So my dad has had an axolotl for about a year now. It had been doing great until about a week ago. The tank it was in sprung a leak and the entire thing drained. My dad found him in the morning in an empty tank out of water, not sure how long it had been like that. It was still alive, so he put it in a bucket until I could get it and throw it in one of my empty tanks.
I put it in and some of his skin was kind of hanging/peeling off, nothing too bad at first. He was very lethargic at first, but then started swimming around and seemed ok. Maybe about a day later I noticed the skin on his entire belly was turning fluffy and white. After about a day of this the entire patch of skin on his belly started peeling off. When it all came off it was red and raw looking underneath, as if you were to skin your knee on the pavement outside.
Now the horrible part. After about a day or two of this his guts started to hang out of his stomach. Just a tiny bit was visible at first, but within 24 hours it was horrible and large amounts of guts and organs and other stuff is hanging out from a big rip in his stomach. He is still alive and swimming a bit, but I think he must be in terrible pain? Should I put him out of his misery? If so what would be the best way to do it? Something quick and painless. I know axolotls can regenerate limbs, but I don't think this is something that can be fixed.
Also, does anyone have any kind of explanation as to what happened? Has anyone ever experienced anything similar?
I put it in and some of his skin was kind of hanging/peeling off, nothing too bad at first. He was very lethargic at first, but then started swimming around and seemed ok. Maybe about a day later I noticed the skin on his entire belly was turning fluffy and white. After about a day of this the entire patch of skin on his belly started peeling off. When it all came off it was red and raw looking underneath, as if you were to skin your knee on the pavement outside.
Now the horrible part. After about a day or two of this his guts started to hang out of his stomach. Just a tiny bit was visible at first, but within 24 hours it was horrible and large amounts of guts and organs and other stuff is hanging out from a big rip in his stomach. He is still alive and swimming a bit, but I think he must be in terrible pain? Should I put him out of his misery? If so what would be the best way to do it? Something quick and painless. I know axolotls can regenerate limbs, but I don't think this is something that can be fixed.
Also, does anyone have any kind of explanation as to what happened? Has anyone ever experienced anything similar?