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Illness/Sickness: Seeking advice for a sick baby axolotl, detailed information and pics inside.

Rikkoshaye

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Hey guys, I have a hurt and/or sick baby axolotl that I've been treating recently and I would like to check to make sure I'm doing everything I can for him!

The axolotl in question is a GFP albino named Char, and I got him about a month ago along with a GFP melanoid. At first he was eating really well and although he was developing slightly slower than his melanoid counterpart, seemed very healthy and robust. (Would eat from my tweezers, very hungry all of the time, etc.) I was feeding them chopped up pieces of baby cockroaches (dubias, from my own colony) and chopped pieces of earthworm at this time.

Anyway, over the course of three days Char went from very hungry to completely disinterested in food. He ate a few pieces of cockroach the first day and then only one the next, and finally stopped eating altogether. I of course was concerned and continued offering food, but he refused to take it and either acted like there was nothing there or swam away completely. On the fourth day when I was offering food he spasmed and then threw up an entire chunk of cockroaches, and afterwards looked very skinny with a strange lump on his right side. Here's a picture I took immediately afterwards:
FvHTV.jpg


A little later that night he also attempted to pass some waste, but all that came out was a long, mucus-like string. Here is a picture I took of that:
jvjyi.jpg


After seeing all of this I was very concerned so I separated Char from the melanoid and put him into a tupperware container. I decided not to fridge him because I was pretty sure a blockage wasn't the problem, and I didn't want to slow down his metabolism so he wouldn't eat. I covered his container with a black towel to help de-stress him and continued to offer food, but he still wouldn't take it. I started offering frozen bloodworms at this time, but there was no change in appetite.

Thankfully I was able to locate a local fish store about 40 minutes away that carried live blackworms, and so I bought some of those and brought them home to Char. Though he would not accept them from my fingers or tweezers, I left about 10 in overnight and the next morning there were only 3 remaining. Char also made a nice big poop that day and has continued to eat blackworms every night, which I then replenish in the morning (along with 100% water changes!)

Here is how he looks now:
BFGQf.jpg


Char still refuses to accept food from me, and as you can see that strange bump is still present. I'm just wondering if there is anything else I could be doing that I am not aware of? Secondly, has anyone else witnessed something similar to this? How long do you think it will be before Char is back to his normal self?

Thank you all for taking the time to read this, I know it's long but I appreciate it and any advice you may have. :)
 

NeekaLovesYou

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On the contrary, I should think an impaction may be the problem here. I've never fed my axolotls cockroaches but can only assume they're not the best diet available; they have exterior skeletons which axolotls aren't able to digest. I think the best course of action will be to put him in the fridge. If there is a blockage, hopefully he can pass it rather quickly and resume his normal behavior. In future I'd just stick to feeding them earthworms. They have all the nutrients an axolotl needs and if fed enough will help maintain a healthy weight. Bulges in the abdomen isn't unusual straight after they've eaten but they usually dissolve fairly quickly.
 
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Rikkoshaye

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Thanks for the info Dinx! Baby cockroaches have very soft shells but baby axolotls are also small so that could very well be the case. Is it possible for an axolotl to be impacted but still be pooping regularly?
 

NeekaLovesYou

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How often have you seen him going to the toilet? I've found the average to be around twice a week for mine. The strange mucus he passed would suggest there's something going on in there. As for going to the toilet while impacted, it's probably unusual but I wouldn't say its impossible for them to pass very small amounts. Also how often have you been feeding him? Over feeding could be another cause as to why he brought the cockroaches back up and is refusing food
 

Rikkoshaye

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Usually he poops every night, and it's a normal amount of waste (nice little healthy poos.) I was feeding them twice a day when I first got them and now have went back down to only once a day after Char puked up the bugs. (I did a lot of reading after that and figured I was overfeeding, just like you suggested.)
 

NeekaLovesYou

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What I would do for now (if he's willing to eat) is keep him on a couple of small earthworms a day to see if the bulging goes down. Earthworms will keep him passing things regularly. If he's unwilling, keep a small amount of the bloodworm at hand in case he'd prefer a smaller pallet. If the bulging hasn't gone down after a few days it may be worth fridging him just to see if he is able to pass anything.
 

Rikkoshaye

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Okay, that sounds good, I think I'll do that. :) Thank you so much for your help Dinx! If anyone else has any comments or suggestions I'd love to hear them as well.
 

Kaysie

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Bless her, Dinky took the words right out of my mouth. Solid advice.
 

Rikkoshaye

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Hi guys, just thought I'd give you an update and say that Char is doing really well! I continued to supply him with blackworms and he kept eating and pooping them, and then eventually I started floating bloodworms down in front of his face which seemed to activate his feeding response. He still refused food from me until a couple days ago where I got him to eat a LOT of bloodworms through the floating method, which perhaps re-activated his appetite or something? Either way the very next day he was snapping at my tweezers and gobbling down whatever I offered him (and continues to do so today!), so I think he's completely back to normal now. Thank you guys for all your advice, it was very helpful! :)
 
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