Illness/Sickness: Help my axolotl is swelling

this is my first time posting here i hope someone has some advice on how to help Oxy.

My axolotl, who is about 2 years old, recently was sick with a illness white fungus that ate away at her gills. she has suffered from this before so i treated the same way i did last time with methlin blue and a few salt baths. she got better and her gills are growing back but she hasn't eaten.

Now she has swollen up. almost her whole body. face, neck, abdomen, arms and legs and she isn't getting better. i don't know what i should do. i have read something about refrigerating them but i have not tried that yet. i am really worried for her. its been almost three weeks since she has really eaten a lot. i try to feed her every night with frozen hikari brand blood worms.

the tank is around 65 degrees and i try to keep that a constant. Oxy is also living in a 10 gallon tank right now. i am in the process of finding a bigger one. but last month she was a my boyfriends house living in a 75 gallon tank with other axolotls that have not shown this symptom. they all had gotten sick with the fungus that eats away at their gills but all of them are better now. he has a fluorite substrate in his tank while mine has a bare bottom at the moment. i use to have silica sand before.

i did have a plastic decoration in that tank with her that i just took out. i didn't know if that could have been the cause of her illness though it had been in there for more then 9 months.

is it possible that she is getting sick from lack of eating would turning up the temp be an option. i know that when they get cold they can get latharagic and their metobolism slows down, maybe she would eat if i turned it up? but if it is a bactireal infection could that make it worse?

any advice would be appricated, thank you guys so much for reading.

I don't see any swelling in the pictures but she's very fat...
maybe its a problem with her diet, you should try earthworms

and I think the tank is on the small side...

Someone with more experience can help you more but for me she looks very fat...

do you have water parameters like ammonia, nitrite, nitrites, ph?

earthworms are the best food for them so i would switch to that, if the worms are to big for her to eat you can cut the earthworm in to halves or quarters and feed her the pieces. i wouldnt raise the temperature, even though colder water slows their metabolism 65 degrees would not slow it any, it would have to be colder, like in the fridge, for it to really slow and even then axolotls might still eat, just not as much. when you said she was on a fluorite substrate, is that gravel? if it is she could have eaten a piece that was to big for her to pass out and it is stuck in her intestines. other than that i dont know what could cause such swelling/fatness. i would test your water, that would give you a better idea of what her living conditions are

She looks fat to me too.
You dont need to feed an adult axolotl every day, you can feed every two or three days. (in fact mine eat less than that)

As above earthworms are the best thing to feed them

Mel

That appears to be an extremely overweight Axolotl and a very poor living environment. It appears that the water in that tank is extremely turbulent, which is going to cause a great deal of stress. There are no hides and for too little water. Get rid of the air stone, and put in something the Axolotl can hide in (PVC piping or a half terracotta pot).

What is the feeding schedule?

based on your comment that she's swelling all over, I'm assuming the fatness everyone is refering to in in fact, the swelling you're talking about and not a symptom of over-feeding.

Flourite is a clay based gravel that's usually about the same size as aquarium gravel. I don't know what the symptoms of impaction are exactly, but I would assume it would at least cause the abdomen to expand, no?

as for overall swelling, including legs and whatnot, in all creatures that's usually caused by fluid retention. I don't know why or what the solution would be for an . Heck, she may be having kidney problems. Sorry...just brainstorming.

here's somethign from axolotl.org


Fluid Disorders, Genetic and Nutritional Problems

Physical problems, such as fluid build-up (edema and ascites), and abnormal cell growth (tumours), are sometimes encountered by the hobbyist. Some of these physical problems are the result of genetic abnormalities and there is usually little that can be done aside from letting nature take its course. Some books recommend draining the fluid with a hypodermic needle but this should only be done by a vet. Fluid build-up can be caused by heart damage, kidney problems, nutritional deficiencies, and even old age. There's not a lot that can be done in such cases, and drained fluid usually builds up again.
Some physical problems are related to nutrition. Caudates (a term used to describe newts and salamanders) tend to have difficulty dealing with large quantities of fats and oils in their diet. White worms and tubifex are the most commonly quoted high fat foods. Dog food can also contain a high proportion of oils and fats. When fed exclusively on these foods, occurrences of sclerosis of the liver increase. Other foods, such as mealworms, are quite low in calcium, which can lead to a number of problems. They also have a lot of chitin (a structural protein in insects and some crustaceans) which axolotls can't digest, and this passes through their guts intact. Again, these shouldn't be fed as the sole food but rather as an occasional treat to avoid health problems. Mealworms present an additional danger: they have poweful jaws that can damage an axolotl internally. If you must feed mealworms, it is advisable to crush the jaws of the mealworms prior to feeding. This can be accomplished using a strong forceps or tweezers.
If your axolotl develops a nutritional problem, change its diet immediately and try to feed it a variety of foods. Nutritional deficiencies often lead to increased likelihood of the Axolotl succumbing to bacterial or fungal disease.

I think this is really hard to guess what the problem is. If she is swelling up all over then this could be bloat.
The substrate she was on before , flourite, may have been a problem. I used the search function here ( towards the top of the page in the green bar). Johnny has researched many substrates and has this to say about the product :-
Flourite sand is a sedimentary rock product comprised of primarily calcium carbonate and iron oxide. It can lead to caudate unfriendly water conditions including but not limited to pH shifts, extreme water hardness, and algae blooms resulting in low dissolved oxygen.There is also a risk of digestive impaction with this product. (SeaChem does sell sands that are perfectly suitable to use, but Flourite is not one of them.)
How much blood worm have you been feeding her ? And has she been swelling despite not eating?
I would not keep her too warm, even cooler may be better.

thank you all for your imput. i really appricate it.

i know that she is not just fat. she is an abnormal size, a unhealth size. plus she hasn't eaten for more than three weeks and when she did eat it was one blood worm cube every day and some times a little more food if i fed everyother day. and yes i know she needs a better tank i hope to get one soon

i did end up taking her to the vet. he suspected that it was bloat and gave me an antibiotic oral medication. hopfully she'll start to get better soon. i really worry for her everytime i see her at like that. i hate not being able to do more for her

You are doing something to help her. I am glad you took her to see a vet, many don't as they fear the expense. Please do keep us updated on how she is doing, and do keep asking any questions.

The vet said i should try and force feed Oxy. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to do that with out hurting her.

This post will tell you how. Please read it very carefully . Let us know what you decide to do.

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...olotl/70199-how-force-feed-adult-axolotl.html

Thank you all for your help and advice. I am sad to say that Oxymoron Oddball Axolotl has passed away she didn't make it through the night.

If I learned one thing about this experience it's that I should have immediately gone to the vet before it became so serious. For anyone else who sees this kind of swelling Don't Wait! If I had acted sooner she might still be here.

thank you all again.
May you rest in peace oxy, you will be missed
:angel:

Oh Aubiee I am so sorry Rest in peace Oxy.