Desperate newbie, please save my axy!

Hi Eduardo.

I would reccomend taking Raysons advice. He is a vet.

Cheers, Mike.

I know, Rayson's advices have been priceless to me. I don't doubt about his expertise, I'm scared that I might screw up something!!!

How cool is that!!! Im glad you finally found them Eduardo!!

ajbriggs said:

I've just got hold of some worms and my axy seems to love em. I wouldn't cut them up because there better when there wrigling around and live. The vibrations the worm creats in the water as it wriggles makes it easier for the axy to find and its really cool watching the axy eat it. It sort of wrestles with the worm sucking it in an spitting it out a bit and then in a flash its gone.

hope that helps :happy:

Click to expand...

Briggsy, they still wrigle when thay are in smaller pieces. If sometimes you have too large earthworms, you can cut them up so feeding time can be easier!!:happy:

Hi Eduardo i sometimes use the Tetra ReptoMin Floating Food Sticks that you mentioned to feed my axolotls, The problem is they do float and the axie likes to feed off the bottom for the most part , I always start by putting the pellets in the water so they soften up some them using a pair of long forceps/tweezers to hold the pellets and put in the axies face than they snatch them right up. I like to feed my axies a mixed diet ,pellets , worms and other various insects i catch outside i aslo use pieces of raw cut up fish ,they really like the fish. you might want to give it try , you should get http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forceps#Locking_forcepsair they make feeding a lot easier and less wastful and help keep the tank somewhat cleaner .

Just a note that if you can't find the forceps, you can use your fingers as well. It is a tad scary though, to have the axie lunge out to grab the food. (ok im chicken).

I'll try not to panic, but I'm looking at what seems a troublesome scenario. My axy has been fridged for around 30 hours now. When I changed the water I noticed some whiteish material in his gills and I'm almost sure they got smaller. Does that is supposed to happen? What should I do?

The water temperature is 7-9C, dechlorinated water.

Hi Eduardo,

Are you able to provide some photos of the gill region? Fungus thrive at lower temperatures so although fridging can help destress the axie and impede bacterial infections, fungal infections still require salt baths. The pictures will help verify if a fungal infection is the cause.

Cheers.

Sure, I'll provide pics as soon as I reach home, I'm at work right now. I guess I'll be able to send them in about 2 hours. However 1 day is enough time to develop a fungal infection?

Here are some pics of that white thing in his gills.

Hi Eduardo,

Its a little difficult to see the photos due to the resolution. Its too blurry to accurately make out the details. However, i can roughly see a fuzzy white growth around the gills. I would say it looks quite like a fungal infection. Are you familiar with performing salt baths?

Cheers.

Dear Rayson,

I'll try to get higher definition pics as soon as possible. While I'm at it, I'll admit I have no idea how to perform salt baths. Is it complicated?

Also, why does that fungi appeared? Is there a way to avoid it happening again?

Thank you very much Rayson,

Eduardo R.

Hi Eduardo,

Salt baths are rather straightforward. Basically just prepare a tub of fresh dechlorinated water and dissolve 2 to 3 flat teaspoonfuls of non-iodized salt per litre of water. You can use salt such as kosher salt, freshwater aquarium salt or sea salt. Do not use table salt. You can then place your axie in the salt solution for about 10 minutes but no longer than 15 minutes per session. Excessive salt solution soaking can cause damage to the axie's gills and skin. Have a look through this article as well.

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/salt.shtml

Fungal infections in axie, particularly saprolegniasis which occurs most frequently, are secondary to an underlying problem. They are opportunistic infections that tend to occur when the axie is stressed or ill. The best treatment for future occurence of fungal infection is prevention. Most importantly, ensure the tank parameters, temperature, currents, nutrition are well met. Healthy relaxed axies will be much less likely to get them.

Cheers.

Dear Rayson,

I tried to take new photos, but they were just worst than the previous ones. However something interesting happened today. I went to do the daily change of tub and found out that the white fuzzy growth around the gills had gone, it was just floating in the water and the gills where almost back to normal, just a little piece of that thing floating around the gill. Should I still perform the salt bath or should I wait to see what happens?

Thanks,

Eduardo R.

Hey, in regards to other choices than gravel I find that buying large glass flat pebbles work. They tend to be cooler in temperature. I bought mine at the typical dollar store. My axies does like to push them around though and then stack them up and climb on them. here's a picture of the pebbles in my tank.

Hi Eduardo,

I would still do the salt baths.

Good Luck

I am not an expert, but from what I have read, you should leave your axie in the fridge for at least a week once you have put him in there. Taking him out sooner could add to his stress. Check out the guide to fridging axolotls (sticky at the beginning of the Sick Axolotls section) - it gives you the info you need on this question. If he is constipated or has an impaction, the cold in the fridge should help him to pass it. (I understand that this is because when the axie's metabolism slows down, it empties itself of food so that it doesn't go off inside it.)

On the earthworm issue, my axie loves eating whole earthworms regardless of size. I agree with the comment about the wriggling attracting the axie. My lotl Boris has a wonderful time wrestling with his worm - sucking it in, spitting a bit out, sucking it back in again like a big piece of spaghetti, tossing his head around and leaping into the air. Fun for him, just as much fun for the viewer (me). And as for how much to feed them, this is largely up to the axie. As long as its tummy is not wider that its head, it is not obese. Boris is currently eating two worms for breakfast and two worms for dinner. He is a good size but not fat. He would eat more if I let him - his appetite seems bottomless - but I am monitoring his weight at this stage, as he has gained enough weight since arriving very skinny from the aquarium shop.

HitmanSougo13 said:

Hey, in regards to other choices than gravel I find that buying large glass flat pebbles work.

Click to expand...

Those pebbles still look smaller than the axie's head, so theoretically, he could swallow them. I was using those glass pebbles too, but removed them as my axie grew, fearing they were just too small. I also found they were annoying to clean, as poop and other debris tended to gather amongst or under them. My alternative has been large, flattish, smooth river stones. Boris can't stack them, but he does love to climb on them, balance on them etc.