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Illness/Sickness: Axo skin falling away in clumps like decay

reibree

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(I'll have to get a photo tomorrow- they're at my office)
I've had an albino and leucistic axolotl in a 34 gallon tank since they were babies (born late March 2011) with biweekly 30% water changes and a dual filter on medium that flows through 3-4 inches of floating aquatic sword plants (to dampen the current) no substrate- just bare glass and a fist-sized oval stone.

I hung a breeding tank on the edge this week for some pond snails that I didn't want the axos to have access to. My albino deemed this a good thing to wedge himself against, and wrapped his entire tail around part of the filter intake to help him reach it. I didn't see this until after lunch, and I immediately moved the breeding tank and turned off the filter to free the axo from its' suction.

I noticed lines from the intake throughout the tail end up to its' hind legs that looked like a hickey. I figured this was just blood pulled to the surface of the skin, and I let him swim off.

I moved the breeder tank out, but 3 days have passed, and the bloodshot stripes of skin turned to what could only be described as 'decaying cotton'. The entire tail and a spot on its' side look like cottony white fibers that fall away in clumps. I've isolated him so that he won't be bothered by the other axo, but I don't know what to do other than hope the isolation will save his energy for regeneration.

I've looked at every photo/read every description of infection/disease, and what I have doesn't look like what I've found. The *non white* skin feels normal to the touch (I don't want to poke at the affected areas). Namely its' 'ribs' area have me concerned. Axos have those vertical lines in their skin on the side.... the fleshier parts of the skin have fallen away from between these lines (a lot like corrugation: http://www.footnoted.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Corrugated-container-Smurfit1.jpg) and just today, the skin fell off one of its' hind toes. I can see one completely exposed clear toe bone.

It still eats his favorite foods, but only if I drop it near its' head because he seems hesitant to move around much. The other axo has perfect skin/gills (deep pink during swim, yellowy at rest)/is active/eats every morsel I feed it.

Therm says 68F, water is normal, nothing new added to tank recently, fed a variety of moist sinking newt pellets, dry floating medicated amphibian pellets, bloodworms and occasionally a couple mini algae wafers. Suggestions aside from vet? (Don't know if tea/salt tricks should be done since bone is exposed now)
 

pent565

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Could be two things. Most likely, the suction damaged and killed the delicate skin cells at the surface, and they need to sluff off and re-grow, like a burn. Fridging might help, but as the axolotl is eating, just watch for infection

If its fluffy and white like cotton, its a fungus, and should be treated with fridging, and if that doesn't work, salt bath.
 

Loobylou

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If the bone is exposed and his skin looks sore, a salt bath would probably just cause him more stress/pain. Try a tea bath to soothe his skin, or put almond leaves into his tank. There's a tea-bath tutorial somewhere, if I find it I'll put up the link.

Also I wouldn't fridge until absolutely necessary, as fridging lowers the metabolism and will slow the healing process.
 

Kaysie

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The vertical lines are costal ridges, not ribs.

Fungus usually needs salt baths in conjunction with fridging. Fridging actually helps the healing process, as it allows the axolotl to get a leg up on the offending organism (in this case, fungus).

Also, you said the tank has nothing in it but some plants and a rock. Axolotls need places to hide, especially if they're in a busy office setting. They need caves and things in which they can find refuge from light and the busy nature of an office. .
 

Loobylou

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Sorry what Kaysie said is right if it is fungus. I was working on the presumption that it wasn't fungus, and was just peeling skin.
 

reibree

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I found all the tea information on other sites/forums, so I know those ratios/time to soak him, so you don't have to hunt it down :)
I've included a picture from almost a week ago, and a picture from today for comparison if anyone is wondering about his condition prior to this happening.
(I know they're not ribs- I just quoted that for sake of explaining location. OH- and they're in MY office, not a common area. People rarely come in my office unless picking up artwork. I used to have a rock cave in there, but they never hid inside. They perched on top, which is why I swapped it out for a smooth rock as they got larger so they couldn't scoot it around the tank.)

The cotton-looking parts aren't fluffy. It's pretty flat against the body. The damaged area starts on the left side tail, wrapping over toward the right side- the exact way he was twisted around the intake. Also note that in the picture, there appears to be white dots clinging to that tail; those are just air bubbles from the plants.

I haven't heard about using almond leaves, yet. Does fresh vs. dry make a difference? Is that strategy similar to the way you prepare the tea?

Thank you everyone for replying so quick, too!
 

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Loobylou

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Unless he gets fungus I wouldn't salt bath. That looks sore :(. With that extensive damage to the skin I would probably think about fridging. It would help prevent any infection etc from the bad skin. I'd definitely start tea-baths though, I had an axie with a peeling foot from an accidental nip from a tank buddy and it worked wonders.

Hope your axie feels better soon.
 

Kaysie

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I would seriously consider going to a vet and getting that cultured.

Until then, definitely fridge him, and try either tea/almond leaves or salt baths. You can't do these in conjunction because they actually work against each other.
 

Kribby

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Keeping fish I have seen this sort of thing before whent slow moving fish become trapped in the filter intakes suction.

As pent565 mentioned the filter intake will have killed the cells at the surface and it will have also caused quite a bit of bruising as well. This is going to put the animal under a lot of stress, which is why he is not too inclined to eat. As long as you keep him in pristinely clean water, cool, and try to reduce as much stressors as possible he should be fine. Unless the bruising has damaged anything vital, but you mentioned it was mostly near the tail.

Since he is already going through a lot of stress from the injury, I wouldn't subject him to medication or a salt bath unless strictly necessary. Those treatments can be pretty hard on the system and he has some damage he has to try and heal now. As Kaysie mentioned I think fridging would be best for him.

On a side note, you could place a sponge over the filter intake to ensure he doesn't become trapped again.
 
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