Help! Bumps or Blisters or something on their skin!

Hey all, I have no idea what's going on with my axolotls! I came home from after 2 weeks in college and my axolotls developed this weird syptom. They have bumps that are ashen colored and raised all over their bodies. It looks like it has something to their slime coat. They are currently in the fridge but I have no idea what is causing this. The temp in their tank is 60 degrees F, the amonia is 0, nitrites are 0 and nitrites are a little over 20. The only thing about the water in their tank is a little cloudy but I'm not sure if that's the because my mom does regular water changes. Some pictures are attached. Should I do a tea bath? I don't want to treat it just to let it happen all over again.
Thanks for any help!

Does anyone know what this could be or how I should treat it??? Please I don't want to hurt these guys because I didn't know what I was doing.

An update on this thread even though it seems like no one else knows what's going on.
It almost looks like their shedding their mucus! Their tail fins are also shrinking at an alarming rate, but not their gills so it can't be a morphing process. My leucistics' skin is all red now as well.
If anyone has any ideas on what else I can do. ANYTHING. Please help. I don't want to lose them.

Hi,

I'm no axie expert (yet) but here's some threads which might be similar? Hope they help. Some experts might be along soon to give advise. They look a good weight, are they still eating well? Your water parameters look fine too. Do you use dechlorinator or allow the water to sit for 24 - 48 hours when doing water changes? - The second thread found that a dechlorinator might have been to blame.

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...ll-white-bumps-all-over-skin-please-help.html

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...xolotl/85905-axolotls-covered-tiny-bumps.html

Hope your little one is ok, I've read almond leaves or tea (like you said) may help sooth skin. It might be worth trying that. I don't know if salt baths would help? Can anyone else recommend treatment?

If nobody has an answer do you have a local vet you can take them to?

Thank you for your replies! I really appreciate it!
Yep, they are all eating well. They seemed a little lethargic even before I put them in the fridge.
The first one says something about using salt baths. Do you think that might help?
I do use dechlorinator. I found that second thread when the bumps first showed up two weeks ago, I switched from a dechlorinator with slime coat additives to one without it.
I've got a tea bath steeped I just need it to cool down then I'll try starting a tea bath to try and at least give them some relief.
I haven't been able to find a local vet who even knows what an axolotl is. I'm still looking though. Thanks for that suggestion!
Again, thank you for helping!

Sorry I can't be much help. I'm a new axie owner so all the knowledge I have is from these forums! It's hard to believe you haven't had any replies yet, but I hope the tea helps. Keep me updated

You helped way more than you think. You're pretty knowledgeable for being new
Thanks, I'll keep you posted

gfsward said:

You helped way more than you think. You're pretty knowledgeable for being new
Thanks, I'll keep you posted

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I spend way too much time reading these forums hehe! :grin:

HI Grace,
It's a tough call. My guess is something your mother did might have caused the problem. Overfeeding can cause cloudy water and an unbalanced tank. Most problems are from to warm of a tank, overfeeding , or inadequate biological filtration. Some other problem areas are improper food, disease introduced from live food especially fish, ornaments that aren't aquarium safe, plants or objects from another tank that might be carrying disease or pollutants.
I don't do a lot of big water changes and try to balance the tank. Maybe something was done wrong in a water change. Their is a possibility of either a bacterial or fungal skin infection. It could start out bacterial and turn to fungal. I don't think their is an easy way to tell without a vet. check. It is hard to find a vet that is helpful with amphibians. Salt baths can be irritating to bad infections. My shotgun treatment for such problems is furan 2 at 1/2 to full strength. It treats gram positive and gram negative bacterial problems. It also treats fungus. It is a good treatment for most common problems other than parasites. Of course their are lots of maladies that could look the same in axolotls. My guess is that something affected the water quality and it compromised the skin. The skin became infected.
You now need to treat the infection and review the husbandry techniques that were used by you and in your absence to be sure the problem doesn't happen again. I would start by cleaning the filter well, doing a partial water change, and treating the ill animals in the tank with Furan 2. You should be able to pick up Furan 2 at major pet shops, Foster and Smith, or That Fish Place on line.