HELP!! I'm scared my axolotl is dying and i don't know why!

Hi,
About a week ago my mum threw me out of the house and put my axolotl and the rest of my things in the shed. I wasnt aware of how long she was in the shed, I was then told she was in there all morning and afternoon! Ever since then she's been stressed on and off.

Lately my axolotl has been very lazy. I feed her in a certain corner of the tank and she will sit in that corner when she is hungry. This morning she was in her hide and I didn't think it was unusual as usually during the morning she's in there. Later on in the afternoon I checked on her and she was floating at the top of her hide on her side. I moved her hide and she floated to the top not moving at all. I really though she was dead. I poked her and she still didnt move at all, her eyes were glazed over, her skin had a cloudy mist around it and her toes were black. I really thought she was dead until I saw her gills move.

I put her in the fridge to see if she got any better, she's now moving and breathing better and her skin looks better but her tail is so vainy and bent weird.

I've been really worried that she's blind lately. I know they smell for their food but whilst she was in the container I put her food in one corner and she went to a totally
Different corner and started trying to eat but there was nothing there and she did that with every corner. Also the last time I fed her when she was in her tank she couldn't find her food for ages she was just looking round and biting so I had to guide her.

Her tank is 45 litres. I've already checked the water and that is totally fine. All I can think of is if the water ended up to warm for her as my mum didnt give me my heater or thermometer. I'm also thinking it may also be the food. I feed her frozen blood work but this batch of blood worm has little grey things in the cubes. I found a leaf in one of them!

Please help me because I really don't know what to do :-( I've been recommended to put an Indian almond leaf in the filter, I have about 10 of them last time it cured her. Should I do this again????

Also her skin seems to be shredding off. I'm not sure. Here are 4 photos:

Hi Sarahanne,

If it was warm/stuffy/hot in the shed, then she will likely be suffering from the aftereffects of heat stress, and toxicity (ammonia burn). The warmer the water, the more toxic toxins such as ammonia will be. Axolotls breath in part through their skin so any toxins in the water will be readily absorbed into the axolotl. Keeping her in clean water should help her condition.

Is the filter making any water currents? If so, I would suggest taking her out of the tank (if she is still in there) and placing her in a tub of fresh dechlorinated water, and change the water out once a day.

If you can't keep the temperature consistently below 20C (it's cooler close to ground level - have a look around the house to see if there's a cool low spot you can keep her, and above all a safe spot; if you have a cat, don't trust the cat!) I would keep the axolotl in the fridge until she recovers. The fridgeing guide is stickied at the top of the Sick Axolotl section of the forum.

To keep her temperature consistent during water changes, keep jugs of fresh dechlorinated water in the same vicinity as the axolotl, so she doesn't suffer from temperature shock when the water's replaced.

She needs to be kept in a consistently cool, dark, stress free, safe, and clean environment. Any little bit of stress (such as water movement from the filter, heat stress, lights on and off, human looming over her, etc) will put her right back to square one. The environment needs to be completely stress free in order for him/her to heal and recover.

If you can get hold of some earthworm, this will also help. The more nutritious the diet, the better her chances of recovery. Cut the earthworms into portion sizes as long as her mouth is wide, and leave them with her overnight. She'll be more likely to eat something if left in peace, and when it's dark.

Good luck! Please keep us posted.

