Sick Axolotl - various problems - Please Help

Hello, I'm new to raising axolotls, and actually just bought two here in Japan because a friend of mine recommended them. I knew basically nothing about them when I bought them, but did research immediately after.

I bought two juvenilles - one albino and one leucistic.
They are of different sizes, the albino is 10cm, and the leucistic is 6cm.
I knew nothing about them when I bought them, but I specifically asked the shop keeper if it was okay to buy two, and he said that they don't fight and that they get along well.
Well... Take them home, and in a few days, I found the leucistic one with the tip of its tail bitten off as well as a missing left leg, and a broken unmoving left arm.

It's now in the fridge (and has been there for about a week) and in accordance to many sites I've visited regarding the matter of broken limbs, I felt it best to amputate the unmoving front arm. Now, the leucistic basically has just stumps on its left side, with fully functioning limbs on its right. I've read that it takes time to regenerate and heal, so I'm not too worried about the limbs coming back slowly or anything. But, I am worried about it not eating or pooping.

I've read in the fridging guide that they make quite a mess within just a day which is why you need to change the water daily. Well, I've been doing so, and it has not pooped at all yet. I have kept the albino in a container during one of my first water changes, and I did notice how much of a mess it made - poop and everything, so I'm worried if there's something wrong with the leucistic one. I know that fridging it also slows the body down which is why it will most likely not eat, but, I'm still worried... It's not eaten or pooped in a full week, and it looks really sick.

The albino one on the contrary eats voraciously and seems very healthy. They both looked healthy at the pet store, so I'm really worried about this leucistic one.

I feed them pellets from the pet store as I can't find blood worms or anything anywhere. I do have meal worms, but know that they're not good for axolotls mainly because of their hard bodies. So, basically, I can only work with pellets.

I'm very worried about the leucistic one and ask any owners out there who might know what's wrong for advice. Below is better information regarding the matter.

Pet Store Tank
Substrate: Gravel
Plants: N/A
Filter: Maybe a Tetra filter...
Tank Size: Smaller than my tank
Hideaways: N/A
Food: Pellets
Water: Dechlorinated
Albino Health: Appeared Good
Leucistic Health: Appeared Good
~There was another smaller albino in there (3 total), but I only bought 2.

My Tank (Previously - I now have two for when it gets out of the fridge)
Substrate: N/A
Plants: Plastic
Hideaways: 2 Fake Hideaways
Filter: Tetra AT-50
Tank Size: H: 30 W: 50 D: 25
Food: Pellets
Water: Dechlorinated
Albino Health: Appears Good
Leucistic Health: Missing both left limbs and part of its tail. Won't eat and won't poop. Currently in the fridge. Changing the water daily with dechlorinated water that's been in the fridge to prevent temperature shock.


Not sure about the nitrate and ammonia levels, but I've been doing 20% water changes every week and the albino seems completely fine, so yeah... Just really worried about the leucistic one

Also attached are pictures. Please help if you can, I am very, very worried - I don't want it to die D:

Juveniles seem to often be cannibalistic. Once they grow older and are the same size they'll get along better. But your tank is not enough for two axolotls, it barely is enough for one. Axies can grow to be over 30 cm so they need a lot of space even though they are pretty lazy most of the time.

I don't think you need to keep your leucistic in the fridge. She needs food so she has the energy to regenerate everything she lost and she most likely won't eat while in the fridge. Take her out and let her warm up for a few hours and then try feeding her. If she doesn't eat right away then try again a little later. Just keep her separated from the other one.

I guess you haven't cycled your tank before you bought the axies? Then 20% water change once a week is nowhere enough. You need to be doing daily water changes big enough to keep ammonia and nitrite levels under 0.5 and nitrAte under 40. You also need to buy liquid test kits for all of those. Ammonia and nitrite are very toxic and could kill the axies if they get too high.
What temperature is your tank?

Also if they had gravel in their tank in the shop then it would be good to keep an eye on them in case they have swallowed any so that it won't cause any problems.

What kind of pellets are you feeding them? They need to be carnivore pellets that are suitable for axies. If you can find earth worms somewhere then those would be good too.

