Illness/Sickness: Sos axolotls in need of help!

FreyaJG · Nov 1, 2013

Help!

Have two Axolotls one wild type and a leucistic and they both have a bad fungal infection causing them to lose there gill frills and its covering their eyes!!
Have been in the fridge for a week now and are having daily salt baths but hasent got any better!

My leucistic axie is much better but my wildtype has got worse! He will not eat and is extremely weak and now floats upside down and struggles to turn himself back over!

Really worried and any advise or knolege of what and how is causing this and how to get rid of it will be muchly appreciated!

Dont want my Oscar and Dezzie to be ill anymore!

THANKYOUU

CJ1981 · Nov 2, 2013

Hi, I'm sorry to hear of your predicament.

You will get better advice if you are able to provide some photos and give details of your water parameters (ammonia, ph, nitrites, nitrates, temp etc). I would guess that it is an issue with your water quality.

FreyaJG · Nov 3, 2013

unfortunutely my wildtype Axolotl passed away yesterday

and my other leucistic axolotl is much better but it just has white fungus covering his eyes, it says on another post i read that it may be cateracs? why would this suddenly happen? and there only 7 months old!

PatchworkClocks · Nov 3, 2013

FreyaJG said:
unfortunutely my wildtype Axolotl passed away yesterday and my other leucistic axolotl is much better but it just has white fungus covering his eyes, it says on another post i read that it may be cateracs? why would this suddenly happen? and there only 7 months old!

Cataracts only occur in older animals. We really need to see photos before anyone can help you any further.

FreyaJG · Nov 7, 2013

Here are some pictures he seems all in good health just his eyes hes eating well just that!

Kaysie · Nov 7, 2013

I don't really see anything wrong with your axolotl.

What's your water quality like?

FreyaJG · Nov 8, 2013

His water quality is fine just his eyes are cloudy and he lost the feathers on his gills suddenly just dont know what it could be!

Kaysie · Nov 8, 2013

Cloudy eyes is often a sign of nutritional deficiency, and upside down floating can be a sign of lack of food. What are you offering?

FreyaJG · Nov 10, 2013

I am currently feeding defrosted blood worms and pellets I alternative between the two, and occasionally live earthworm when I am able to find one haha

PatchworkClocks · Nov 10, 2013

Are there any pet shops or bait shops you could go to that sell earth worms? Blood worms and pellets are okay, but they don't have as many benefits for axolotls as earth worms do. You could even dig some up from an untreated garden or plot of land (no fertilizers, no pesticides, no chemicals at all) and start your own worm farm. You just need a bucket, some plain soil with no chemicals or fertilizers, and some potatoes to feed the worms with. They breed faster than rabbits!

AquaticJess · Nov 10, 2013

I feed mine a mix of Instant Ocean brand meaty foods, thawed tiger shrimp, feeder guppies and blood worms. I try to stay away from dry food as much as possible. I hope it's enough variety. My 'lotls seem to love it all!!

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PatchworkClocks · Nov 11, 2013

AquaticJess said:
I feed mine a mix of Instant Ocean brand meaty foods, thawed tiger shrimp, feeder guppies and blood worms. I try to stay away from dry food as much as possible. I hope it's enough variety. My 'lotls seem to love it all!!

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Instant Ocean? I'm not sure you should be feeding that to an axolotl... You should probably switch that over to earth worms, nightcrawlers, or red wigglers.

AquaticJess · Nov 11, 2013

I will give worms a try but Instant Ocean is nothing more than a brand. I've read the ingredients and I see nothing harmful with the variety of krill, brine shrimp, and vitamins this food contains. Like I said, I keep a variety of nutritious foods for my lotls and they seem to enjoy it just the same. The IO foods are only what I had left over from a previous fish tank and I see no reason for throwing it out.

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auntiejude · Nov 11, 2013

PatchworkClocks said:
Instant Ocean? I'm not sure you should be feeding that to an axolotl...

'Instant Ocean' is a brand of frozen aquarium food, the same as the 'Gamma' brand I use (or Aquamarine, or BCUK etc). Google it, its perfectly safe.

My top tip for axies who won't eat is a freshly blanched worm. Put a worm in a little tub and splash boiling water over it, then cool it immediately with cold water. It kills the worm so it's not going to struggle, and prevents if from excreting that goo they sometimes make in defense, but it's still fresh and nutritious.

FreyaJG · Nov 11, 2013

Ok thanks guys ill try that!

Looking at taking dezzie out of the fridge and returning him back into his tank, how would I go about putting him back in safely?

AquaticJess · Nov 11, 2013

I would recommend properly acclimating him, for sure. Float his container in the tank for an hour to bring the temperature level back up, and slowly add some tank water to his container every 15 mins so he doesn't go into shock. I would also recommend keeping the lights off to make it easier on him

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PatchworkClocks · Nov 11, 2013

auntiejude said:
'Instant Ocean' is a brand of frozen aquarium food, the same as the 'Gamma' brand I use (or Aquamarine, or BCUK etc). Google it, its perfectly safe.

I wasn't sure. I'd never heard of it prior to this so I figured I would just go on the cautious side. Good to know, though.

FreyaJG · Nov 23, 2013

Hey guys just to let you guys know my other axolotl passed away yesterday

dont know why

Maybe died of a broken heart and loneliness

He was fine in the morning when I returned later from work later that day he was dead!

What could cause sudden death? Water conditions temperature and everything was normal! And I know this sounds weird but do axolotls float when they die?
Becausr neither of mine did? Dezzie was nose down to the floor and his body was vertically up..

Any ideas?

Thanks again

AquaticJess · Nov 23, 2013

So sorry for your loss

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FreyaJG · Nov 23, 2013

Hey guys just to let you guys know my other axolotl passed away yesterday

dont know why

Maybe died of a broken heart and loneliness

He was fine in the morning when I returned later from work later that day he was dead!

What could cause sudden death? Water conditions temperature and everything was normal! And I know this sounds weird but do axolotls float when they die?
Becausr neither of mine did? Dezzie was nose down to the floor and his body was vertically up..

Any ideas?

Thanks again

Illness/Sickness: Sos axolotls in need of help!

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