I found with my 'lotl being sick with his skin doing the 'peeling' thing you have shown, that my water hardness and ammonia were way out of wack; I'm not sure if you can test your water, but axolotls like hard water (my tank is now about 280ppm-300ppm) and he's doing a million times better. Amonia spikes can happen for all sorts of reasons, but keep your guy in the fridge and get the tank parameters squared away and he'll be fine

Hi jaquie and sugarkandii,
It was very cold in the shed, the water would have been around 10 degrees. I can only put here in the garage (this is like a fridge) at the minute as I'm not aloud to put her in the fridge. I had her in there yesterday but took her out as it started to snow and didnt want her water to freeze. I've done a water change and cleaned everything including her hide. Her hide was really slimy which I found so strange. I don't know where I can get my water levels tested either :-/
My dads being funny with me and seems to think my axie is like a cold water fish and it doesn't matter what the temp is or if the waters ok! Something's really wrong and can't understand what.
My filter has a guard infront of it to reduce the current, it's just like a little water fall but doesn't do anything to the water.
If I take out her filter and leave her alone in the tank do you think she will be ok? She's in the room that the central heating is in and we keep it at 18 degrees at all times.

10 and 18C? think we can rule the temperature out as the problem, then. Axolotls love it cold. Their optimum temperature range is 16-18C, if the temp climbs above 23C this is too warm and leads to health issues.

As we don't know what's going on in the tank, I would take her out of there for now and keep her in a tub with fresh daily water changes.

Water quality issues is the likely culprit. You mentioned that you "checked the water", but you haven't been able to test it. Can you give us some further information on your tank maintenance procedures?

Do you have any test kits? If so, What are the results of any tests you do have? If you take a sample of your water to a local aquarium/pet store, they may test your water for you. Some do this for free, some may charge a small fee.

The most important things to test for is: ammonia and nitrite (very important), nitrate (handy to know, but not as important), pH (important), and as Sugarkandii pointed out, hardness should be checked too.

How frequently do you conduct water changes and how much water do you change out each time?

Do you dechlorinate your water before adding to the tank?

Bloodworm is a very messy food item and uneaten bits can foul the water very quickly. Are you removing uneaten food promptly after feelings? Have you checked the filter to make sure no gunk is rotting in there? Take out the filter media (sponges, clay rings, etc) and give them a good shake in a bucket of tank water. Don't use tap water for this!

If the almond leaf worked well last time, I'd give it a try.

Alternatively you may try a tea bath to sooth the axolotls skin.

I do 3 water changes a week and I change 20% of the water each time. I always clean out the food after she has eaten so I make sure it's not left.
I'm travelling out tomorrow to get my water tested as there is no where near me that can do it. I always dechlorinate the water before adding to the tank.
All I can think of is that it's a water problem.
What is a tea bath? Will this do her any good?

Sarahanne said:

What is a tea bath? Will this do her any good?

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Tea baths are used to sooth minor skin complaints.

Here's the procedure:

Tea bath for axolotls
Contributed by Daniel Weiner, August 2007.

I mainly use teabaths for minor skin problems. It may also be used with fungal problems but on that account I prefer salt baths. Tea has a slightly antifungal and antibacterial effect (resulting from tannins) and additionally it closes the pores in the skin a little bit (mainly resulting from tannin and caffeine). The skin tightens and gets some kind of protective layer, making it harder for fungi and bacteria to intrude the body. On the other hand it makes it harder for salt or medicine to reach pathogens which are already inside the body - that is the reason I do not use it on fungal infections, although a tea bath is sometimes recommended as a cure for fungal infections by some people.

The medication is as follows: I take one bag of black tea without any additional aroma (it is important to use black tea because this kind of tea is fermented and so it has tannins) for every 10 liters of water (preferably used in a quarantine tank). This tea gets dashed with boiling water in a separate bowl - I leave it there for at least 10 to 15 minutes so the tannins are resolved into the water. The tea has to cool down and is finally added to the quarantine water. After a week I make a bigger change of water (60% at least), the rest of the tea is removed over time by normal water changes. If you have to make more regular water changes (f.i. in a small bowl or tank) the tea concentration can be refilled. As far as I know there are no negative effects even for long term treatment.

A similar effect (although not as strong) may have the addition of dried oak or beech leafs now and then as a precaution.

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If the almond leaf worked well for you last time though, I'd try them again first.

How's her skin looking now? Is she still shedding?

Did you have any luck with the water tests?