What do I do???

Trixie557 · Dec 29, 2013

Okay, I've been out of state for the past 3 months due to an emergency and had a pet sitter taking care of everyone, minus my service dog. I came home tonight to a horror show. Took the dogs out said hi to everyone, and went to my bedroom to see my little axis who I missed dearly...

The tank was so dirty you couldn't see in it. Aztec is dead IN THE TANK and has been obviously awhile. The other two are starved, as in emaciated. And Eclipse is no longer white but RED from ammonia burns. I called the guy and he told me "oh yea, I forgot to call you and tell you I didn't like feeding worms and you needed to find someone else to feed those things."

I'm really worried about the other two, they are BAD. I have them is a bucket and am draining the tank fully to get it safe again. They refused pellets tonight and I will go get worms in the morning... what else can I do?!?! I'm BAWLING right now.

usafaux2004 · Dec 29, 2013

Is this a professional sitter? Got a contract? At Tue very least I'd be putting out a blast on him/business online and review sites. I'd also do small claims just to mess with him. Report animal abuse as well. No direct experience with fridging/healing axies, but maybe that with tea baths is a go?

willowcat · Dec 29, 2013

I am trying to figure out how to give you wise and sane information. But this guy keeps coming to mind and if I tell to do what I think should be done to him then I would be held in conspiracy. So......all you can do is keep going forward. 2 are still alive. That is what you have to work with. Keep them separated. If they don't eat, you might have to force feed them. That work for me.-----not that I starved them. Back to the kid. How old, 15 to 19? Dweek flickhead torkmack punkass. If he still lives with his parents I would contact them or the agency where you found the worthless little knothead. (I wish that I wouldn't have read this) Good Luck. :angry:

:violent::nono::angry:

ps--put the service dog to work on him!!

Trixie557 · Dec 29, 2013

Ill be talking to my lawyer tomorrow.

Included are a few photos of Eclipse tonight...

willowcat · Dec 29, 2013

No photos posted. Yea lawyer. I like that. Texas....boots....butt....

Trixie557 · Dec 29, 2013

My poor sweet baby :/

Trixie557 · Dec 29, 2013

They guy is in his mid-20s.

Those pictures she is already so much less red since just being in clean safe water. I just don't know what to do to help her (and Mayan). I'll get worms tomorrow and have an order in for our normal worm place that will ship Monday and I'm praying they'll eat. Do I let them have all they want? Do I take it slow? Tea baths? How often? UGH MY BABIES!

willowcat · Dec 29, 2013

I can't 'STAND' (P.E.T.A.) --But there has to be some animal (rights) (I can't stand that P.C. sounding slogan either) group that can blowtorch this little..........
He forgot to call you?
Come on. How can someone forget to call.
Lawyer up.

willowcat · Dec 29, 2013

Let them eat as much as they want. Look at the force feeding tutorial. This was a life saver for 2 of my females that quit eating. If they don't eat then contact me with a personal message, I will give you a little more detail about the force feeding. I have to get away from your post. I am pissed.

Elise · Dec 29, 2013

So far what you have done sounds spot on. I would use two tubs, one axolotl in each, and do 100% water changes daily. Keeping them separated should prevent any biting if they do regain their appetites. Keep them cool and dark. I wouldn't try to do too much tonight, especially being emotional as that can often lead to bad judgement.

We'll see what the others say but force feeding seems a bit drastic until we know how they respond to the improved conditions. Plus it causes tremendous stress on the axolotl.

Trixie557 · Dec 29, 2013

I don't plan to force feed unless they aren't eating in a few days, Tonight I just tried pellets, I'm heading out for worms and bloodworm cubes tomorrow. Right now I have them both in small 5 gallon tanks (each in their own). No sand, no anything. I have a barrel of water setting out so I can do water changes daily. The room they are in stays at 68 on its own, but I have the chiller over the tanks just to be safe and they are setting at 62 right now. I finally kicked myself out of the room so they could settle and have the lights all off. I'm extremely emotional and tonight its best I just step back from them now that they are in clean tanks.

