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Advice Needed!

ChevronandDill

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I have a 4yr old male axolotl who is sick. He shares a 90 gallon tank divided with plexiglass (so they share the same water though), with a female in the other side (I got tired of the fights and the babies!). Sand substrate and two filters. I have had them for 3 years, and nothing about their set-up has changed in approx. 2yrs. The female is fine, eating and acting normal and looking healthy.

My male stopped eating about 2 weeks ago. Just no interest. I mostly just leave them to do their own thing, but noticed the pellets were there (they have always been on axolotl pellets since they were raised by my friend.) and being ignored. I then noticed his stomach looked big (I had thought he was just fat). However since then I have paid more attention and had not seen him poop, wasn’t eating, and big dark belly. He was not floating, and still walking around, although less active and hiding more. After just over a week of not eating I decided maybe he was constipated so put him in the fridge. It is at 6 degrees, water change every day, and he has been in there for 4 days. The first day he did do a poop, that looked dark and harder than normal. He has not pooped since. Has no interest in food but I know that is normal in the fridge. He is in the Tupperware (with holes) with his nose poking up out of the water all the time. His tail is red, and he has developed small red veins since being in the fridge. His belly still looks large and dark.

Should I keep him in the fridge longer, or take him out, reacclimatise him and put him back in the tank? I am concerned that after two weeks of not eating, if that first poop was what was stuck, then maybe keeping him in the fridge longer will starve him/do more damage. However as his belly still looks big and dark maybe he should stay longer. I would welcome advice. Maybe it isn’t constipation at all?

Thanks!!
 

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It looks to me like your axie has prolapse and/or fluid retention. The best thing you can do for him is take him to the vet immediately for treatment. Do you have any exotic vets in your area?
 
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Edit: If your axolotl does have prolapse, then I would recommend moving the axolotl to a sterile environment, the prolapse should right itself in a short period of time but needs to be kept very clean until it does so. If you cannot find a vet to take a look at it then it is possible to reinsert the prolapsed tissue yourself, this can be done very carefully with a cotton bud, care must be taken to ensure that the prolapsed tissue is clean and does not get twisted when reinserting. If it is fluid retention, then there isn't much you can do about it except take your axie to the vet for treatment.
 

ChevronandDill

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Thank you for your help, but what part looks like a prolapse? From my research on that it looks like a dark mass coming out, which I cannot see anything coming out at all? His rear end has pretty much always looked as it looks now. I did think of fluid retention but most photos I could find about that didn't have the dark belly.

I do not have any vets in my city that will do anything for Axolotls unfortunately. They can only just about handle guinea pigs and not really hedgehogs, let alone axolotls.
 

ChevronandDill

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Update. After 5 days in the fridge I reacclimatised his water temp and put him back in the tank because nothing seemed to be happening in the fridge (no more poop) and am concerned about not eating for so long. However he has spend the entire time in a corner with his head sticking above water, and when repositioning is floating around, sometimes on his belly with legs waving. These are symptoms of bloat I know. It does not look good for him. I am not sure why this has happened after 3 years with no changes. I have contacted local vets to see if anyone is able to help.
 

ChevronandDill

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New update. He did not do well back in the tank. floated upright trying to get head above water. balanced on the tip of his tail and made it bleed :( Found an exotics vet who had not treated axolotls before, but was used to salamanders. She took a look at him and agreed he looked bad. I had x-rays done, and there is a clear impaction. halfway down his body so she said couldn't go in there unless surgery. Neither of us think he would survive surgery, and she told me to put an axolotl under you have to use cocaine, which she did not have access to, and would have to put an emergency drug order in. She also said she had no idea how much to give. So he is now back in the fridge, nose above water, just lying there. I had decided to give him a bit more fridge time in the HOPE he may pass it. I can only think that for some reason it is a build up of sand as there are no rocks at all in his substrate and nothing else I can think of (or that it looked like) on the x-ray. If he passes away the vet has asked me if she can do an autopsy, which I agreed to. I am torn though as to how long I should keep him in the fridge, or whether I should just euthanize him. I want to give him a chance, but also don't want him to suffer! He is at least quiet in the fridge, but the veins on his body have gotten worse and he has gotten a purplish tinge around his head. Going to sleep on it. Any advice would be appreciated. I love the little guy, its been 3 years!
 
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