Axolotl on side bubble under mouth and pale

Hey guys my axie jelly is sick for the second time in a few months this time i think she may die im very very upset. Jelly kept swimming up for air today.. I just did a water change last night. I woke up today to see her still going up for air i looked in the bottom of her tank..SHe puked up her food and there was some poo..I quickly siphoned that out..Now normally she swims away from the siphon and hides in her pot or behind her plants while im at work..Today she didnt Move and after closely examining her i noticed her jaw had a bubble in it.. There is nothing small in her tank for her to swallow and i didnt see anything in her bubble.Her mouth is also stuck open a bit but theres nothing in there.Her ammonia and nitrate levels were about the same as they are after i do a water change..i was worried maybe there wasnt enough oxygen in her tank i only hvae 2 small live plants and no air stones .. So i took her out used treated tap water i had sitting aside for her water changes and i pute her in a big container.. so i decided to examine her more she didnt move at all when i took her out she barely moved when i put her in the container..i picked her up to see if she would gulp to make sure she was still alive..She gulped but again she is very pale and so are her gills i wanted to know if i should go get some airstones more plants? anything would help =,[

i care about her alot and i really dont want her to die and i really dont want to replace her </3

thanks guys

What were the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels? I know in fish that gulping at the surface is a sign of nitrite poisoning.

Axolotls gulp at the surface. This isn't a 'bad' sign. But it is a sign that your water doesn't hold enough oxygen for her to use her gills alone. You should definitely add an airstone and see if that helps.

How often do you change the water in the tank? How much do you change? How warm is the tank? Is there anything she could have bumped herself on to cause the bubble? Can you provide a picture?

SHe could have bumped herself on her rock thing but its nothing that could really hurt her i i watch her land on it all the time when she comes floating down from the top of the tank.Normally i change 20% of the water every week and her tank is very cool i live up in wisconsin and its winter her tank says its 55 deg f

=[

At 55 degrees, I would expect her to be slightly lethargic. And cold water holds more oxygen, so she would pump less blood to her gills (making them more pale) because she's getting more oxygen through them as well as through the rest of her skin. How many times per hour do you estimate she comes up for air?

When's the last time she ate and pooped?

i fed her last night she didnt eat much i woke up today she had poop in her tank and she had spit up some of her food do u think she could suffering anemia? she is very pale i will test her water again soon im not sure how hard the water is she never had problems like this tho u would think this would have happened sooner i know ammonia and nitrates can change quickly but i haven't done anything different then what ive been doing with her water and shes almost a year old

Hey,

Out of curiosity does the bubble you've mentioned under her mouth look as though her throat is swollen? Or is it smaller in comparison to the rest of her throat?

As requested above, a picture if possible would be helpful. =]

Also I know you've said her gills are pale, but what of the movement? And have the 2 live plants always been in her tank?

How often is Jelly fed? And what were the signs of illness the first time around? Were they similar to this time?

Sorry for all the questions.

Hey guys im sorry to say Jelly had passed away at 3:30 pm today i cried for about 3 1/2 hrs and i cant even bare to look at her tank.Yes the bubble in her throat looked like swollen..Her first signs of illness happened when she was about 2 1/2 inches i think she died today at 6 inches =[ her movement was minimal gulpig for air when i took her out of the tank and when i set her back in she didnt move she stayed on her side so i turned her on her tummy..Her last movements were her arms hitting her side exactly 2 times and then nothing she had passed =,[ i even brought my water into the petstore i work at had my freind test it he said everything was perfect even the hardness (for axies) nitrates ammonia eavrything was fine..Also yes the live plants have always been in her tank she liked hiding in them im im going to post some pictures.... =[ i dont even know if i want to try another axie its heartbreaking and i dunno if i can look at her tank the same way...

also i would like to say her gills were not stubby but nice fluffy and pink until this had happened =[ then they went pale

Oh dear, I'm sorry for your loss. She sure had a swollen chin. Looks like edema to me, this can be caused by many internal disease processes. From heart failure due to genetic defects or old age to kidney/liver insufficiencies due to old age, nutritional deficiencies (high fat diet) or infection.

Since your water quality and temp is ok and you state your little one was never 100% since she was 2 1/2 in, maybe it was partly genetic. Again I'm sorry for your loss. Just trying to put your mind at rest with a possible answer.

I'm sorry hon. That really sucks. I agree with Kuphie, it looks like it might've been caused by organ failure, due to her swelling up suddenly. In that case, there's nothing you could've done. You did very well at keeping her comfortable, and I have no doubts in your abilities as a keeper. It's always sad that pets rarely last as long as we do.

These little guys really do have an effect on us don't they? Even reading about the loss of an axolotl gets me all teary eyed!

I admit I was worried it would end like this. =[ Not because of anything you've done, purely because I had a similar experience. I agree with the two posts above about possible cause of death. I'm sorry for your loss. Take comfort in knowing you did what you could for Jelly.

Give it some time and you'll know when you're ready to give another axie a good home. =]

Aw thanks guys i feel a bit better :] Poor jelly =[ but thank you so much for your help


xoxo