Illness/Sickness: Is my Axolotl sick?

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Jawdoss

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Jawdoss
Hi everyone,
I have an Axolotl, she acts normally and does everything as every other axolotl does. However i have noticed that her gills are not a lush and big as other axolotls. I have had her water tested, and the water is fine. I feed her live fish and sometimes beef heart. She has two filters in her 107L tank, and she is just by herself with no other fish or Axolotl. She has been like this ever since i got her (2 weeks ago). She was previously owned by another owner, and she is still in the same clean water from before i got her.

I will post a photo of Wanita (my Axolotl)

IMAG0490.jpg
 
She doesn't look that bad to me. Yes, her gills do look sparse, but the filaments do grow back. She'll be fine, don't worry. However, I insist you don't feed her beef heart. It's not very healthy for them at all. If you want to give her snacks, then use things like shrimp/salmon/axolotl pellets, or live cherry/glass/river shrimp for her to chase down (if you do this, though, you need to quarantine them for around 30 days). It also doesn't sound like you're feeding her worms? Definitely get some worms for her. At her size, nightcrawlers would probably work the best, since you won't need to feed her as much of them, but she still gets all of the nutrition she needs. Basically, worms will always be the best staple food for axolotls; everything else is secondary. Live foods like shrimp and fish should only be occasional treats or used as a diversion for nippy tank mates.
 
I would advise you remove those rocks from her tank, they look sharp and could be scraping her body and also she could eat some of them, another reason is because her waste will fall down through all the cracks and lead to bad water quality and a poorly axie :(
You need to get a liquid test kit for the water as i imagine you havent cycled the tank.
This means you will need to do 20% daily water changes until you get;
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - <40

and feed her earthworms!
 
I agree with above.

Here's a page on cycling, it's very useful Caudata Culture Articles - Cycling
If there's ammonia in the tank the gills will suffer as it's toxic.

Also, those rocks might be too small, if she swallows one it could really harm her and they will collect dirt. This is an axolotl which managed to swallow a stone around that size.
32840d1378720093t-his-gills-arent-like-others-image.jpg
 
snuggly time said:
I agree with above.

Here's a page on cycling, it's very useful Caudata Culture Articles - Cycling
If there's ammonia in the tank the gills will suffer as it's toxic.

Also, those rocks might be too small, if she swallows one it could really harm her and they will collect dirt. This is an axolotl which managed to swallow a stone around that size.
32840d1378720093t-his-gills-arent-like-others-image.jpg
Click to expand...


As for the water test, as i explained in the original post, it has already been tested and it is all fine. I also have cycled it last week. Maybe i should just wait and let her try and recover.

Do you think i should Salt Bath her?

If not rocks, what do you suggest is the best for a ground cover for her tank?
 
No do not salt bath her, her gills look fine. Could you provide a photo of her whole body though?
Regarding substrate, you can use a bare bottom or well rinsed play sand. If you are feeling really creative, I have seen slate tiles siliconed ( with aquatic silicone ) to the base of the tank.
 
Hi there, best substrate for your tank would be playsand or you can remove everything so the bottom of the tank is bare, that way you can easily see left over food and waste and remove them before they foul the water.

You really should test your water weekly and as said above the API Liquid test kit comes highly recommended by most on here.

Oh ..... Earthworms, I bought a worm farm and worms from the hardware store, best investment I ever made, now my Axies have heaps of nutritious wiggly worms to keep them happy and well fed.

With your 2 filters, just check the water flow is not too strong as this can cause stress and the gills might take longer to grow back. You can diffuse the water flow with a spray bar, put plants in front of the outlet or even a sponge in front can help too.

Good luck :happy:
 
Jen10s said:
Hi there, best substrate for your tank would be playsand or you can remove everything so the bottom of the tank is bare, that way you can easily see left over food and waste and remove them before they foul the water.

You really should test your water weekly and as said above the API Liquid test kit comes highly recommended by most on here.

Oh ..... Earthworms, I bought a worm farm and worms from the hardware store, best investment I ever made, now my Axies have heaps of nutritious wiggly worms to keep them happy and well fed.

With your 2 filters, just check the water flow is not too strong as this can cause stress and the gills might take longer to grow back. You can diffuse the water flow with a spray bar, put plants in front of the outlet or even a sponge in front can help too.

Good luck :happy:
Click to expand...

