Illness/Sickness: New and need help!

hi everyone ive recently bought an axoltl approximately 4 weeks ago. he lives in a 5 foot by 2 foot tank along with approximaley 5 guppies(which have been fine with him) and also used to live wityh a plec as we were told they would be fine together and were until a few days ago. i noticed the plec was sucking on his side so i immediatley took the plec out of the tank. after i took the plec out of the tank he started to look a bit stressed, his tail curled at end and he semed to be at the top of the tank then when trying to swim to bottom cudnt keep there, the floating stopped after a couple of hours, but were the plec has sucked on him it looks like his skin is peeling and is coming off, it is not raw or red but just loks like he has sunburn and it is peeling. ive read on here and was not sure wether to give salt bath ( due to not kowing wether it is classed as open wound) however i have gave him 2, 1 today and 1 yesterday but only put the tiniest amount of salt in until i could get some advice. ive also fridged him as i am scared it will get infected. could anyone advise if i am doing the right thing. he is now in his second day of fridging and i think his skin looks a little better but he is still not eating and hasnt for aproximately 3 days now, please help i feel so guilty!!he is 9 years old and his name is toothles btw. :smile:

Hi,

fridging him was a good idea. That helps him to calm down and slowies an eventually bacteria growing. But I would stop the salt baths. Do you know catappa leaves - can you get it from your pet shop? Catappa leaves work against infestions and helps your axie in the heeling process. Pleco wounds often get infected.

If he gets fungus (cotton wool like stuff), you should salt bath him again, but with the full dosis of salt.

.... and please, keep the pleco out of his tank.

Tina

hi havent had them together since i knew it was sucking on him. i caught it straight away so im hoping it doesnt get infected. ive never heard of those leaves but i will certainly look for them, if i get them what do i do with them? also he hasnt pooped in at least 24 hours could this be if he is stressed? and how long can he go without eating?

thanks for help :happy:

you should use the leaves after the instruction manual written on the package.

Axies don´t poop every day. Adult axies should be fed 1-2 per week and 1-2 days after feeding, they poop.

so if he isnt eating will he not poop? just ive read on here that he should poop a lot while in fridge even if not eating, is that rite? also ive read about feeding earthworms are they ust normal earthworms from garden? thanks for your help

I'm still learning, but from what I understand, fridging will slow down their metabolism, so their body will get out any waste it has in it as quickly as it can.

About the worms - yes just ordinary earthworms. You can get them from your garden if you know there are no chemicals in the ground

normally they poop 1-2 days after they´ve eaten. But when they are in the fridge, their metabolism is slowed down and so it´s possible, that they poop a bit more often.

Earthworms from your garden are fine and the yies love them. But you should take care, that there aren´t any pesticides on the place you dig them from.

I´ve been a bit too late.

so do you think i should be worrying if he hasnt eaten for approx 4 or 5 days and ive seen no pop since i fridged him 48 hours ago? i might try him with earth worms, ive been trying him with frozen blood worms and daphnia but he aint eating those

here is some pics of his injurys, do you think i should salt bath?

I wouldn´t do any salt baths again as long there´s no fungus appearing. Salt baths irritates the slime coat. I would try only fresh water and the catappa leaves and stay him in the fridge for some days.

He looks well fed, so there´s no need for him to eat, while he´s in the fridge. But you may try to feed him.

What Tina said was the answer i was typing as well so /agree Tina!

ok thanks very much. what about the pooping?

I'm not very knowledgeable with these things but I have fridged my guys recently and I noticed that with my two smaller ones there was no mess in the bottom for a good three or four days, it could be that before you fridged him he did poop but it broke down quickly and you didn't notice it. I was convinced that my wild type never pooped until I caught her in the act! Now I have her in a bare bottom I know just how wrong I was, big presents everywhere! I guess keep an eye on him though and maybe try feed him as well

I agree!
Don´t worry about that.
The only sorrow is about the wound, .... if it´s healing without complications.

how long will i keep him in fridge considering he not eating?

I suggest for maybe one week. But have a close eye on his wound. If it´s getting red or a white stuff is growing (= fungus), then you should go to a vet (if it´s getting red) or salt bath him (if it´s fungus).

hi dont know wether to put toothless back in tank now, it looks like his skin is getting better and as far as i can see cant see any fungas of any kind. i feel really sorry for him being stuck in fridge and not eating. hes been in fridge for about 4 nights 5 days now. what do you think i should do? if i put him back in tank is there anything i need to do to tank ie, water change or aything? or i have a big tub that i can fit him in and rest in the bigger tank so the waters not as cold as fridge would you recommend putting him in there? he seems to be coming less and less lifeless in the fridge, is this normal ie. he is begining to float a little and go to 1 side until i move him??

I wouldnt put him back in the tank if hes floating or hanging towards 1 side...
In the fridge their metabolism is going slower so yes they get a bit 'lifeless'.
Did he poop already or not?
And what do you exactly mean with hanging over to 1 side? Can you post another picture maybe plse when he does that? And the fridge is to reduce the stress and to increase the healing of the wound.
And of the last picture i saw of him he is a very well fed axy so no eating for a week when in fridge he can do easily.

I fully agree to Sandra.

he doesnt fully go on his side, he just kinda flops to a lbit of an angle, ill try to get a pic. if i post some more pics of his wounds wud u be able to tel if they are getting ay better, because i dont know what i am looking for? he hasnt pooped yet no, which im worried about, the person that had him before us used to feed him one frozen blodwrm cube a day, is that to much?