Abnormal cloaca area...

rosstxttpo · Jul 3, 2012

Hey guys,

I'm hoping someone can identify the problem with our little guy (6 years old). I have attached a picture of his cloaca area - it looks like little worms. It doesn't seem swollen but can occasionally get red and look quite raw. What worries me at the moment is that there seems to be a lot of gray fluff coming off from around the area.

Apart from this, he seems fine. He is eating no problem, poos no problem and his behaviour is the same as ever.

Hopefully someone can help.

arianja · Jul 3, 2012

I would take it to the vet immediately if i were you!
I don't know what it is but it looks like it may be some kind of a parasite. Hope the little guy will be alright.

rosstxttpo · Jul 3, 2012

arianja said:
I would take it to the vet immediately if i were you!
I don't know what it is but it looks like it may be some kind of a parasite. Hope the little guy will be alright.

Thanks for your reply, much appreciated.

Has anyone seen this before? Or have any idea what it is?

Linus · Jul 3, 2012

I've never seen ANYTHING like that. Are they moving? It looks like a parasite possibly.

My recommendation: Vet visit asap.

And please update the thread, I'm very curious as to what it is!

rosstxttpo · Jul 3, 2012

Linus said:
I've never seen ANYTHING like that. Are they moving? IT looks like a parasite possibly?

My recommendation: Vet visit asap.

And please update the thread, I'm very curious as to what it is!

They don't move no and like I said, it doesn't seem to be causing him any discomfort but it is obviously something that needs to be looked at.

I want to know what might have caused it - what about the glass bottom to the tank? Axolotls can't get much grip on the glass and so their bottoms drag along the glass. I am going to get slate to cover the bottom of the tank which will hopefully give him more traction.

Linus · Jul 3, 2012

All of my tanks are bare bottom..as are many others, it's not caused by not having substrate. It could be a tumor, something genetic like that.

rosstxttpo · Jul 3, 2012

Linus said:
All of my tanks are bare bottom..as are many others, it's not caused by not having substrate.

Yeah, I didn't think it would be. We have another axolotl (a wild type) in another identical tank and we have never had any problems with him. He is perfectly healthy.

This one is always getting fungus and now has this strange rash.

arianja · Jul 30, 2012

Have you found out what it is yet?

rosstxttpo · Jul 31, 2012

arianja said:
Have you found out what it is yet?

It's four different parasites and two different fungus so it is pretty nasty. He is currently going through daily F10 disinfectant baths and then we go back to the vet next week so see if he has improved at all.

Linus · Jul 31, 2012

Wowww. Thanks for letting us know, I had a feeling. Didn't think it'd be FOUR though.

keep us updated!

rosstxttpo · Jul 31, 2012

Linus said:
Wowww. Thanks for letting us know, I had a feeling. Didn't think it'd be FOUR though.

keep us updated!

The vet said she had never seen anything like it before. She was a little too excited for my liking.

imzunicorn · Aug 3, 2012

How did they find out what it was? Did she scrape the area for a sample?

Also, I've read that axolotls very very rarely ever get tumors and are 1000 times more resistant to getting cancer than mammals-In response to someone's idea of it being a tumor.

rosstxttpo · Aug 13, 2012

imzunicorn said:
How did they find out what it was? Did she scrape the area for a sample?.

The vet examined some tissue that came off the area and tt is four different types of parasites and 2 types of fungus. We don't know what the underlying problem is but the vet wants to do an investigation (at the cost of £250) which would include a scrape.

rosstxttpo · Aug 17, 2012

On Wednesday, Clock went in for his investigation. He was anaesthetised and a bacterial swab was taken from the mass around his tail. A biopsy was also taken and sent off for a histopathology. A skin scrape was taken from the area which showed lots of bacteria and several ciliates. There was no evidence of fungal hyphae (which means the F10 got rid of them as there was two of those before). Endoscopy of his vent showed no extension up inside his body and so the lesions appear to be confines to the area around his vent. He was given pain killers and made a good recovery.

We are waiting on all the test results for a full diagnosis. But there does appear to ve bacteria and parasites involved with the lesions. These are most likely secondary infections.

He is currently getting a 5 minute salt bath in the morning (5g (about a teaspoon) to every litre and a 4 hour Baytril antibiotic bath (0.1g per litre) in the evening. We have to do that for 5 days.

rosstxttpo · Aug 17, 2012

Oh and he is going to be on a CBBC TV programme called Junior Vets. His procedure was filmed so when I find out when that is going to be on, I'll let you know.

Linus · Aug 17, 2012

I commend you for taking advice given, and the vet work being done for your axolotl. Kind of exciting it's being filmed, hopefully a clip will appear online so we can all view someday ;]

Hope he gets better, once again I've never seen ANYTHING like that. I'm sure the axolotl will appreciate his "loins" returning back to normal.

Linus · Oct 3, 2012

How'd this work out Ross?

rosstxttpo · Oct 3, 2012

Linus said:
How'd this work out Ross?

Well, the Baytril seemed to make a bit of a difference but once we stopped, the problem just reoccurred. We were then advised to go back to the F10 baths again. Clock became the worst he had ever looked - his skin started to come off and he didn't eat for over a week. So we took him back to the vet and he gave him an injection of the Baytril and told us to administer the medication through a syringe into his mouth (rather than a bath). We are about 10 days in and he is back to normal in terms of his behaviour but the area still doesn't look 100%. He is eating again though and has been very interactive recently.

We have to send photos to the vet on Tuesday so he can decided whether to continue the course, whether it is time to stop or just try something else.

Linus · Nov 2, 2012

Hopefully the treatment has helped rid the issue. Good luck Ross.

Let us know when we can see the film shots

Abnormal cloaca area...

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