At the moment, i have bare bottom tank. (I just took all the stones out because i was worried about her eating them. I have two filters, one had a defuser on it, and the other is one of those waterfall type filters, which poors down onto a cave (so the roof of the cave splits up the flow of water).
I am feeding wanita small feeder fish, and i don't want to go to messy worms. I only use Beefheart when i have run out of food (2 or 3 times a month).
 
Good to hear the stones are out.

As said above, feeder fish are not ideal staples for Axies, they are notorious for carrying disease unless you quarantine them for a month first. Should really be only a treat now and then.

If you don't want to feed worms, perhaps Axolotl pellets or Hikari Carnivore pellets from the pet store are a better option.
 
Jen10s said:
Good to hear the stones are out.

As said above, feeder fish are not ideal staples for Axies, they are notorious for carrying disease unless you quarantine them for a month first. Should really be only a treat now and then.

If you don't want to feed worms, perhaps Axolotl pellets or Hikari Carnivore pellets from the pet store are a better option.
Click to expand...

Ummmm, i wouldn't mind feeding worms, as long as it doesn't make the tank water dirty. can i use ordinary earth worms? What is the deal with that? (Sorry this is my first axie)
 
Yep, earthworms are easy. You rinse the dirt off before putting them in the tank so - not messy.

If they are large ones, you may need to cut them up (no wider than your Axie's head is the general rule) but adults can usually handle full length worms. I give my adults 3 or 4 medium worms every 2nd night or sometimes every night if they beg and make me feel guilty :D

PS Just make sure your worms are pesticide free, so be careful if they are from the garden etc...
 
Last edited:
Jen10s said:
Good to hear the stones are out.

As said above, feeder fish are not ideal staples for Axies, they are notorious for carrying disease unless you quarantine them for a month first. Should really be only a treat now and then.

If you don't want to feed worms, perhaps Axolotl pellets or Hikari Carnivore pellets from the pet store are a better option.
Click to expand...

Jen10s said:
Yep, earthworms are easy. You rinse the dirt off before putting them in the tank so - not messy.

If they are large ones, you may need to cut them up (no wider than your Axie's head is the general rule) but adults can usually handle full length worms. I give my adults 3 or 4 medium worms every 2nd night or sometimes every night if they beg and make me feel guilty :D

PS Just make sure your worms are pesticide free, so be careful if they are from the garden etc...
Click to expand...

Where do i get the worms from? do i have to use a worm farm, or is there another way to buy them and keep them?
 
Some pet stores sell small tubs which you can keep in the fridge. I found this a bit expensive so I got the worm farm from Bunnings ($60 - $70) and they sell boxes of worms (500 or 1,000 worms to a box $30 - $50).

The worm farm doesn't take up much room and I've even heard of someone that keeps theirs in their laundry. They are easy to look after and live on left over vegetable scraps.
 
Jawdoss said:
As for the water test, as i explained in the original post, it has already been tested and it is all fine. I also have cycled it last week. Maybe i should just wait and let her try and recover.

Do you think i should Salt Bath her?

If not rocks, what do you suggest is the best for a ground cover for her tank?
Click to expand...

You should be doing a water test at least once a week as things can change quickly in a tank :(
Also you say you cycled your tank the week before, did you use some media from an already established tank?
Were you adding daily ammonia to keep feeding the beneficial bacteria?
What are your current water parameters?
No salt baths are mainly only for fungus and she doesnt have any.
I personally use play sand but other people also use slate/tiles/astro turf/bare bottom :D
 
layna said:
You should be doing a water test at least once a week as things can change quickly in a tank :(
Also you say you cycled your tank the week before, did you use some media from an already established tank?
Were you adding daily ammonia to keep feeding the beneficial bacteria?
What are your current water parameters?
No salt baths are mainly only for fungus and she doesnt have any.
I personally use play sand but other people also use slate/tiles/astro turf/bare bottom :D
Click to expand...

On sunday (tomorrow), I'm going to go and get it tested, along with my feeder fish tank. I think i will get rid of my feeder fish, swich to worms and put another pet fish in my small 20L tank. (Suggestions?)

As for my tank, i am going to leave it bare bottom, as is going to be easy to clean.

Thanks Everyone!!! :)
 
You really need to buy one of these API Freshwater Master Test KIT Fish Free Thermometer Cheapest ON Ebay | eBay
Most pet shops around my area use test strips to test the water and they arent really accurate enough, plus the liquid test kits lasts months and months!

That way you can test your own water whenever necessary and make the relevant changes :D

Just keep an eye on your axie with bare bottom as some axies get stressed because they cant grip anything, and id invest in a siphon to properly get all the gunk up :)
 
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