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Sick Axi Salt baths and fridging dident help

Butterflykisses

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Hey everyone. We came across someone in edmonton alberta selling a male adult (we think) axolotl. We got him home and for about a week we were doing salt bath 2 times a day for no more the ten mins a time as well as fridging. His tail is no longer bloody looking and seems to be healing very nice. He has one gill however that had a cotton ball sorta growth on it. All of his other gills are very short and not looking to good either. Is there anything else we can do. He wont eat. Should i put him back in his tank and just see what happens?:confused:
 

dragonlady

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If he's got a cotton ball on his gill, that's fungus and until it disappears completely, salt baths will be necessary and keep him fridged. If you are not positive that this is fungus, then post a pic for someone to have a look.

What is the concentration of salt you are using and what kind is it?

It is not uncommon for fridged axolotls not to eat as the cold slows their metabolism. What are you offering him?
 

Butterflykisses

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IMGP9730.jpg




IMGP9727.jpg
 

Butterflykisses

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Iv been using 2 teaspoons to one liter. 2 times a day for 10 mins. It was aquarium salt. He normaly eats 2 earth worms a day.
 

shoegal

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I think you need to keep up with the salt bathes. I believe that is fungus on the tip of his gill. You could try bumping up the concentration to 3 teaspoons per liter.

Don't stress that he hasn't had an appetite recently. Their metabolism slows down significantly due to the cold temperatures in the fridge.
 

blueberlin

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Is it possible for you to remove the fungus physically? For example, twirl a cotton swab next to it to pull it off gently?

Please do not increase the dosage of salt to 3 tsp per liter! A dosage of 1 tsp. per liter is all you need. More and you risk seriously burning your axolotl.

You wrote that your axolotl is showing improvement. That's encouraging, right? The fungus itself is not the problem; it is a result of the axolotl's weakened immune system. This is probably because he seems to have been in pretty bad shape when you got him, right? If the fungus doesn't go away within the next week, though, you should probably take him to the vet in case there is a more sinister underlying cause.

Good luck to you - he sure is a cutie!

-Eva
 

shoegal

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Eva~ I completely respect your opinion since you have been caring for axies much longer than me and have an impressive reputation on the forum, but I just wanted to clarify something. My recommendation to increase the salt concentration came directly from axoltol.org (which most people on this site would agree contains accurate and very helpful information). When I first started caring for axie's most of my knowledge came directly from the Axolotls: The Fascinating Mexican Axolotl and the Tiger Salamander website, and as a result, when I have had to do salt baths, I use the recommended 2-3 teaspoons per liter of water for 10-15 minutes. I have never had any issues with this concentration of salt damaging the axie's skin or gills.

Here is the direct quote for Axolotls: The Fascinating Mexican Axolotl and the Tiger Salamander below:

"Holtfreter's solution in higher than normal concentrations is also effective against Columnaris, as is the use of a salt bath. 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. Of course, this is all useless if the animal is still under stress when put back in its aquarium (strong-flowing water, high water temperature, bad water quality, etc....)."
 

Manifest

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Iodised salt shouldn't be used for treating axies as far as I know, use only pure white salt crystal with no additives. I'm not sure why the treatment page on this site lists iodised salt, but the aquarium lady we spoke to the other day about our axie was very adamant about no additives in the salt. Isn't iodine what very naughty people use to try and force their poor axie's to morph?
 

dragonlady

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To avoid confusion: Shoegal is referring to Holtfreter's solution which does use table salt in combination with some other compounds. This complex solution is highly recommended throughout the axolotl.org site but if using a simple salt solution - non-iodized salt should be used, as referred to in quote at the bottom of my post.

blueberlin, I have the utmost respect for you and have learned so much from you, for your many posts - I thank you. However, this site does recommend a higher concentration than the one you recommend.

This is a quote from Caudata Culture Articles - Salt Solutions (bottom of the page):

"A simple salt solution for treating fungus on aquatic caudates is given in:

  • FAQ#43 in the axolotl.org FAQ:
    Give a bath in some salty water for about 10 minutes once or twice a day (2-3 teaspoons aquarium salt or non-iodized table salt per litre or quart). That should kill the fungus within a few days. Don't leave the axolotl in the salt bath for more than 10-15 minutes each time, because the salt will start to damage the axolotl's skin and gills."​
 

blueberlin

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@Mariah: Oh honey I am so sorry! I didn't mean to "make you" look wrong or anything. Normally when I contradict something someone else writes, I send them a PM making sure I didn't offend or anything. I didn't send you one this time because I didn't even think further than my own nose, basically. I am so, so sorry - I have never seen you write anything bad or inadvisable. My problem is with salt per se. It is a very aggressive chemical and I only meant that the axolotl is improving and salt baths are a harsh treatment and increasing that now might complicate rather than alleviate the situation.

@Seona: Yes, iodine is bad. I can't explain it, partly because I only know the words in German and mainly because I don't really understand the inner workings of it all, but apparently iodine has something to do with the hormone-producing gland that stimulates metamorphosis in "normal" amphibians or salamanders or whatall.

Here in Germany we have a kind of salt used for dishwashers. It is pure NaCl (Natrium Chloride, or "salt"), the difference to table salt being that table salt has an additive that keeps it from clumping. So then we have table salt (with only the anti-clumping additive), iodized salt, and iodized flouride salt. Obviously none of these would be desirable for a salt bath due to the additives. (See how I skip around explaining why not :rolleyes:).

I don't know anything about this "marine salt" because I have the dishwasher salt which is perfect, so I don't know what is in the aq. salt. One would assume it is pure NaCl? (And probably very expensive.)

Ok I have drifted off into ramblings. I really just wanted to apologize to Mariah, and tried to make that not too off-topic. :eek:

-Eva
 

shoegal

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No worries, Eva. I just didn't want you to think that I was giving random advice that did not come from a credible source. : )

I have always used aquarium salt purchased at my local fish store for salt baths, so I have never had to investigate the characteristics of iodized vs. non-iodized salt.
 

Butterflykisses

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yeah when we got him he had no gills and his tail was gone to **** from being bitten by the Cichlids that were in the tank with them so he is doing alot better. Any ideas as to how old he or she may be?
 
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