New (first) axolotl very sick!

I'm so glad my account has come through so I can get some help!

It's been four days since I got an axolotl. On the first or second I noticed that her tail was hooked, and I thought it might have been stress from the move. The pet store guy said to feed her when I got her home, but she wasn't interested.

Late in the second day, she developed some white spots on her skin- the first is small and on her head, the second was bigger and on her side. They didn't seem wooly or three-dimensional at all, and the pet shop said she was probably just stressed still when I called.

When I woke up on the third day, the spots had spread- including a huge portion of her other side, which I hadn't noticed the day before- and were definitely woolly. Her tail was still hooked, and she still hadn't taken any food. I went and bought a thermometer and the tank was reading at just under 20, so I suppose this could be heat stress, but it just seems to be moving so fast.

I put her in the fridge following the tutorial and I just gave her a second salt bath. She's been in there for two days and baths now and her tail is still hooked, with the fungus looking woolier if anything. It isn't on her gills though, and she doesn't look like it's spread any more.

Is there anything else I can do? I bought an anti-fungal thing from the pet shop that the list said was okay (methylene blue), but I'm not sure how or when to use it. I was also wondering if she is okay in the fridge if the water is around 7-11 degrees consistantly.

I'm sorry if this post is super long, I'm just really worried. I'll post some photos from my phone in a sec and the tank was:
Ammonia consistantly at around 0.25ppm, nitrite higher- I did lots of water changes, not sure what else to do. Ph just under 8, sand substrate. Also, her name is Rex.

Here are photos, sorry about quality.

In the second photo there's a red spot on the fungus, that's actually a worm I tried to feed her that got lodged in it, and it seems stuck- I'm scared to pull it away hard. Feeling super gross and not okay about that having happened.

How long did you age/cycle your tank for before you brought her? I'm thinking the move was probably pretty stressful and the fungus has taken advantage. (Have you shown photos to the pet shop, emailed them if they're too far?) Hopefully someone will have suggestions for you soon. I hope she heals over, poor mite!

When I called the second time, the pet shop had me bring her in person. Which was scary! The person I bought her from wasn't there though, and the other guys just basically said it was, indeed, fungus. Everything I've been trying is from the forum, really.

The tank had been set up for about a week? I've been using Stability (the pet shop recommended it, I hope that isn't axolotl poison) and a friend gave me some filter media. She has fish and she said I should be okay to pop the axolotl in with that (I did the day after)

I think the best thing to do is to move Rex into a container with cool, clean, dechlorinated water, somewhere safe and dark, which is what I suspect you did to keep Rex in the fridge. I'm not sure your tank is cycled and keeping Rex in there might stress her out more. Don't forget to keep your dechlorinated water in the fridge too for daily water changes as you don't want temperature shock on top of the fungus. She might not have eaten the first night as moving does stress them out a bit and they don't eat when they're too stressed - like us really.

Keep doing the salt baths to get rid of the fungus - they may take a while - and try to feed every day. Don't worry if she doesn't eat or poop yet as her body is going through a lot at the moment. It'll take time for the fungus to clear completely. When it does, I'd suggest tea baths to keep the fungus out and ensure the skin has time to heal from the salt baths and the fungus. Personally I wouldn't use the Methylene Blue because the salt baths alone are quite stressful. I'd just stick to the salt baths for now, and try feeding and water changing the tubs every day. It will take time but she should get there

In the meantime I'd make sure your tank is cycled. One way to do this is to add the poopy water from the tubs every time you change Rex's water. This way, your bacteria get a chance to adjust to the new axxie waste. Hope this helps and that Rex is better soon!

Adding the old water to the tank is an awesome idea, thankyou! I was puzzling over keeping the tank cycling.

What food would you recommend trying? I have pellets, beef heart and bloodworms (I think they are bloodworms)

I've got another photo. She's been in the fridge with daily salt baths for four or five days now. On the plus side, She's still alive. Her gills still look fine. She Still hasn't eaten, but I guess that isn't the end of the world yet. What's freaking me out is that the fungus, while not spreading across her, is getting way woolier. Can anyone tell me if that means it's getting worse or better? Is there a page with different kinds of axolotl fungus I can compare it with?

i'm sorry to here about your axie, i'm afraid i can't help you as i'm still quite new to axies myself and i don't want to make it worse... i hope hw gets better soon


don't give up on your new mate, keep faith and he will soon be better

Aww he's looking worse, poor thing. Are you sure you're using the right salt and concentration?