Elise · Dec 29, 2013

Very good. When you do the water changes, to reduce discomfort, remember to match the temperature of the aging water to that of their small tanks. Ice packs in zip lock bags work well.

You can offer food multiple times a day until they show interest. Just remember to remove any uneaten food soon afterwards to keep proper water quality.

Finally, you probably wont see any bowl movements for a while so don't let this worry you at this stage.

auntiejude · Dec 29, 2013

Oh those poor babies!
You have done exactly the right thing, and all I can do is wish your axies a speedy recovery. Worms and TLC will do wonders.
And yes, I would be looking at contacting someone about neglect or animal cruelty prosecution too.

Will you please come back and give us the outcome here? It would be nice to know how your babies are doing in a week or so - we hear so many stories here and never get an update, it would be great to hear how they, and you, get on.

Trixie557 · Dec 29, 2013

Oh course I'll update you guys! Thank you all so much for your input! Now we just see how much fight Eclipse and Mayan have in them <3 My sweet little guys.

Elise · Dec 29, 2013

They are little fighters! I'm sure they're happy you're home now.

Bellabelloo · Dec 29, 2013

I see no need to force feed these, size wise they are not as bad as I would have expected.

Petersgirl · Dec 29, 2013

I really can't believe that guy. 'Those things?' Seriously? How can someone who works with animals be so callous towards them? If it was my job and I didn't know the animal I'd Google search the heck out of it until I knew what to feed and how often. So cross on your behalf right now!

I'm so sorry about Aztec. The poor guy. But at lease you have your two babies left! I'll post up the tea bath tutorial if you need it for Eclipse. She looks much less pink in those photos but I'm just thinking to help soothe her skin. I'd put the tea in her quarantine water and water change it out however often you are water changing her quarantine water. You may have to keep topping it up but I think it can only do good:

Tea bath for axolotls
Contributed by Daniel Weiner, August 2007.

I mainly use teabaths for minor skin problems. It may also be used with fungal problems but on that account I prefer salt baths. Tea has a slightly antifungal and antibacterial effect (resulting from tannins) and additionally it closes the pores in the skin a little bit (mainly resulting from tannin and caffeine). The skin tightens and gets some kind of protective layer, making it harder for fungi and bacteria to intrude the body. On the other hand it makes it harder for salt or medicine to reach pathogens which are already inside the body - that is the reason I do not use it on fungal infections, although a tea bath is sometimes recommended as a cure for fungal infections by some people.
The medication is as follows: I take one bag of black tea without any additional aroma (it is important to use black tea because this kind of tea is fermented and so it has tannins) for every 10 litres of water (preferably used in a quarantine tank). This tea gets dashed with boiling water in a seperate bowl - I leave it there for at least 10 to 15 minutes so the tannins are resolved into the water. The tea has to cool down and is finally added to the quarantine water. After a week I make a bigger change of water (60% at least), the rest of the tea is removed over time by normal water changes. If you have to make more regular water changes (f.i. in a small bowl or tank) the tea concentration can be refilled. As far as I know there are no negative effects even for long term treatment.
A similar effect (although not as strong) may have the addition of dried oak or beech leafs now and then as a precaution.

Good luck! Please keep us updated!

Trixie557 · Dec 29, 2013

Petstore was out of blood worms AND worms, and we snubbed pellets again today. That's even with me trying to hand feed pellets like I do worms. So I have to run around tomorrow and try and find worms. They are a bit more active today.

usafaux2004 · Dec 29, 2013

Walmart near by? Fishing sections have fridge with worms.

Trixie557 · Dec 29, 2013

usafaux2004 said:
Walmart near by? Fishing sections have fridge with worms.

OHHH!!!! I'm off to Walmart!

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