We've lost both of them

A while ago when i first post about our new axies you gave advice that our black was looked underweight. Unfortunately while we were on honeymoon my mother was looking after them and she could not get him to eat and he died on the 29th.
Our white one, who had been eating very well, then stopped taking food. Just the other day we posted that her gills had gone completely white and this morning we came in to find her floating on the top of the tank non responsive. I've rushed her into a sandwich box and put her in the fridge (just in case, I'm not ready to give up just yet). So i will check at lunch time to see if there is any movement, but I'm pretty sure she is dead. We also noticed that her belly looked a bit black, almost bruised. We never handle her though. We dont know if she has been to the toilet, we guess it would be pretty obvious? We checked all our parameters in the water yesturday and they are fine, could she have gotten lonely on her own?

Sounds like an infection possibly, did you keep them with any gravel?

They were on gravel in the pet shop and we had them on gravel in our tank for a while. We changed the gravel to sand on the 20th of July so it has been about 4-5 weeks without gravel and she was eating fine after that.
She is in the fridge at the moment, we arent sure if she is actually dead, she is floating slightly lopsided at the moment, but is unresponsive still.

I'm sorry for your loss. Although white gills isn't a bad sign as when axies are resting, the blood isn't flowing through the gills so they appear white.

Is there a strong current in your tank?

So sorry for your loss. I would hazard a guess that one or both may have had an impaction from the gravel. You have not mentioned seeing either expelling the gravel that has been most likely ingested. Since the first one was refusing food from the start, it could have been an infection as suggested, but the gravel could have been obstructing an upper part of the digestive tract.

The discoloration in this one's belly is most likely gravel. It should be noted that, while I know you were trying your best, a baggy really is not suitable for placing an axolotl in a fridge. A plastic container with enough capacity to have water to completely cover the axolotl and still have airspace above (even with a lid attached) would have been better. You had the right idea to get him/her in the fridge though.

If you decide to try keeping these amazing animals again, I encourage you to visit the other areas of this site such as Axolotls if you have not. Please ask whatever questions you may have and consider finding a breeder to get another from. There is a FS section at the bottom of the Forum index page or use the wanted section below that. Take care.

So sorry to hear of your loss, Fingers cross for your little one in the fridge.

I'm really sorry for your loss.

Well, shes definately gone, bless her, i was so hoping that she would survive, it took me all day to accept she was dead.
We went to the pet shop that we got them from and told them that they had both died. I also told them that they were not keeping them properly as they had 4 in a small tank and they were being kept on gravel. I asked for the breeders number so that we could contact them direct to see if we could get another from her. The pet shop lady wouldn't give us the number and called on our behalf. When she called us back, she said that the breeder told her that it was fine to keep them on gravel!

Jenna said:

Well, shes definately gone, bless her, i was so hoping that she would survive, it took me all day to accept she was dead.
We went to the pet shop that we got them from and told them that they had both died. I also told them that they were not keeping them properly as they had 4 in a small tank and they were being kept on gravel. I asked for the breeders number so that we could contact them direct to see if we could get another from her. The pet shop lady wouldn't give us the number and called on our behalf. When she called us back, she said that the breeder told her that it was fine to keep them on gravel!

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That's not good. The breeder is obviously breeding on a large scale not knowing about the gravel. I'm sorry for your loss, it's very sad and may they both rest in peace.

Jenna said:

Well, shes definately gone, bless her, i was so hoping that she would survive, it took me all day to accept she was dead.
We went to the pet shop that we got them from and told them that they had both died. I also told them that they were not keeping them properly as they had 4 in a small tank and they were being kept on gravel. I asked for the breeders number so that we could contact them direct to see if we could get another from her. The pet shop lady wouldn't give us the number and called on our behalf. When she called us back, she said that the breeder told her that it was fine to keep them on gravel!

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Where abouts in england are you at? I have a few babies I'm bringing up if you are intrested.

We are in Hampshire, near to Portsmouth. We would be interested in getting another from someone like you who knows what they are up to!

Hmm thats quite far away from where I am (Sheffield). I currently have 20 odd wilds, 10 melanoid and 10 leucistic and gold I'm rasing. If you drop me a private message I might be able to work something out.

dragonlady said:

It should be noted that, while I know you were trying your best, a baggy really is not suitable for placing an axolotl in a fridge. A plastic container with enough capacity to have water to completely cover the axolotl and still have airspace above (even with a lid attached) would have been better. You had the right idea to get him/her in the fridge though.

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A sandwich box is a plastic container...