Illness/Sickness: Salt Bath Help Needed - URGENT HELP

Hi guys and ladies. I really need your help. Ive done a salt bath today to try and clear up the fungus on my Axi, but when i took her out after 10 minutes i noticed red blobs on the bottom of the tub (blood?) i never noticed any bleeding on her body.

also do i need to use fresh salted water every time i put her in a bath, or can i reuse the same water to or 3 times?

please can anyone help?

Hi Adie,

I don't know about the red blobs and hope someone else will answer soon, but you must use fresh salt water each time. Do not reuse salt water at all after a treatment.

I am searching for info on bleeding. It seems that salt baths can make the gills bleed:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=53893&highlight=blood+blob

I still have not found more helpful information yet.

I have found some things mentioning bacterial infections (particularly the columnaris bacteria) but I have no idea how to tell if this is what your axolotl has. I do not want to add any more links to this thread because everything I am reading keeps ending in death.

I believe a vet is needed. ASAP.

-Eva

Adie what do you feed your axolotl?
Also what colour is it? Leucistic by any chance?

yes it is. is that bad? ive tried worm, prawn, bloodworm

Hmm I have a feeling those red blobs you noticed may be pieces of the gills just falling away. They are very sensitive to salt baths. Does your axolotl have fungus on its gills too. If so the parts that are affected will die off and fall off, and with it being a leucistic they tend to show up more bright red then other darker coloured axolotls.
Are you using the correct dosage of salt per litre of water?

i used 2tea spoons of salt per liter. the gills looked ok, but havent done a salt bath since

Hi Adie,

First: ONE teaspoon per liter, not two. Salt in this application is a poison to kill a fungus but can also harm your axolotl, so it is important to be careful not to exceed the dosage and not to leave her in an intensive salt bath for more then 30 minutes at a time and no more than twice a day.

Second, I think that it would be helpful to list the history of the problems you've been having with the axolotl in this new thread for the best chance at "remote diagnosis". As I remember it (please correct me or add more as needed), you got her and put her in a tank with fish. The tank had a gravel bottom. You fed both the axolotl and the fish fish flakes and prawns. The axolotl stopped eating, at least 3 weeks ago. You changed the gravel to sand (?). Sometimes she would float with her back end up, but she has stopped doing so. You have been offering her different types of foods, including worms from your garden. She developed a slight fungus. You have been giving her salt baths. The fungus has spread to her entire body. Now you notice red blobs in her container. She still has not eaten.

How is she doing, by the way?

-Eva

Sorry to butt in on this, but I'm sure I read that Axolotls should only be in a salt bath for 15 minutes maximum? Ignore me if I'm wrong, Kerry.

Kerry thank you! It was a typo on my part. I meant to type NO MORE THAN 30 minutes. I will go back and change it. Oh lordy, what difference two letters can make.. What a frightening mistake.

Thank you so much for catching that!

I can't edit the message anymore.

Note then: Intensive salt bath for NO more than 30 minutes!!!

Hey Eva, really sorry, but I've just looked up in the forum and I'm going to copy and paste the piece onto here...........

Place the animal in a salt bath for about 10 minutes once or twice a day. A salt bath is prepared using 2-3 teaspoons of salt (table salt, cooking salt, or iodized salt, but not "low" or "low-sodium" salt) per litre/two pints. Don't leave the Axolotl in the salt bath for more than 15 minutes each time, because the salt will start to damage the Axolotl's skin and particularly its gills.

Don't mean to be picky but 30 minutes is still too long, Kerry

Kerry I agree with you totally - 30 minutes is [too long!] the maximum "allowed" period. It's what they write in the caudata.org article about salt treatments for removing fungus from skin ("skin mycosis" in the article at http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/salt.shtml ).

I also would risk saying again that 1 teaspoon salt per liter is aggressive enough for treating a fungus. I believe that stronger solutions not only hurt (as in cause pain) the axolotl, they can damage it, too (e.g., shedding/bleeding from the gills).

I would suggest that it is better to start with a weaker solution for a shorter time and if this is not apparently effective after a bit (two days, three treatments - just a guess, does anyone have concrete advice here??), the dosage and/or duration can be increased. However, I have neither scientific knowledge nor practical experience to justify this theory - it's only an opinion.

I also believe that if an axolotl is given consecutive salt bath treatments and the condition does not improve or worsens, it would be wise to find a vet with amphibian experience, as the issue may be bacterial and not "just" fungal.

Furthermore, since I have the keyboard here, I will mention that there are also the usual culprits to suspect: water quality, food sources, infection from newly introduced tank mates, etc. The somewhat accusatory "poor husbandry" is often at the root of all evil...

she had a bath today. but i again reduced the salt, now at 1.5 teaspoons per liter, and she was in there for 8minutes. no blood in there today. i will give her another bath later:blob:

I'm glad there was no blood today, I hope the salt baths do their job and your axie soon gets better, Kerry.

Thats good news. Keep us up to date.

Adie, Kerry is right, no more then 15 minutes in a salt bath. If you can manage to pick any fungus off using blunt ended tweezers then that wouldnt hurt either, just make sure you have steady hands.

Hi Adie
I have just come in on the end of this thread and assume that you are keeping her in the fridge with 100% daily water changes (at least) as well as using the salt baths. As everyone on this site will attest, putting the axolotl in the fridge can be very beneficial in terms of slowing her down and giving her a chance to recover. I hope she will be ok.

Saltbath treatment is:

2=3 teaspoons of uniodised table salt/sea salt or aquarium/tonic salt per litre of dechlorinated water.

Make sure to dissolve the salt. If using the aquarium/chunky salt, crush it so it dissolves easier.

Then add your axolotl to the bath - s/he may find it a little irritating at first. Cover with lid. Ensure it stays in minimum of 10 minutes, but no longer than 15minutes.

Saltbaths need to be done twice a day during the week (or 3 times per day if able).

If fridging the axolotl make sure to put the saltbath in the fridge so it's the same temperature as it's fridging container to avoid fluctuating temperatures which can be just as stressful to the axie.
Empty the saltbath after each use and make up a fresh one each time.

You could also try picking the fungus off with tweezers if you feel confident enough to do so without harming your axolotl, a steady hand is needed though.

Continue with the saltbaths for around 4-5 days after all the fungus has dissapeared.