Illness/Sickness: Wits End

I posted about one of my axies, Gir, a couple of weeks ago when a few odd symptoms popped up. All of those symptoms have resolved, save one - his appetite hasn't recovered, he's lost weight, and for the past two days he's been floating, butt-first, unless he wedges himself underneath a plant or in his hide. His regular bin mate shows no signs of illness, and has surpassed him in size by more than a half-inch. Gir is currently 3 1/2 inches long, and his belly is now just over half the width of his head.

I've removed him from his main "nursery" bin and placed him in a bin with shallow water so that he can stay grounded. I hesitate to fridge him because there's practically zero chance that his condition is the result of impaction (he's always been in a bare-bottom bin, no gravel, and he poops regularly), and I fear that slowing down his digestion might complicate any intestinal issues he may be suffering from. There doesn't seem to be any indication that he might have a parasitic infection, and there are no signs of fungus. At this point, I'm considering a broad spectrum antibiotic like Furan-2... but beyond that, I'm at a loss.


Here are the stats:

Food: Typically earthworms, pellets, live blackworms, frozen bloodworms, live and frozen brine shrimp. For the last two weeks he's only eaten two or three frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp each day - far below the amount he ought to be eating.

Temp: 17-18 °C
Ammonia: 0-.25 (partial water change daily)
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Ph: 8


Any thoughts? I'm afraid I might lose him.

Well, Gir's still hanging in there. He's eating, but just enough to maintain. I'm leaving for DC tomorrow morning and hate to leave the pet sitter with medication, so we're just going to hope for the best until I get back. Oi.

Hello
The fridge won't hurt him as long as the water is changed daily with water of the same temperature. Place a towel over his fridge container so the light going on and off doesn't startle him. As far as I know when in doubt - fridge. Good luck to your axolotl and safe travels.

Gir is still alive... and it appears he's been suffering from a rather nasty systemic bacterial infection. He spent two weeks in the fridge, followed by a round of antibiotics, followed by a round of double strength antibiotics (just finished yesterday). During the first round of antibiotics, he began voiding a number of filament type bacteria surrounded by mucus, the second round seems to have knocked them all out (we weren't able to get a positive ID on the bacteria, they disintegrated too rapidly for examination; probably an effect of the medication). His appetite has improved dramatically, but he's STILL FLOATING.

So... for now we're on hold for further observation. We're keeping him as cool and stress free as possible, there just isn't much more we can do.

Glad to hear he is eating, Tanya. Fingers crossed he stops floating soon.