to stand out of water otherwise he could drown. Maybe lower the water level a little and stand a rock or bit of driftwood out of water. If you look around the forum, there are photos and details of other tiger salamanders and axies which have morphed.

Also, I'd avoid mealworms as they can't digest the exoskeleton bit. Bloodworms are fine though (I've had the same problem with the lack of worms in the garden!)

Try to keep the temperature as cool as you can (20 degrees C maximum but anything above 5 degrees is ok) and keep the water clean as you have been doing.

let us know how you get on!

that smell might be ammonia...not so sure about that one though. Also, could you post up a photo of the little guy?

Bloodworms can be messy - are you feeding live ones or frozen cubes? I let the cubes thaw for 60 seconds in a cup of water, shake off the excess, then feed with tongs. Some people use a jar which the axie can swim into and eat out of (leaving mess only in the jar). Excess mess in the tank can be removed with a turkey baster easily.

I would suggest keeping him in a container filled with cool spring water until you get your aquarium situation figured out.

Thanks Siona,
I'm pretty sure he is "morphing" to escape the toxicity of the tank! It just makes sense that there is an ammonia problem - I really wish I had that tester kit already to be sure though! I like the idea of the jar with the bloodworms! I had a feeling those mealworms weren't any good. Also, Rex has "shed his skin" a lot lately! Like every few days! Now I see that that is some kind of fungus or something. His eyes go a funny colour too. Poor Rex! My son cries saying "I can't believe he has to go through all of this pain Mum!". It's heartbreaking! (My friend had an axolotl that died and right before it did, it desperately tried to climb the walls of the tank too - that's what is freaking us all out!)

Oooo - Eric! Impressive rep! I think I should do that, but I'm such a novice. How do I catch poor Rex? Scoop him up in a bowl?
I have spring water. So, he'll be OK in it for a day? If I keep him in the laundry, he'll stay cool. Can I put him in my steel cooking pot?

I just use a net to catch mine. Some people use their hands (washed first) but scooping up in a bowl is fine. A cooking pot should be ok, or any plastic container, as long as he's got room to move around a little. And as it's such a small amount of water, daily water changes are important. Just ensure that the clean water is the same temperature as the dirty water you're replacing, so the axie doesn't get too shocked.

When my axolotl was ill, I kept him in the fridge for a week, with daily water changes. I don't know about that during a morph though, might be too cold, but he didn't seem to mind the container, seemed fine afterwards.

If you can post a picture of Rex, we can tell if he's morphing or not.

Do not use a steel pot. Use food-grade plastic.

If Rex IS morphing, you'll have to change his set up completely. A morphed axolotl is terrestrial, not aquatic, and it may drown in an aquatic setup.

Just trying to work out how to post pics. I have noticed his beautiful big fin down his back and tail has all but gone! OMG! He is morphing. No! We like him being an axolotl. Why us? (spent $100 today on all sorts of things like PH tester -fine, and Nitrate tester -0, and a another plant and new pebbly things for his filter to remove ammonia - the pet shop didn't have an ammonia tester)

How do I post pics to this strand? I'll make an album in the meantime and if someone can tell me if he is morphing that would be greatly appreciated - I don't want our salamander to drown!

Thankyou everyone!

When you reply to a message, under the box there is an option to go advanced. Click that and then I think it is manage attachments. You can upload pics there

He is either shriveling up to die, or morphing. Either way, it isn't pretty! We are all distraught!!

Is this pic better?

Take a breath, Baff family!

Rex does not look that bad!

His tail fin does look receded, but his gills look pretty good. They're still long, and the fimbrae are still intact. Do Rex's eyes look look any different?

I think Rex will most probably make a recovery if you keep him cool and clean and well fed.

Kaysie! This is GREAT news! Thankyou!

He has changed so much! He really wants to get out of his tank! He isn't eating anything! I have just finished offering him his glass lid to climb up on and he rell wanted to be on it and out of the water. I felt like being sick - I don't want Rex to morph! BUT, I lowered the water level and put some rocks up out of the water because I don't want him to drown. There will be no sleep for me tonight. What have I done wrong? His eyes change every time he gets white flaky stuff all over him (we thought he was shedding his skin). We can't handle a dead axolotl - he has to survive!

With your relieving words, I'd prefer to fill his tank up again and hope he stops trying to climb out. (where is he getting the energy for these outbursts? - it's been days since he has eaten anything)

Thanks again Kaysie

Do his eyes look like they're bulging? It's hard to see from your pictures.

What is his water like now? Is it all new water? Did you dechlorinate it? How warm is it? A 40l tank is pretty small for an adult axolotl, and it's definitely way too small if you don't have it full. The rule of thumb is at least 40l per adult axolotl, but more is always better in terms of water. You should think about getting Rex a bigger tank, regardless of whether or not he morphs.

Keep offering Rex places to climb out of the water, and don't be alarmed if he does. As of right now, as long as he has a place to gulp air at the surface, and with his gills still intact, he probably won't drown.

Make sure you provide Rex LOTS of places to hide under water, and try not to disturb him with lots of bright light and poking around. Offer him lots of wiggly worms (you can purchase earthworms from the pet shop or the bait store even). It's even better if you can offer him worms when it's dark, without turning on the lights. Axolotls are naturally nocturnal, and he may be more apt to eat when it's dark. But keep in mind a healthy adult axolotl can go a couple weeks at least without food. And adult axolotls don't need to eat every day. If you were feeding Rex 10 worms a day, I'm surprised he didn't burst! I feed mine 1 large nightcrawler (10+cm) every 2 or 3 days. Mealworms definitely need to be decapitated and should be offered only when they're freshly molted, as their exoskeleton is not digestible.

Not seeing what he looked like before, I can say that right now, his gills look normal for an axolotl. They may be much smaller than they used to be, but to me, they don't show any signs of morphing.

Even if he does morph, terrestrial axolotls still make great pets.

If only you were here Kaysie! I don't think I can do this on my own. I shudder to think of me putting him in the fridge.
Eyes - yes, a little bulgier and blacker than before. They used to be yellow and little and he'd suck them in when he was eating.
Water - dechlorinated - yes! Only 9L new (for 2nd time this arvo - and I did that this morning too - overkill? I just think the frothy stuff on top is a worry - it shows up after 10-12hrs) He can only balance on his plants now to get out of the water, but really, he isn't out, just near the top) He likes being under too and then he'll shoot up and start panicking again. That is very distressing to watch! Darkness - I did know that about the lights, we put the hall light on, and he is in the doorway of my son's room - it is still too bright. Worms - he just struck at an earthworm (I'm offering him them every hr or so) and he spat it straight back out!
I'll attatch a pre-morph look pic.

Kaysie, I inclined to think the morphing process is underway. I don't have the know-how or the "gut" to do it. Can I reverse it once it starts by rectifying the tank conditions?

(Water temp is about 18 deg C, colder from the tap as we live in the snowy Mtns and it's now winter)

I could put some worms on some rocks in the dark, but won't they foul up the water? I can't see to hand feed him and they'll just wriggle away.

What do you make of the white "shedding skin" thing? Also, the other night, he ate 2 earthworms and about 45mins later, there was this big oblong, red, wormy blob next to Rex. He'd obviously vomitted up his stomach contents and hasn't eaten since. He just keeps spitting earthworms out. (He did take 2 mealworms - with heads - about 3 days ago.)

I feel like I should be paying everyone for their expert advice - like I would a vet if we had one that knew about axolotls! I really appreciate your help. I'm lost without this site right now.