Changed water, now axolotl is red and white gills

Hi everyone.

Today was tank cleaning day and everything went fine. I didn't do anything differently and my other two axolotls are fine. Parameters are fine

I just noticed that Rosie, however, was very red. Her gills are also white and forward. I tried to see if I could brush it off, see if it was fungus. But it seems to be her gills that are becoming white.

I moved her out of her tank of course and into clean cool water, but she doesn't look good. Not moving much. I noticed when I took her out of her tank that my hands got kind of slimy/greasy. It didn't want to come off in water. Also, her tank is a little cloudy. I have no idea what that could be (something in the tank? Her slime coat?)

Please help...she looks like she may be dying. I'm usually pretty calm when it comes to my axolotl care (injuries, the odd tank protein coat.) But I am about ready to break down because of this. I have no idea what could have happened.

On closer inspection of the tank, I smell chlorine or something of that sort. The other two tanks don't smell. I may have forgotten the dechlorinator. And I hurt her...Oh god, I hurt her

I still don't know what to do. She is looking a little less red and is beating her gills. It looks like a little red is coming back into them. If this is indeed the case, is there anything I can do, besides keep her out of her tank until I can fix it? She's in shallow, cool, water. Isn't moving much, but she is moving her gills.. I hope that's a good sign...I can't believe I could have neglected that. I hurt my baby

Aside from making sure that dechlorinator is now added to her water, I'm not sure if there is anything else that you can do. Keep her comfortable and loss stress. Dim lighting, clean cool water, and her favorite food. Good luck :happy:

She looks a little bloated - can you get some more pictures? One of the underside of her chin, and one with all her limbs in view.

Chlorine is one explanation, but there may be something else going on.

I will try to get another picture tonight. Her face does look puffy. Guess I didn't think about that symptom much, just that it was an effect of the chlorine burning her.

She did seem better today. She's in a small tank with cool water. She swam around a little more. Still doesn't look very good. Her gills are still pretty white, though I thought a little red was coming back in. And the stalk (?) of the gill is red. She was beating them last night after I moved her.

I made sure to put towel over her today to keep it dim. I also have another small tank waiting that is dechlorinated already so I will put her in that when I get home.

I guess it's just a wait and see kind of thing now. Like I said, I will try to get a better picture tonight. I didn't really look to see if she was puffy today. I was just thankful she was still alive. I hope there's nothing else wrong :-S

She's gone. :'(

I'm so sorry, Rosie.

Oh I'm sorry for your loss.

The reason I asked about her face was because I thought it looked puffy. Bloating can be a sign of many different illnesses, including septacaemia and kidney, liver or heart problems.

Her face was very bloated when I checked on her...something went wrong. Whether it was chlorine poisoning or something else...she's gone.She was normal until yesterday...I feel so terrible. I killed my baby. My first baby

So sorry for your loss!

I'm sorry for your loss, she looked like a fantastic axie,
You tried your best,

I'm sorry for the loss of your beautiful axolotl. Mistakes and accidents happen. That is what makes us human. I know there has been at least one time when I forgot to add the water conditioner right when I was gonna add my axolotls back into their tank. But then I suddenly realized what I almost did and was fortunate my axies hadn't touched the new water yet.

I hope you find some comfort during your grieving process.

Thanks everyone. I feel so terrible, especially because it was my fault. Haven't been able to stop crying. She was my first axie from my undergrad school. And she kinda got me hooked on herpetology. Not that I wouldn't be devastated if my other two were to die. But she was really special to me. Haven't even been able to take down her tank yet. Too sad for now.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Try not to blame yourself, you were doing your best to care for her. It could have been something unrelated to what you did, and you making a mistake is not killing your axolotl.