Illness/Sickness: Needing advice please

[Kerry M]

Hi

Little Darwin is unwell. I noticed today that his coloring looked a bit darker, he is having difficulty using his back limbs, and his cloacal is enlarged. It is in fact ballooned making it impossible for his body to rest comfortably on the ground.

Here are some pictures:



Darwin's back limbs and lower body are floating like this:



I have put Darwin into a sterile cool tub (20 C). The water has been aged.

I have tested the tank water, the parameters are below:

Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20
PH: Over 7.6 (only have low range test)
PH test looked very bright blue.

I am worried about him being stressed as he is floating etc... Should I put him in the fridge in a small amount of water?

Thank you so much for your help.

 

[Kerry M]

I found this picture that I took with a flash. It probably is clearer.

 

[Jacquie]

Hi Kerry,

That does look very uncomfortable, the poor little chap!

In his past (sorry, I don't know his history; if he's always been with you, or if you inherited or bought him from a shop), has he ever been exposed to gravel (to your knowledge)?

If you very gently probe near his rear legs and the swollen cloaca region, can you feel anything hard in there?

Is he still eating?

If you can keep him nice, calm, and consistently cool in the tub, fridging shouldn't be necessary. The swelling and his difficulty in using his rear legs concerns me. I really do think this needs to be checked out by a Vet.

 

[layna]

Oh dear poor chap, yes id get him to a vet as that swelling doesnt look good.
If he is uncomfortable floating then just lower the water level in his tub so its just a little deeper than him when hes stood on all fours, this will stop the floating

 

[Kerry M]

Hi Jackie,

Thank you for replying. Yes I agree with you, a vet will need to be contacted first thing in the morning. He is uncomfortable the poor little thing, although he is looking more relaxed. I started writing this response an hour ago when someone popped over.

I reared Darwin from egg and he's never been on gravel. His tank currently has sand, his hide and a driftwood creation. When I was cleaning his tank I found a little piece of driftwood that I thought was waste. It is unlikely though that there were more broken pieces. His tank used to be occupied by one of his brothers that was bigger than him. There is a bit of brown looking algae growing in the tank as it is near a window. I'm not sure if the algae raised the PH as it is usually low here.

Anyhow, this is Darwin now, he is at least using his back legs a bit and his gills appear more relaxed.

He is not eating any worms that I am offering him.

 

[Kerry M]

Oh dear poor chap, yes id get him to a vet as that swelling doesnt look good.
If he is uncomfortable floating then just lower the water level in his tub so its just a little deeper than him when hes stood on all fours, this will stop the floating

Hi Layna,
Yes I did lower the water and he is more comfortable. He also is a clever little guy, he is periodically sitting in his hide for comfort, it helps keep his bottom down ?

 

[layna]

Hi Layna,
Yes I did lower the water and he is more comfortable. He also is a clever little guy, he is periodically sitting in his hide for comfort, it helps keep his bottom down ��

Aww bless him, Well it sounds like he is going to be well looked after, i hope the vet sorts it for you, keep us updated

 

[Kerry M]

Just a little update.
Darwin was a lot more relaxed this morning at the vet. His swelling looked like this:

He is staying there for a couple of days, he'll be given antibiotics. I was advised that it could either be a large ingestion of play sand, an infection or a kidney problem as the kidneys are lower in the body. I noticed that he had not excreted any waste since yesterday. He did eat the worm that I left him last night though. His legs are more relaxed. I was told that the stiff legs yesterday probably indicate that he was in pain.
Hopefully he will do well in their care.

 

[Mortimer]

Poor little guy. I hope it's nothing serious and he recovers quickly.

 

[Kerry M]

Poor little guy. I hope it's nothing serious and he recovers quickly.

Me too. I have a feeling that he'll be fine. If there is a problem I am just hoping that it will be detected and resolved. Darwin is hanging out in their fridge. He could have been right here in my fridge ? Fingers crossed that the antibiotics have helped him. I'm looking forward to picking him up.

 

[Kerry M]

Hello

Just an update on Darwin.

I brought Darwin back from the vet today, he stayed there for a few nights. The vet have advised that I remove the play sand from my tanks as it irritated Darwin as he was passing it. He is on antibiotics, he has a shot every three days for the next three weeks. So I'll need to learn to do that super fast ?
He looks so much better already. He is walking around the tub with all limbs and his bottom area is not floating. He doesn't seem as swollen, his cloaca isn't red anymore. They used sugar paste to reduce the swelling. I am hoping that he'll pass the rest of the sand in the next few days. He is eating earthworms again so that may help. I'm happy that he is back. I never thought sand could be so much trouble. At the moment I am going to stick with a bare bottomed tank, in the future I'll find slate or something similar.

Kerry

 

[FX1C]

Good to hear he's home with you K

I'm turned off the idea of using sand after this & other things I've been reading.

Hope Darwim makes a speedy recovery now he's back home again



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[Kerry M]

Just woke up and Darwin's bottom is floating again. He doesn't seem to have passed anything.

I'm putting him back in the fridge with lower water. How annoying, he was looking great last night.

 

[snuggly time]

Awww I hope he recovers soon, poor Darwin.

 

[Kerry M]

I'm not so sure about all of this. He hasn't passed anything. I gave his his Fortum injection. He looks really swollen again and his legs are sitting alongside his body again like this:

It is hard to take a picture of the extent of the swelling, this was my best attempt without stressing him:

Can fridging help reduce swelling? I'm hoping that it might be helpful. If anyone out there has any ideas about what this looks like that the vet have not described I will be open to any suggestions.

 

[axolotl newbie]

Hi
My axolotl Burrito has been given antibiotics recently. You mustn't put them in the fridge when they are on antibiotics as it will slow the effect of the drugs.

 

[axolotl newbie]

Axolotls seem to respond to antibiotics much more slowly than a cat or dog would. Burrito's first course, Baytril every three days (3 injections in total) didn't seem to work and her infection came back. She then had a course of a different antibiotic which she had 4 times, 2 days apart.Stick with it but maybe give the vet a call and tell them what's going on.

 

[Kerry M]

Axolotls seem to respond to antibiotics much more slowly than a cat or dog would. Burrito's first course, Baytril every three days (3 injections in total) didn't seem to work and her infection came back. She then had a course of a different antibiotic which she had 4 times, 2 days apart.Stick with it but maybe give the vet a call and tell them what's going on.

They said they would ring on Monday to see whether Darwin has excreted waste. That's the main reason he's been in the fridge, I thought it might help him pass any sand that might be in him. He ate worms so there is something in there to come out ? I hadn't thought about the antibiotics working slower when fridged, that makes sense. Thanks.

 

[axolotl newbie]

I haven't really noticed Burrito doing any proper poos since the antibiotics or during her treatment. She has been passing a jelly like substance and I wonder if this could be a side-effect of the medicine. She's eating normally now, but I haven't found anything like the obvious rugby balls being passed.

 

[Kerry M]

I just found a normal poo, dissolved it and there isn't much sand in there at all. But there is some other slimy looking substance in his water too so that may be due to the antibiotic. Or else that substance is always there but I'm not looking for it. What is Burrito eating at the moment? Is Burrito improving now?