Swollen bottom jaw

axolotl newbie

axolotl newbie

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Burrito didn't want her worm this morning which is unusual as she's normally a pig. I've just noticed her lower jaw/chin area is swollen and her mouth is slightly open. It feels firm but not hard. Nothing in there she could have got lodged in her mouth. Her gills are slightly curled like she is stressed. Any ideas? Nachos is fine. I've just done a 40% water change. The temperature is 16 degrees.


Edit: thinking about it she does often snap at the silk plants when she sees me near the tank. They have plastic stems- could a scratch inside her mouth cause this and if so what should I do?
 

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Does she look swollen anywhere else? I.e; her abdomen or legs? Is it possible a piece of the plant could have actually got lodge in there and there's definitely nothing else she could have sucked up?
 
it dosnt look too bad but if she has lost her apatite check there is nothing stuck in her mouth. if it is a scratch it should heal be itself but keep us up to date. hope she is better soon. she is very pretty
 
This sounds just like what happened to my axolotl Fang before she died.
It was a case of a swollen jaw as if she was choking, and curled gills but there was absolutely nothing she could have choked on in the tank + the parameters checked out just fine.
I THINK she was experiencing heat stress or stress from temperature change due to a water change i did the weekend she died. I know this post probably means nothing because you say your water is cool, although i thought i'd share what happened to mine since the symptoms are so similar.
But, I did find one really good article which said amphibians experience throat convulsions in situations of heat stress.
 
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I did wonder if she could have a piece of plastic plant stuck. How would I go about checking without hurting her? She's hiding at the moment so can't see if she's still swollen.

She isn't swollen anywhere else- I can see her body but she has her head in a plant pot.
 
Well she just ate a small piece of prawn and managed to swallow it- so presumably that means there's nothing stuck in her mouth. She still looks the same as yesterday. At least it hasn't got worse....
 
Here's another picture
 

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It's great she's eaten something & that it's not getting worse.

Here's hoping that she recovers quickly.



<3 >o_o< <3
 
She's looking a little worse today. I just managed to have a very quick look in her mouth and although I couldn't get it fully open in looks pretty swollen inside.
 
Not really, but she isn't usually that active anyway. She doesn't make too much effort to get away when I pick her up to examine her. Normally she'd snap at my fingers or swim away as soon as I put my hand in the tank. She's still wriggly, just not as energetic or strong as before. She's clearly not herself :(
 
Shoot, i'm sorry.. Do you know offhand what the water parameters are?
 
I've been trying to look up something that might help (I'm sure you've looked at the same stuff).

Couple questions:

--Could you post a picture of her from before without the swelling?
--Does it look infected to you at all?
If so, a tea bath might help. Or salt bath? What do others think?

If it looks infected, I've also found other posts where vets have prescribed antibiotics.

Did you already mention what the water temperature is? Do others on here feel that lowering the temperature would help to promote healing?

Sending good vibes her way (and yours).
 
The temperature is 16 degrees. I can't really tell if it looked infected- it looked flesh coloured, not red, but it did look swollen rather than the usual big gaping cavern of doom.

Here's a picture of her before the swelling. Her eyes have been looking a little more buldgy too. Nothing drastic but I can see it clearly as I know her face so well.
 

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Sorry to be so difficult, but could you take a picture of her now at that same angle (as the last picture you posted). It's a little hard for me to compare. Do you think it could be an allergic reaction to something???
 
I'll try tomorrow- they're in my son's bedroom, who is now asleep. Also will have to see if she assumes that position again!
 
Oh and she hasn't eaten anything unusual- unless she has accidentally eaten a bit of fake plant, and her sister in the tank with her is absolutely fine. I was reading threads where similar looking axies were suggested to have some kind of heart condition due to over feeding, but she isn't overfed.

I'm so hoping it's just a scratch caused by the fake plants as she was really snapping at them the other day. But if it gets worse I will have to try to get her to the vet but we're having the usual snow mayhem here at the moment and the nearest exotics vet is an hour away by public transport on a good day!
 
axolotl newbie said:
Oh and she hasn't eaten anything unusual- unless she has accidentally eaten a bit of fake plant, and her sister in the tank with her is absolutely fine. I was reading threads where similar looking axies were suggested to have some kind of heart condition due to over feeding, but she isn't overfed.

I'm so hoping it's just a scratch caused by the fake plants as she was really snapping at them the other day. But if it gets worse I will have to try to get her to the vet but we're having the usual snow mayhem here at the moment and the nearest exotics vet is an hour away by public transport on a good day!
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I don't think it could hurt to try a tea bath to help sooth it if it is inflamed from a scratch or something. Have you read about tea baths? If not, I can try to post something about how to do it. I just read about them recently.
 
I've read some threads on here about tea baths. In other threads with similar pictures fridging was recommended and it turned out the axolotl had eaten gravel. I've had her since she was egg and have never had gravel in with them.
I can also ring the exotics vet in my area tomorrow and see if they can offer any advice over the phone.

Thanks for the help :)
 
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