Illness/Sickness: Help Alfie the Axolotl looks sick

Alfieissick · Aug 25, 2013

My daughter's axolotl Alfie seems to be shrinking in size. We bought him in late April this year. We started to notice a decline in his weight mid July so we changed his food from blood worms to earth worms. He started eating these, but now for the last couple of days he hasn't been interested. His gils look really small and I have noticed he is going up to the surface for air. He is also opening his mouth a lot under water which I have not noticed before.

We were thinking of fridging him, to give him a chance to survive what every is going on. We did a full water test last night and PH was 7.1 & Amonia was 0.1.

Can anyone help me determine what is wrong with my daughters beloved pet.

Alfieissick · Aug 25, 2013

BTW I am new to this site, so please bare with me while I try to figure out how to do this all.. Any help with be much appreciated.

Also how do i find this post again to find the responses, if any?

TheJadeAxolotl · Aug 25, 2013

Any tank mates? He almost looks like he is morphing. O.O I don't have much experience with Axolotls, but I have had a Tiger Salamander Larvae Morph. And he looked pretty similar. Didn't eat much either. Are you chopping up the Earthworms?

By the way, click your username in the right hand top corner. Scroll down a bit and click the "Statistics" tab. Then click the link that says "Find All Threads Started By YOURUSERNAME"

hannahll · Aug 25, 2013

Have you been testing your water frequently? It could be that you did have high ammonia at one point or maybe even a lack of aeration? He looks very thin, how often do you feed him?

Alfieissick · Aug 25, 2013

I feed him every day, maybe 1 - 2 worms if he will have them. But he hasn't been eating for a few days. We do not chop them up, are we suppose to?

I thought he would prefer the kill better if they are moving?

TheJadeAxolotl said:
Any tank mates? He almost looks like he is morphing. O.O I don't have much experience with Axolotls, but I have had a Tiger Salamander Larvae Morph. And he looked pretty similar. Didn't eat much either. Are you chopping up the Earthworms?

By the way, click your username in the right hand top corner. Scroll down a bit and click the "Statistics" tab. Then click the link that says "Find All Threads Started By YOURUSERNAME"

Alfieissick · Aug 25, 2013

I use to feed him every day, however some days he would only eat every two.

Now he is just not eating.

We test the water every month. Should we do it more?

hannahll said:
Have you been testing your water frequently? It could be that you did have high ammonia at one point or maybe even a lack of aeration? He looks very thin, how often do you feed him?

Alfieissick · Aug 25, 2013

Hi TheJadeAxolotl,

I didn't think axolotls morphed? I have noticed he keeps going up to the surface a lot more than usual, however this could be due to his gills looking so small and almost shrinking/disappearing.

TheJadeAxolotl said:
Any tank mates? He almost looks like he is morphing. O.O I don't have much experience with Axolotls, but I have had a Tiger Salamander Larvae Morph. And he looked pretty similar. Didn't eat much either. Are you chopping up the Earthworms?

By the way, click your username in the right hand top corner. Scroll down a bit and click the "Statistics" tab. Then click the link that says "Find All Threads Started By YOURUSERNAME"

MochiGuu · Aug 26, 2013

What about the temperature? Anything above 22°C can make axolotls very sick and kill them. Try to gently change the water and take out any organic matter you may have added around the time he got sick. Also you may want to lower the water level if he comes up for air a lot. This will make it easier for him in his weakened state.

Alfieissick · Aug 26, 2013

The water temperature is 18 degrees c.

MochiGuu said:
What about the temperature? Anything above 22°C can make axolotls very sick and kill them. Try to gently change the water and take out any organic matter you may have added around the time he got sick. Also you may want to lower the water level if he comes up for air a lot. This will make it easier for him in his weakened state.

narny101 · Aug 26, 2013

axies don't often morph, however some do for no apparent reason, but just to make sure i would be prepared for him to change, for now i suggest moving him into a new container and see if he starts to eat

xxianxx · Aug 26, 2013

That axolotl appears to be starving rather than morphing. How big is it and how much were you actually feeding ? You only mentioned it has been off its food for the last couple of days, it takes weeks for an axolotl to get from the fine condition it was to its present state . The two most likely reasons are that you have been underfeeding or the axolotl is impacted. I notice in the pic that you have small pebbles/gravel, which could be a potential impaction risk. Another reason for the axolotls weight loss is an unrecognized medical problem which would need a specialist vet to check out. Your axolotl is not far off death, if you cant get it to eat it will die soon , I have seen similar ones make a full recovery but you need to find out what the problem is. If you can get it to a herp vet do so asap.

MochiGuu · Aug 26, 2013

The gravel... of course. Just now I noticed how big it is. It's about bite-sized and that's a problem. They can swallow stuff by accident or because they simply aren't the sharpest pencil in the pencil case, and the rock may cause a blockage anywhere between the esophagus and the anus. Can you gently pat him down to see if you feel something too solid to be part of the animal? One owner once managed to fish a large rock out of her axolotl's intestine without surgery, but I'm not recommending that unless you can be sure you know what to do.

emmyk · Aug 26, 2013

^ the gravel. Also get rid of the gravel immediately. Hopefully he will pass some stones.

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Alfieissick · Aug 28, 2013

He ate two worms yesterday

but I am taking him to a specialised vet on saturday 2 days away, if he survives until then.

Petersgirl · Aug 28, 2013

Good luck! Let us know how Alfie gets on!

PS The eating is a good sign. Also, if he is impacted, the worms will 'coat' the stones allowing for easier passage, so hopefully these will help tide him over.

Alfieissick · Aug 29, 2013

He's not eating again today

I hope he just makes 1 more day before we can get to the specialist vet. Does anyone know how long you can keep an axolotl in a container of declorinated water for? Do you need a pump?

QUOTE=Petersgirl;389270]Good luck! Let us know how Alfie gets on!

PS The eating is a good sign. Also, if he is impacted, the worms will 'coat' the stones allowing for easier passage, so hopefully these will help tide him over.[/QUOTE]

Deleted member 20061 · Aug 29, 2013

Mine have been in tupperware boxes for a couple of weeks, as long as you do complete water changes everyday he'll be fine.

Alfieissick · Aug 30, 2013

Jojo86 said:
Mine have been in tupperware boxes for a couple of weeks, as long as you do complete water changes everyday he'll be fine.

He seems to be eating.. Still looking small, skinny, but at least he's eating

Alfieissick · Aug 31, 2013

Alfieissick said:
He seems to be eating.. Still looking small, skinny, but at least he's eating

Alfie passed away.. My daughter had a funeral for him in the back yard. Very sad to lose him, but hopefully he is happy in axie heaven. I think we will get her another one sometime, but I feel we will be more knowledgeable next time and can refer to this forum for help.

Thanks everyone

xxianxx · Aug 31, 2013

Before you get a new axolotl it is important to find out why the last one died. How much where you feeding him daily ?

Illness/Sickness: Help Alfie the Axolotl looks sick

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