Illness/Sickness: Help!!!!! I think my axie is on the brink!

This morning I woke up and my axolotl was under the filter, but looked lifeless, so i tried to swish the gravel vacuum around her general area (which usually makes her move). She didn't. I then touched her and she didnt move either, which is very very weird. I immediately got her into an ice cream container and put her in the fridge. She seemed dead, but I wanted to try the fridge thing if nothing else, than to stop her decomposing so my fiancee could say goodbye, and Ive heard that the fridge can do miracles in some cases. Since this, she has started to move again, though sometimes is on her back. The water is out at the moment cause they're doing road works, so I put her in the fridge in 50/50 tank water/spring water.

Her tail seems slightly receded but her gills are intact.

What the heck should I do? Ive had her for about 3 years so she is apart of the family! I will check the stats on the tank, but I assume they will be fine, as its a mature tank and the only bioload that it has is her and a small glass shrimp.

Waaa!

Any help would be great. I get paid on Wendesday (its Monday morning here in Australia), so I wouldn't be able to take her to the vet until then.

Kindest
Charlotte

Hey Charlotte,
few questions as usual-
you have gravel in your tank, how big is it/could she have ingested it..?
what kind of filter do you own? the only place the flow of the filter doesn't hit is directly below it, it's possible she went there because the water flow is too strong..
did you dechlorinate the spring water when you put her in the fridge & does she eat a diet of only glass shrimp?
thanks

Ammonia is up a bit : between 0 and .25
Nitrite and Nitrate are zero. How could ammonia be up and Nitrite and Nitrate be 0?!

I shall have to wait for the water to come back on to do a water change and test it again.

inkozana said:

Hey Charlotte,
few questions as usual-
you have gravel in your tank, how big is it/could she have ingested it..?
what kind of filter do you own? the only place the flow of the filter doesn't hit is directly below it, it's possible she went there because the water flow is too strong..
did you dechlorinate the spring water when you put her in the fridge & does she eat a diet of only glass shrimp?
thanks

Click to expand...

Hi Stef,

Thanks for replying!
I feed her pellets mainly, or bits of fish, usually salmon, bream, or whiting (as treats, maybe once ever few feeds) - the glass shrimp is to help keep the tank clean. The gravel is small, so she could have ingested some, but she's been in there for years and this has only just happened now!Is it possible she would all of a sudden started ingesting gravel?

I just have a sponge filter thingie. It doesnt have a very fast output and doesnt really make much of a "flow" per se.

I didnt dechlorinate the spring water, as I believe it is chlorine free.

Oh I just redid the ammonia now and its more yellow than green, but a dark yellow.

Hi Char81,

Small gravel poses a constant threat simply because an 'accident' is always waiting to occur with the axolotl ingesting them. It is most highly recommended to remove them. Its not too late. You can keep the tank bare bottomed or with clean children's play sand.

What type of water test kit do you use? Test strips are inaccurate compared to colourimetric solution tests. Also test your tap water directly to check if you still have a small amount of ammonia reading. This can be suggestive of chloramine being present in the tap water.

Another thing that springs to my mind upon reading your description of your axolotl is the possibility of severe heat stress. It can get really hot really quickly and suddenly in aussie summer and axolotls are particularly susceptible to such temperature rises, especially if its significantly higher.

Refridgeration is always a good palliative treatment while you try to sort out whats the problem. Remember to keep bottled clean water in the fridge for water changes and still offer food while your axie is recuperating in the fridge.

Cheers

Hi Darkmaveric,

Thanks for your advice! Ill get to changing the gravel to sand asap! Should I leave a small amount of gravel at the bottom of the the tank and cover it with sand for the good bacteria that are in it?

I use the solution test kits, "Freshwater Master Test Kit" by Aquarium Phamaceuticals INC. Is it a reliable one?

We do have chloramine put into our water supply, but I always use the agers in the appropriate dosages.

Thanks again!
Charlotte

Hi Charlotte,

How big is the gravel? If it is 1-3mm it should be ok - larger gravel or pebbles are bad. The main point is that it needs to be small enough to pass out the back side again.

In any case, it is not a good idea to mix gravel and sand. The sand will eventually fill in all the spaces between the gravel, preventing oxygen from getting to the substrate. This means that substrate will become "dead" and poisonous. I'm afraid you will have to have one or the other.

