Axie missing tail, very sick

[tlgreve]

I recently I received a pair of Mexican Axolotls from someone who was not able to take care of them and was not sure what to do with them. Unfortunately, when I received them, they had small red spots all over their bodies. I began with Maracyn Plus, an antibiotic. This quickly cured the female.
The male contiued to get worse. His tail skin started to slough off, followed by the tail itself. It is now covered in fungus. I put him in the fridge and tried another round of the Maracyn with no luck. I saw on the axolotl.org site that you could use Mercurochrome but it isn't made any more, and all of the "replacement" products I have access to are not colored as on the site, and had no effect. I have also tried Maroxy and salt dips on the fungus, and it had no effect. Since being in the fridge, he has not gotten any worse, and his open wound has closed a bit. Here is a picture of his tail 3 days after I got him, after the first round of Maracyn but before putting him in the fridge. You can see the fungus, sores on his body, and the spine coming out (under fungus)

I am at a total loss of what to do for the poor guy.

[Fishy McFish]

How sad.. I hope he gets better soon.

[Lisa]

Could you maybe post a current photo? Does it look much different now? I'm no expert and I'm sure someone will help you soon, but a current photo would be helpful. Standard treatment for fungal infections is recommended as salt baths ( dilute 2 teaspoons of uniodised salt in a litre of water) twice a day and three times if you can manage it until the fungus has been gone for a week; that is continue to do the salt baths even if everything looks better. Leave him in the bath for 10-15 minutes; no longer. You said salt dips didn't help, so how long did you do them for, at what dilution etc? Is he still eating and generally behaving normally?

[tlgreve]

I only dipped him once a day, I will try 2-3x and see if that helps.
This is the best picture I could get today. (4/20 11:30pm) On the tail, the spine is the lighter white closer to the tail, covered by the fungus. The legs and toes have a red tint to them, making me think he does have some kind of systemic bacteria.

I will try to get a better picture. I've got a small clear container around here some place.

[Sinead Culling]

It seems to be looking better, I'd say continue with the salt baths have you tried melafix, i put a little bit in my salt baths.

[Lisa]

Well it definately looks better than when you got him . I'd do the salt baths if there's white fuzzy stuff on it (hard to see in the photo). If you're worried about a bacterial problem, he may need antibiotics and you'd need to take him to a vet and I'd try and find one with a special interest in amphibians. White axies do go pink and their extremities brighter pink when stressed, very active, too hot etc so it would be nice to know if the redness is all the time, or only when he's being bathed, or handled which are stressful, in which case it's normal.

[tlgreve]

Ok, this is really a better picture. Maybe the pink spots are just signs of stress from being sick. I will salt dip him more often and see if the fungus goes away. I work with a wildlife rescue, I can probably get someone to help me get the gentamicin or amikacin that axolotl.org recommends. I just didn't want to inject the poor guy. The vets around here have unfortunately been no help.

[frances dansie]

Definately keep up the salt baths. Make sure you have him in there for at least 10 mins but no more than 15.
If you can do this 3 times a day all the better for him.
Also do remember to use dechlorinated water that is the same temperature as the water he is in.
Also it is recommended that you continue the salt baths for about a week after you think the fungus is gone, this will ensure you get it all.