If you can find them, my axie seems to be doing quite well on Hikari sinking carnivore pellets. Are there maybe any tackle and bait shops near you? You might be able to find earth worms there.

keiko said:

Juveniles seem to often be cannibalistic. Once they grow older and are the same size they'll get along better. But your tank is not enough for two axolotls, it barely is enough for one. Axies can grow to be over 30 cm so they need a lot of space even though they are pretty lazy most of the time.

I don't think you need to keep your leucistic in the fridge. She needs food so she has the energy to regenerate everything she lost and she most likely won't eat while in the fridge. Take her out and let her warm up for a few hours and then try feeding her. If she doesn't eat right away then try again a little later. Just keep her separated from the other one.

I guess you haven't cycled your tank before you bought the axies? Then 20% water change once a week is nowhere enough. You need to be doing daily water changes big enough to keep ammonia and nitrite levels under 0.5 and nitrAte under 40. You also need to buy liquid test kits for all of those. Ammonia and nitrite are very toxic and could kill the axies if they get too high.
What temperature is your tank?

Also if they had gravel in their tank in the shop then it would be good to keep an eye on them in case they have swallowed any so that it won't cause any problems.

What kind of pellets are you feeding them? They need to be carnivore pellets that are suitable for axies. If you can find earth worms somewhere then those would be good too.

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Thank you so much for the quick and very detailed reply - I'm really grateful

For now, I have two tanks set up for the 2 axies, and I'll try putting the leucistic back into the other tank after a few days of the proper water change procedure for returning axies to their tanks.

I attempted to cycle it before hand because I read up on ammonia and nitrates and how it affects any aquatic life, but I really can't read the levels because I don't really have access to all of that fancy equipment. The big cities might have it, but I'm in the country with basically nothing, so it's unfortunate, but, I'm keeping an eye on their health and changing the water often. The albino seems very healthy though.

The temperature of my tank is around 22C, but I have a hedgehog, so using the AC is unfortunately not an option. I've read that they're fine until after 23C, so I don't think that's the problem... I think that the problem has to deal more with individualized factors, such as possibly eating gravel, the fact that it was picked on and has no left limbs, or something like that... As for environmental things, they both shared the same environment, so I don't think it's the water or the temperature... I could be totally wrong, but, to me, it just seems like a more likely bet that what affected it the most was an individualized problem over an environmental one...

I have been watching it though, and in one of the pictures that shows its stomach, you can see two separate masses in there, and I'm wondering how you can tell if it's a rock or not. If it's that, then maybe if it poops it out it can return to normal and start eating... hopefully...

I don't really know what kind of pellets they are, because there's basically a picture of an axolotl on it, and the shopkeeper told me that it's axolotl food... I can't read the ingredients because I can't read Japanese, so, I basically just feed them that... but the leucistic has not eaten any of these pellets from the time it got home... The albino is a different story however and does eat them.

Basically, I have one seemingly happy and healthy axolotl, and one who seems quite sick along with some pretty major injuries in my opinion... I'm not sure if it was already sick, or if it ate something like gravel, but all I know is that it doesn't look to happy :/

I would try to find earthworms and stuff, but everywhere I've gone, they don't sell it... I think that it's even a rare find in the bigger cities as well as my friend with an adult axie pretty much only feeds it the pellets from the store too...

I really don't know much except for what I researched after buying them, so I have no real idea about sicknesses and the such. I expected healthy fish that get along, because that's what the shop keeper said. He said they get along well and that they don't fight. But, unfortunately that's not the case...

I really don't know why it won't eat, but it does worry me as I've tried hand feeding, I've tried feeding at different times in the day during my summer vacation, and I even tried the forceps. None of it works, it just stares at it and then swims away... It's really frustrating D:

Cacique said:

If you can find them, my axie seems to be doing quite well on Hikari sinking carnivore pellets. Are there maybe any tackle and bait shops near you? You might be able to find earth worms there.

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Thank you very much for your reply.

There aren't any tackle and bait shops nearby where I live, basically just houses, super markets, and clothes stores, but I think that there are sections in the local stores that might sell fishing rods. I'll definitely try those sections next time, thanks

Try ordering Api freshwater master test kit on Ebay or something like that. I got mine on Ebay. It has liquid test kits for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. Those are the most important tests to do to be sure the water is good.