I also have more questions for you, I'm afraid. How long have you had your axolotl, and how big is it (length)? Also, I think that Stef's question is a good one: what do you feed the axolotl?

You wrote that the tank is aged, and now I'm wondering, like you, why the ammonia is up but no nitrite or nitrate - this is how a new tank reads, one with no bacteria yet. Have you possibly treated the water with, say, antibitotics? Any other major change?

-Eva

blueberlin said:

Hi Charlotte,

How big is the gravel? If it is 1-3mm it should be ok - larger gravel or pebbles are bad. The main point is that it needs to be small enough to pass out the back side again.

In any case, it is not a good idea to mix gravel and sand. The sand will eventually fill in all the spaces between the gravel, preventing oxygen from getting to the substrate. This means that substrate will become "dead" and poisonous. I'm afraid you will have to have one or the other.

I also have more questions for you, I'm afraid. How long have you had your axolotl, and how big is it (length)? Also, I think that Stef's question is a good one: what do you feed the axolotl?

You wrote that the tank is aged, and now I'm wondering, like you, why the ammonia is up but no nitrite or nitrate - this is how a new tank reads, one with no bacteria yet. Have you possibly treated the water with, say, antibitotics? Any other major change?

-Eva

Click to expand...

Ive had her for about 3 years, and she is about 17 cm in length. I feed her pellets and fish bits as treats (like bream, salmon etc).

It seems that the ammonia was a false reading because I did it again and it was 0. It wasnt "up" per se in the false reading, just a darker yellow than on the test reading card. I haven't done anything new to the water.

She has been in the fridge since I posted the first post here, and she isnt doing any better. She was initially moving more, but now she isnt at all. Ive done one water change and Ive just taken her out to warm up a bit so I can feed her and there was some green (!) stool in the water, so I did another water change. Im really scared that she is going to die. What should I do? Help please! Ive had her so long that she is like family.

char81 said:

Ive done one water change and Ive just taken her out to warm up a bit so I can feed her and there was some green (!) stool in the water, so I did another water change

Click to expand...

Have you only done one water change for the 5 days she's been in the fridge? If you are keeping her in a small tub in the fridge, you will need to do 100% water changes daily. The smaller amount of water will become toxic and will have an adverse effect on her health if it's not changed daily. Also, I would think that letting her 'warm up' would just add to her stress level. I'm new to axies but most aquatic life is less stressed when their temps are somewhat constant.

Edit: I did find the below info on green feces in an old post...

'As the axolotl hasn't been feeding the green feces could be due to the passage of bile salts which is probably nothing to worry about. (the lower temperatures slows the digestion allowing the bile to pass through).'

here's a link to that post:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?p=117429#post117429

OK cool, Ive been doing daily changes now, I just imagined that the fridge would negate the need to do them much.

How should I try and feed her while she is in the fridge?

I hope to god that she will be ok. She isn't moving much at all. Im glad to think that it's just bile salts passing through.

Hi Char81,

As you must have noticed by now, your axie would be less keen to feed due to the reduced metabolism of being in the cold. However, the best way to tempt it to feed is by offering a variety of food. I find that in general, live wriggly earthworms, bloodworms or blackworms tend to stimulate their appetite better. However, you can also still continue to offer pellets and occasional treats of shrimp, fish or beef heart.

What i also do is i make up a mash by blending up the above ingredients in a food processor. The resultant mash is doughy in texture and i roll them into pea sized portions to offer the axie. This method worked well for my own axies and 2 of my clients (im a vet), so you might like to give it a try. Perhaps its due to the odours, and easily gulped size but they are quite often quickly eaten up. They would be nutritionally balanced and easily digestable due to the smaller particles of food which greater surface area for digestive enzymes to work on. Ideal in the cold.

By the way, remember to remove all uneaten food and do not leave them to rot in the water! Some people have also tried feeding the axie in a different container in the fridge to facilitate cleaning, or even allow the water to slightly warm up to increase metabolism temporarily to encourage feeding. However, personally i find that itself might be stressful on its own (handling/ temp changes) and may be counterproductive if the axie is feeling rather ill. However, it also depends on your experience and judgement.

Cheers