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Illness/Sickness: Adopted a sick Axoltol, and im afraid he is not going to make it.

browen33w

browen33w

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An Army friend of mine is moving soon and asked me to take care of his little guy Dino. All I was told was that he had been attacked a few months ago and lost his gills... after seeing him I am 99% sure he has morphed and has not been eating enough. He is very very skinny. I have only been able to get him to eat pellets if I drop them close to his head... As soon as I get off from work today I plan on hitting up my local pet store for live blood worms. What should I do!!!!? I can post pics this after noon, but trust me he is very sad looking.
 
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Until pics are posted I guess there isn't a lot people can say yet. If he is being kept in water then it would be handy to post temp/nitrate/nitrite/ammonia readings if possible. Try get him some live earthworms too
 
browen33w

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I will post pics asap.
temp : 66 deg F
nitrate/nitrite : both read clear
ammonia : very low

The temp where he used to live was well over 75 deg F...
 
browen33w

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Here is a pic that I took at lunch. :(

EDIT: I tried to feed him live meal worms but he didnt seem to want any.. im going to pick up earth worms on the way home...
 

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He doesn't look like an axie to me :eek: he's very beautiful though! If that's his tank in the background you need to get rid of the gravel ASAP as it can cause impaction and kill him. It does look like he is morphing though... Try him with a few wax worms as treats to beef him up a bit, only a few mind, it puts the weight on them stupidly quick! My axie was thinner than him, I was at a loss as to how to beef him up as every suggestion was tried and failed. I got some wax worms for my newt, offered one to him, he was fat in literally 2 days and hasn't dropped an ounce by the look of him!

How is his tank set up, is it fully aquatic? If it is then, from looking at him, I would lower the water level enough so he is still comfortable but make sure that there is a raised area so he can climb out if he wants to otherwise he could end up drowning once his gills are fully gone.
 
Kaysie

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That's definitely a tiger salamander, not an axolotl.

Does he still have gill nubs? Or are they all gone?

You're going to need to set him up in a terrestrial tank as soon as he loses his gill nubs. Please read through these articles here and here about how to care for tiger salamanders.
 
browen33w

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He has a nub on either side of his head where his gills use to be.. THANK YOU ALL for the help with him. I will try the wax worms as soon as I get home. The tank is not fully aquatic; There are large smooth rocks on one side (with room for him to get up and out of the water), and about 2 inches of water on the other side. So 50/50.
 
browen33w

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He didnt go for either... ill try every day to get him to eat.
 
browen33w

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I know this area is for Axolotls but I still can't get him to eat at all... should I keep the temp low or bring it up alittle??:confused:
 
browen33w

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I wanted to give everyone an update on my tiger. It has been 5 months but he has been doing so much better. I want to thank you all again for all of your help. :)

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    with axolotls would I basically have to keep buying and buying new axolotls to prevent inbred breeding which costs a lot of money??
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    Not necessarily but if you’re wanting to continue to grow your breeding capacity then yes. Breeding axolotls isn’t a cheap hobby nor is it a get rich quick scheme. It costs a lot of money and time and deditcation
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    @Thorninmyside, I Lauren chen
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