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Advice?

MrsFalker

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My name is Shelby and I rescued a "glow in the dark" axolotl from a less than reputable pet store. I love 'him' we call 'him' cooper but we don't truly know. I have attached images, where are his gills? I'm thinking the poor husbandry from the petshop got them nibbled off and hopefully with some love and care I can give him the best life I can! What do you guys think?
 

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MrsFalker

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More pictures!
 

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elustig

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I am not a pro, but I have heard that axolotls can lose their gills also to an ammonia burn and not just getting nibbled on by fish or other critters. I would say just keep up with proper husbandry and I think it'll heal up. So especially if the tank is not cycled, keep up on those regular water changes! You definitely don't want to see any ammonia spikes as this poor guy is already stressed. Try doing 20% daily water changes and test your water parameters. Keep us posted with new pictures, I would be interested in seeing it's progress.
 

MrsFalker

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His water parameters as of now are listed below.


Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm
Ph 7.4
Ammonia holy hell way too high 2ppm
 

Giuseppe

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Was the tank cycled before the ammonia showed up? You may have uneaten food to clean or need to stir the sand before recycling the tank as it sounds like it's crashed. You'll need to do daily small water changes if you're keeping him in the tank while you cycle. You could also move him to a tub and do 100% water changes everyday until the tank is cycled. The gills wont recover in an uncycled/crashed tank. But once you get that sorted I think you'll just have to wait and keep an eye out for fungus, they may never be totally long and fluffy but should look a bit better.
 
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