Axies can tolerate 22 C temperature for some time but ideal is about 16-18 C. If you could get the temperature down to under 20 C it would be good. They also heal better in a bit cooler temperatures. You can get aquarium fans on Ebay that would help bring the temperature down by a couple of degrees. That wouldn't disturb your other pets.

The environmental factors might not be the initial cause why the axie is sick, but they might be making it worse and prevent her from healing. They certainly aren't helping. Axies get infections easier in bad water, lose gills and are generally more stressed and in bad health.

If the axie is still not eating the pellets and you can't get any worms then you could try feeding her pieces of fresh water fish to get her appetite up. I give mine for example some pike-perch or bass sometimes and they love it, snap at it right away. Just make sure the fish is not from the ocean and doesn't have any salt etc. I usually cut the fish fillet into bite size pieces, freeze them and then take out and warm up in lukewarm water a few pieces when ever needed.

Also what do you mean by "the proper water change procedure for returning axies to their tanks"?

keiko said:

Try ordering Api freshwater master test kit on Ebay or something like that. I got mine on Ebay. It has liquid test kits for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. Those are the most important tests to do to be sure the water is good.

Axies can tolerate 22 C temperature for some time but ideal is about 16-18 C. If you could get the temperature down to under 20 C it would be good. They also heal better in a bit cooler temperatures. You can get aquarium fans on Ebay that would help bring the temperature down by a couple of degrees. That wouldn't disturb your other pets.

The environmental factors might not be the initial cause why the axie is sick, but they might be making it worse and prevent her from healing. They certainly aren't helping. Axies get infections easier in bad water, lose gills and are generally more stressed and in bad health.

If the axie is still not eating the pellets and you can't get any worms then you could try feeding her pieces of fresh water fish to get her appetite up. I give mine for example some pike-perch or bass sometimes and they love it, snap at it right away. Just make sure the fish is not from the ocean and doesn't have any salt etc. I usually cut the fish fillet into bite size pieces, freeze them and then take out and warm up in lukewarm water a few pieces when ever needed.

Also what do you mean by "the proper water change procedure for returning axies to their tanks"?

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Do you know if ebay allows us to pay in cash upon delivery? I don't have a credit card and I'm not allowed money transfers as I'm a foreigner, so cash upon delivery is the only option for online shopping for me...

I understand that the water is very important, but since the albino is pretty okay looking to me, I just don't feel that my water is that bad off. If I can pay in cash for things bought on ebay though, I'd definitely buy those things just in case.

The fresh water fish sounds like a great idea - thank you. I will definitely be trying that

The proper procedure in which I'm talking about is number 4 in this: http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...ick-axolotl/85263-axolotl-fridging-guide.html

So, it died...
I just checked on it and it was lifeless, I took it out with no sign of life, and even touched it and it just was dead...

So... I was actually really even to the point of being disgusted with this idea, because it was my pet and not like an already dead frog in a science lab, but I needed to know if it was rocks or not, because if it was, then it obviously clears my conscience a great deal, and if it wasn't rocks then I know that I'm doing something wrong and can definitely change whatever I need to... If, it wasn't rocks and was in fact my fault...

Anyways though, I manned up and dissected it... And just putting it out there, I found no enjoyment in it and almost vommitted... So, I know it's gross, I know it sounds wrong, but I needed an autopsy, and there's no aquatic doctors in this area at this time of night, plus I'd rather not pay for something I can do myself...

So, graphic pictures and details ahead, I cut along the center from its cloaca, and found some poop that never made it out. I felt bad because that particular dark mass was what I had initially thought to be rocks, so I began thinking that it was 100% my fault, then I decided to cut up along the stomach and maybe lungs or heart region? idk, you can look it up for yourself, I don't know the anatomy of an axolotl in the slightest. But then, I found something interesting hidden behind some red stuff. It was a stomach, and it had four pebbles in it...

So, I guess that's why it passed after all. It's really sad because if you can see how large the rocks are compared to it's digestive tract, it's really sad... I can't even imagine how much discomfort it was in... Well, I guess I have the albino left, and I'm lucky that at least it's doing well... I really wanna phone the pet shop and tell them to take the gravel out of their tank now, it makes me really sad that this happened

I'm sorry for your loss. I think it would be good to let the pet shop know what happened and hopefully they'll get the gravel out of the axie tank.