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Illness/Sickness: Rescued Axolotl

Steve Steers

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Hey Everyone,

I have recently rescued an Axolotl from abandonment. When I received this Axolotl the tank was absolutely disgusting. Thick muddy water and the people who had it had no idea how to feed this Axolotl as there was a HUGE chunk of meat in the tank that the Axolotl could never fit in her mouth. I have never had an Axolotl before but have kept tropical fish and realize that there is alot of work that goes into keeping animals like this. I have read on the website about all the ph levels ect so have cleaned the tank and taken the necessary steps to make sure the tank is right for the Axoltl. My concern is the future health of Storm (its what I named her). Her gills are non existent. In the pictures below I have lowered the water level of the tank so that she can climb up and out of the water if she needs as she tends to be going to the surface alot for air (even though I have a oxygen block in the tank). My question is, has she lost her gills due to lack of care by the previous owner or is it the Metamorphosis that I read about on the site? She seems to be eating ok. When we first got her I was feeding her mince as we needed to get proper food for her. I have since gone out and got Axolotl pellets (5mm salmon pellets) and Freeze Dried Bloodworms (although she is not too keen on these). Another problem is that she wont eat unless she is hand fed. Any help would be much appreciated as I do not want her to die.

Many Thanks
Steve Steers
 

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Zalth

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I get so mad when I hear about these people who just treats their axolotls bad! She's in quite a mess, but she's a real beauty!

Seems like you're doing what you can for her. Although, you should try getting some earth worms too if you can. My axolotls love them, and they are very nutritious! My axolotls are hand fed too, not a problem for me. I just put the worms to their mouths with a tweezers.

Congratulations on getting her, you're a wonderful person taking care of her!
 

Mandy6

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good job on rescuing her! With the right care I'm sure she will pull through fine :)

my only advice would be to get rid of the gravel! She may accidentally swallow some and get impacted :(
 

siona

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Definitely lose the gravel - it's not worth the risk. Earthworms are the best food - even if you dig them out of your garden and give them a rinse - I buy mine from tackel shops or on ebay.

Welcome btw! You've come to the right place for information on these guys - I learned so much so quickly once I joined! Good luck with Storm!
 

Kaysie

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Good on you for rescuing her!

Definitely take out the gravel! You don't want to stress her out any more than she already is.

As for the gills, they're probably gone from a lack of care. Metamorphosis has a couple of good signs: they develop eyelids, their tail fins receed, as well as losing their gills. Keep her well fed and well taken care of, and she should grow back some gills. They'll probably never be big and fluffy though.
 

Boo Penguin

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Ooooh a pied axi; how cute!!! Its such a shame that her previous owners haven't looked after her. The gill loss is not from metamorphosis as that is extremely rare, its defiantly from a lack of care.

My recommendations would be the keep that water as perfect as you possibly can and feed her lots of yummy worms. She should start to show improvement soon.

Keep us posted as to how she is going. She's such a beautiful axi
 

blackdog

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Lose the gravel.

Don't worry about making land available to her, she'll stay under water.

Feed earthworms and see if you can get some axie pellets (as opposed to salmon pellets) online, plenty available, shipping to nz shouldn't be an issue

I know i'm repeating a lot here, but i'm just making sure you know everyone agrees and it's good advice you have been given above.

Did i mention - lose the gravel? :)

good job for the rescue, sounded very bad, you've done a pretty good job with just a few small adjustments to make, it'll be fit , fat and have fluffy gills in no time. When looked after properly, they are very hardy.

bren
 

Steve Steers

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Thanks for all your advice. Will keep you posted with updates on how shes doin.
 

freya

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The poor lady! Good that you saved her! Lot of good food,good water conditions and a lot of love can get her trough this! Good luck with her and plse keep us posted!
 
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