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axolotl lump

geodaryl

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Ii have have recently noticed a small lump inside my axies mouth. To one side, white-ish in colour,Iam not sure if he bumped something while feeding or swimming etc.It was very small, but over last few days it has grown to a pea sized lump in the corner of his mouth....
Any ideas?
Remedies?
Cures?

Thanks in advance...
 
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Darkmaverick

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Hi Geodaryl,

There is a high possibility it is an abscess and/or bacterial infection in the mouth called infectious stomatitis. This is transmissible and requires antibiotic therapy. I would recommend you isolate this sick axie away from your healthy ones by fridging until you make a vet appointment.

http://www.caudata.org/axolotl-sanctuary/Fridging.shtml

Cheers.
 

Darkmaverick

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Hi Geodaryl,

That is a good example of infectious stomatitis. You would need to make a vet appointment as antibiotic therapy is required. Fridging can help palliate the condition but is not curative. The lesion inside the mouth walls off the bacteria such that only internal medication and lancing the lesion can help clear up the infection.

Cheers.
 

geodaryl

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should I seperate him from my other axie, is it as contagious as that?

thanks
daryl
 

Kerry1968

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Yes it's infectious, yes you need to separate your axies. It may be a good idea to keep the poorly axie in the fridge until you can set up a vets appointment.
 

geodaryl

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I have now seen a specialist vet and he has been fridging for a week so far. He's taking daily anti-biotic baths and due to have the growth removed this week. However, I have also put his tankmate in the fridge and giving him the anti-biotic baths too as his toes seem to be disappearing leaving them very short or with the bone stripped. Does this mean he has contracted the infection? Neither of them have changed their behaviour in any way and they will both feed and don't seem stressed at all?
I will try to get pics this evening...
thanks
daryl
 

Darkmaverick

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Hi Geodaryl,

Its fantastic you followed the suggestion and have the sick axie treated with antibiotics. You mentioned the antibiotics are in a 'bath'. Has the axie been given an injection or oral dose of antibiotics? May i ask what antibiotics are given?

Fridging is non invasive and is fine to fridge your other axie if you worry something is wrong. However i would not recommend you self diagnose or treat with the medicated bath. Medications are specially prescribed to suit a specific condition for the specific axie. Inappropriate use of the medication can result in more harm than good and can lead to resistant strains of bacteria.

Bacteria that cause stomatitis can indeed also cause infection in other body parts. However, there are many other causes of axie 'foot rot'. These include physical trauma (being bitten, caught in filter etc), fungal infection, parastite/protozoal damage and bacterial infection by other types of bacteria. It is better to correctly diagnose the condition and then administer appropriate treatment.

Would you be able to provide some photos of that foot?

Cheers.
 

geodaryl

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dark maverick - thanks for the reply. My vet hasn't yet taken a swab or sample of anykind so i guess the anti-biotic is a general one, if there is such a thing. I believe he didnt want to inject as we are still unsure of the bacteria present and also a bath allows me to monitor and remove him if he was to react badly to it.
He has 0.2ml per litre concentration bath for a max of 5 hrs. He didnt react at all yesterday although I was only able to do it for about 2 hrs. I will read the scientific stuff off the bottle when I get home from work and take/upload some pics off his tankmates feet.
Either way, they are both acting completely normally and are having no issues with the baths or the fridge. I will leave them both fridging until I have taken them back to the vets and only continue to bath the first axie. But, promisingly the vet did say the lump looks well contained and as it hasn't grown was most likely started from an injury (parents feeding.... hmmmm) so should be a fairly straight forward procedure to remove it, later this week.
 

geodaryl

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here's the pics i managed to get of the other axies toes...
on the anti-biotics bottle it says "Baytril 2.5%"
 

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Darkmaverick

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Hi Geodaryl,

Enrofloxacin (Baytril) is indeed broad spectrum. I would not use it to bathe the axie with the toe problem. Most axies can recover quite uneventfully merely by fridging. I would speculate that the toes would improve about 3 weeks time if you just fridged it.

Cheers.
 

geodaryl

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The axie is now with the vet and due to have the lump removed sometime today, so fingers crossed...
However, the golden one, been in the fridge for a week, now has very small white furry bits on the stripped toes. Is a salt bath and fridging the best option?
How many times a day for salt bath? how long? etc...
thanks
daryl
 

Darkmaverick

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Hi Geodaryl,

Yes that does sound like a fungal infection. The most cost effective, practical and least invasive strategy for you right now, is to fridge the axie with clean dechlorinated water for 3 weeks. You would need to perform daily water changes and monitor for progress or deterioration. If you notice any signs of deterioration despite a week of fridging, you would probably need to bring it to a vet.

I would actually recommend you commence salt baths at this stage. Besides fungal infections, salt baths are actually effective with ridding protozoa and ectoparasites and have some antibacterial properties. Salt baths are rather straightforward. Basically just prepare a tub of fresh dechlorinated water and dissolve 2 to 3 flat teaspoonfuls of non-iodized salt per litre of water. You can use salt such as kosher salt, freshwater aquarium salt or sea salt. Do not use table salt. You can then place your axie in the salt solution for about 10 minutes but no longer than 15 minutes per session. Excessive salt solution soaking can cause damage to the axie's gills and skin. Have a look through this article as well.

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/salt.shtml

For the first 3 days, I would start out with 2 salt baths per day. Try to space them out as evenly as possible in terms of interval (ie. 9 am, 9pm) whatever best suits your schedule. An hour or 2 off is fine. There is no point for example in two salt baths in succession 3 or 4 hours apart. If you can gently tease off any flaking/peeling lesions that is also fine. You can do so gently with a cotton Q-tip. Roll the Q-tip towards you to gently lift away at the lesion rather than prod at it or roll inwards which can damage the skin.

Monitor the progress and response of the axie during the salt baths. From the 4th day onwards, reduce down to once per day until the end of the week. Continue to monitor. I anticipate a marked improvement by day 3. If by end of the week, the salt baths and fridging did not improve the condition, again a vet appointment will be necessary. The axie will struggle a bit in the salt bath. This is to be expected. Do not leave the axie longer than 15min. I would recommend 10min per soaking time.

You can prepare one or two bottles (1 or 1.5 L bottle) of salt solution in the fridge. The most convenient time to do salt baths will be during your daily water changes. As the salt solution is fridged, there will be minimal thermal stress.

Cheers.
 

geodaryl

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update on ernie: vet managed to remove most of the lump and he seems fine, just waiting on the lab to determine what the cause was and the likelihood of it returning.
Lenny is being saltbathed once or twice a day depending on my work hours.
They are both chilling in the fridge and seem to be fairly happy. So hopefully a week or so more and they will be back to 110%

daryl
 

geodaryl

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Update on ernie (shortly to be due a name change by kerry, his new owner)
I have been very busy since my last post, but, shortly after the last post I got the results for his removed lump. The lab said it showed no bacterial content and was just a growth, a bit of flesh...
I hope he has a good time with kerry and all her other axies, although he will no doubt be sore about sharing a house with a little frog, named ERNIE!?
 

Kerry1968

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No Daryl he's not sharing his accommodation with Ernie! Ernie is a terrestrial frog.

Still trying to think of an appropriate name, me and my daughter were suggesting names to each other all the way home!
I suggested Afer, as in 'A' for Axolotl! But my brilliant idea was dismissed by all the family!
 
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