Axels Shedding?

I currently have an axel that appears to be shedding, her skin is flaking, shes albino turning a bit red (like sun burn) and her gills are changed they are no longer fluffy but coated in 'white' stuff, this appears to be 'spreading' to the other albino in the tank and i believe the wildtype will catch on soon..

Ideas?

Can you post a photo - could make it quicker and easier to diagnose.

my computers being silly, but heres a link to them
• View topic - axolotl HELP

Just had a look at the link and the comment on there about "could be water quality"

I did read on this forum the other day about the depth of the sand - if its more than an inch or so it can cause problems, is that sand at one end of your tank about 6 inches or more deep and the rest of the tank look fairly deep too.

If that's the case find the link on salt baths, and while you are removing the some of the sand give the little guys the "spa" treatment. Will see if I can find the link on the sand issue.

i will probably do that, the rest of the sand isnt so deep, but yeah its above water level at one end as they like to sit half out of the water.

Caudata Culture Articles - Illness Part 1

This link has lots of treatments etc.
Good luck.

Justin answered the question on sand in another link - Sand deeper than an inch can lead to anaerobic bacteria. This bacteria is harmful to caudates.

So maybe.

Hi, I might be wrong but its probably not a good idea to have sand as high as that at one end to let them sit half way out of the water. Axoltols usually dwell at the bottom of the tank and only come up to the top for air. Usually when they are hanging about at the top it means that something in the water isn't quite right, ie high amonia nitrite or maybe lack of oxygen in the water. Some Axolotls do make a habit of hanging about in the tops of plants near the water level but they wouldn't nescarcarilly have parts of thier bodies out in the open. If your axie is doing this it may be the reason why the skin is shedding as lotls skin dries out quickly when not in water.

I think it would be a good idea to lose a lot of the sand and maybe even have a bare bottom or slate instead. Like others have said, the sand may been breeding some unwelcome bacteria which can make your Axie sick.

Don't rely on the water tests to decide if the water quality is ok. All of my water tests came out perfectly today but one of my lotls is distressed for an unknown reason so I am going to do a water change to be on the safe side.

Hope your axies skin gets better soon xxx

sadly, the 1st axo i noticed with problems has passed =/, i have removed almost all the sand, they had a salt bath while i was doing so. I hope things start to look brighter for my other 2..

I'm so sorry about your poor axie. It must be some kind of infection. The only thing I can suggest is to completely clean out your tank, put in new sand or have no sand at all,remove any live plants and give your hides and decor a good scrub. Also try something using something like melafix for the infection. EDITED TO ADD* There are other treatments on the link that jcj57 added, but I just suggested the Melafix as this is the only thing I could get when I used it on my fish because she had an ulcer. It healed so quickly once I started the treatment but I have found information stating that you must be extremely careful with the dosage when using it on an Axolotl*

Do you use a water conditioner? Maybe the water company has altered the amount of chlorine they use in the water. I always use a conditioner before putting the water in my tank as chlorine can be really harmful. You can leave it out to age before adding the water but I think using a conditioner like tapsafe or stress coat is easier.

Separate your other 2 Axies in case what ever it is hasn't yet been passed on to the wild type and put them both in the fridge in separate tubs until it looks like the skin is healing. You can put the healthy one back into the tank when you are sure it didn't catch anything. There is plenty of advice on here about fridging. It will speed up the axololts healing process and they will be quite happy in a temperature of about 5 degree c. They wont move about much while being fridged and probably wont eat but that is normal.


I hope someone who is a lot more experienced can give you better advice (and point me out where I have gone wrong) I really hope your others don't get sick xxx

how many days should i continue to give them salt baths?

i will put them in the fridge now then? they are awaiting the tank to finish cycling the water before they go back in, it appears that both of them are infected.
I so happy i removed my smaller golden axos a week ago, they seem fine.

the salt bath thing is something I cant answer but there is a salt bath tutorial here

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-beginner-newt-salamander-axolotl-help-topics/f48-axolotls-ambystoma-mexicanum/f58-sick-axolotl/72698-salt-bath-picture-tutorial.html


I was thinking I have seen something that looked similar before which turned out to be stress from chlorine burn because the water company started adding more to the water. Make sure you use the water conditioner on your water and definitely strip down your tank and start again from scratch or otherwise you might find that they get better, you put them back and then they get ill again.