Newbies seeking help - floating & deformed gills

Thanks Joan... (hey... I'M from the mittin.. maine lol ).
i think you mentioned this man's name before (michael), but I have no clue who he is or how to get in touch with him.??

There is also the Indiana University Colony http://bigapple.uky.edu/~axolotl/orderhobbiest.pdf order form. They've started shipping again.

Jinny, they moved to Kentucky from Indiana, which is why they're at UKY-University of Kentucky.

Michael has a profile here, if you do a search for him, I'm sure you'll pull it up, and you can email him about the specifics.

Joan (& all) Bubbles went back into her tank yesterday and ate a piece of low fat steak tonight (we can't get worms anywhere today!). Anyway, Toni has been saying for a little while that something was wrong with Bubbs' legs beside the floating. She said they 'just didn't look right'. Tonight we realised that even in shallow water she is not moving them or her tail! When Toni has had to handle Bubbles to move her from one container to another (we tried to minimise handling) Bubbles front claws/paws grip Toni's finger. When she put her finger against Bubbles back ones tonight there was no response. I can't talk to the vet until wednesday, but I'm terrified this is going to mean we have to euthanase her - I refuse to allow for the possibility that she is suffering and she is distressed with her clunky, waddling movements.

I don't expect anyone to have any miracle answers, but I thought i should let you know the status.

Ah, didn't notice because everything on axolotl.org still says Indiana.

(Message edited by j4782 on January 16, 2006)

Mel, if she's swimming and eating well, and doesn't show signs of stress, then I doubt you should have to euthanize her. I hope everything comes out well. Best of luck.

Hi Joan,

she is eating, but she can't swim at all - she is jammed nose down and if she tries to turn to get to the surface she gets quite distressed, wriggling and tumble turning. Its nearly four weeks now since her back legs began floating and i really believe the paralysis wasn't there originally. The other thing is that when she poos now some of it always clings to her cloaca, which has never happened before. I wonder if her muscles are not coping with expelling it?

Sweet little thing... hang in there. i'm certainly rooting for her recovery.
Thanks Joan, i'll try to find Michael.( No printer to do the form...)

Hi all,

just an update on Bubbles. She has taken to the worms like nobodies business - just loves them! But we've had to lower the water level right down so she isn't constantly floating on her head. During the cooler temperatures we had earlier this week there were actually times when her floating back legs seemed to drop, but with the really high temps the last few days she is back up again. The lower water level makes it more difficult to keep the water temp down. :-(

Anyway, aside from the water temp issues, it seems that all we can do for now is keep feeding her worms and see if she regains any movement in her tail or back legs and if she doesn't then we'll have to consider what kind of quality of life she can have. The other night when it was cool and she had just scoffed two worms and her legs weren't floating, she seemed her happy little self again, so I'm hoping when this ridiculous weather stops we'll be able to keep her happy.

Mel, good to hear about the worms. There's no way to keep her cool? Like ice cubes/water bottles? What about the fridge? I hope things turn out well for you all.