Mix your salt bath solution. Using the 1 liter container makes measuring this super-simple. I use a trusty ol' nalgene bottle. Mix your solution at 2-3 teaspoons per liter. As for the types of salt used: any non-iodized salt is fine. Don't use the 'low sodium' salts; those just replace sodium with potassium. I use aquarium salt, but rock salt, sea salt, or non-iodized table salt will be fine. Just note if you use a finer grain salt, you'll have more salt per teaspoon. That is, big grains of salt take up more space, so there's more air-space per teaspoon. To counter this, I use two and a partial teaspoon of aquarium salt.

Click to expand...

I am following the instructions from the stickied tutorial- I'm doing 2 1/2 tsp because it's quite fine salt (aquarium salt from the pet shop). I'm using a dechlorinator called Prime by Seachem that a friend recommended- could that be causing problems?

The spots are from water that is too warm, if you live anywhere that gets hot during the summer you have to either move your tank to the basement, place the tank in a well air conditioned room, or make a commitment to freeze bottles of water and have at least one floating in the tank at all times. Axolotls are cold water fish, they will die in tropical temperature water from this exact disease

I'm actually going to be buying a chiller, so that's not an issue. The problem is that the fungus seems to be getting worse after an entire week of salt baths and fridging.

Hey, sorry for keeping you waiting!
No problem for the poopy water trick - I think Nikki71 told me that one (I owe her a lot - she stopped me accidentally giving my axxie ammonia poisoning when I first got my baby!)
The best food I can recommend is earthworms - sorry it's not a food that you already have, but in my experience, the best food for a recovering axxie is live earthworms. If you and any neighbours that live close by don't use pesticides or chemicals in their gardens, the earthworms in your garden are fine. Failing that, lots of exotic pet shops and bait shops will also provide worms, as do online companies that specialise in them. If you decide they're working for you, you can create a very cheap worm bin for less than £5, and I can link you a site to help you do that if you want it. Earthworms are packed with nutrients and most axolotls can't resist them once they get used to them (it may take a few passes but once they get the taste they're usually hooked!)

One thing I was wondering was about your dechlorinator. I personally don't use Seachem Prime so I can't give guidance, but are you certain you are using the correct measurement of dechlorinator for your water? The dosage for such small amounts of water can be seriously tricky so it might be worth making sure you've not put too much in as that can hurt their skin and make existing conditions worse. The other thing I was wondering was if you aged the water you use - i.e treat the water, then store it until you need it, usually for a minimum of a few hours - which might make a difference. I can't be sure though. For now, the best thing you can do is to carry on with the salt baths, try to feed daily and keep changing the water.

If this persists for much longer it may be worth seeing a vet if you can. I know it's not cheap but they may have medicines that we haven't thought of.

I hope Rex gets better soon!

I've been aging the water for roughly 24 hours, but maybe the amount of Prime I'm using has been imprecise, I didn't really think of that. We're actually calling around to find a vet tomorrow, because I don't want to risk this for much longer.

I'm thinking a worm farm on the balcony might be a good option for us. It's just a little weird because my partner is petrified of worms! I hope she'll like worms better, because the beef and bloodworms are getting no love.

I hope the vet can give you some good pointers!
Haha, I felt awful when I first started feeding worms to my axxies, but they have a good life in the worm farm before they're eaten so I don't feel so bad!

Here's the link for a very easy worm bin if you want it:
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/easywormbin.ht

We took Rex to a great vet, who was really concerned and put her on 3 oral medications (the problem was apparently fungal AND bacterial, her skin was falling off underneath the fungus). She said Rex may have been born quite frail. Unfortunately she died after the journey home.

Thank you so much for your help, everyone. I hope to expand my setup and try keeping axolotls again when the sting of losing Rex wears off, because I was just in love with her.

I'm so sorry. You did everything you could.

So sorry for your loss. Please find peace in knowing you did all you could for Rex.