Strange sore.

Hello everyone,

We've only had our Axie for two weeks. So very new.

Everything has been going great until yesterday I noticed a strange sore on Lottie's nose, just above her lip. Water is fine except for the temp, Can't get it below 24 degrees (Don't know what to do when we get a 40 degree day in summer, any suggestions).

The sore looks like an ulcer. I had the thought she may have hurt herself while playing . Bumped into something possibly. Has anyone seen anything like this before or have any thoughts about what to do to help her.

Thanks
Em

Well firstly you must get your temperature lower. Anything above 24C will quickly kill your axolotl. Some cooling suggestions are:
- put bottles of frozen dechlorinated water in the tank and rotate them to keep your temperature lower.
- keep your axie in the fridge during the hot periods. make sure the container is covered to block out light, the temperature is above 5C and you do 100% daily water changes with dechlorinated water
- move the tank to a shadier part of your house
- buy a chiller, but this is quite expensive
- check this out for more suggestions: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cooling.shtml

Basically your tank will heat up to ambient room temperature over time, so if you keep your axolotl in a place with ambient temperature above 24C you will have difficultly maintaining a cool tank.

What exactly are your other parameters? Ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and PH? And is your axolotl showing signs of stress as well as the sore? (gills pointing forward, white patches, curled tail tip, food refusal?)

With the sore, it could be from a bump for sure. But it's hard to tell without seeing a picture. Are you able to post one up?

I will attempt to put a photo up ( not completely computer savvy). First thing I did was check PH, Amonia and nitrate. All normal. She's showing no other signs of stress. I'm probably being an overly worried first time mother..... Will definatley try the frozen bottle thing for her tank.