Axolotl cant swim anymore

[MirBr]

Hello everyone,

I've been worried about Harry (my axie ). He's about one year old and has been fine in his tank during last year. About a week ago my partner and I suddenly saw him struggling to swim to the top of his tank, his tail was moving fast but he only got a little bit of the ground before falling like a brick. He seemed really stressed and eventually after 2 days just curled up in a ball in the corner of the aquarium, it was incredibly sad to see. First thing we did was test the water, it was good but we refresged it anyway. I've contacted every vet in our area and tje best i got was "well I saw an axolotl once..so just bring him to me and maybe i can do something". We were not willing to do a stressful transfer to a vet with no specific knowledge so we ended up fridging Harry.
He has been in the fridge for a week, he pooped in there and seemed ok (but hard tot tell), he did not eat. Yesterday we slowly got him back in his tank and he has been walking around which gave us hope. But just now we saw him struggling to swim again and i dont know what to do anymore.
Water testing strips show his tank is steady, nitrate levels are very low, we have been consistently checking.
Does anyone have any tips? Ive attached a picture of Harry I took today in his tank

 

[JM29]

Hello,
If the photo is recent, this animal seems otherwise healthy (plump with gills Ok).

According to the description, it looks like it has something really heavy in its belly.
Taking into account that it has been in this tank for sevral months without any problem, I doubt it can be the sand, which is fine.
Can it have swallowed some of the pebbles ?

 

[MirBr]

Hello,
If the photo is recent, this animal seems otherwise healthy (plump with gills Ok).

According to the description, it looks like it has something really heavy in its belly.
Taking into account that it has been in this tank for sevral months without any problem, I doubt it can be the sand, which is fine.
Can it have swallowed some of the pebbles ?

Thank you for your response! I took the photo this morning so its really recent
The pebbles should be too big for him to swallow, only big rocks to make sure he didnt eat them. So im not sure what else he could've eaten, there are some small snails that probably came with the plants but I cant imagine him being troubled by them?
My partner thinks there may be a problem with his tail that prevents him from swimming up, there are no visible injuries though..

 

[wolfen]

please test using a liquid test as test strips aren't accurate enough and won't warn you to small increases in your ammonia and nitrite.
because he/she has lovely gills I doubt he/she is needing oxygen from the surface, most axolotls will take a gulp every now and then but if he is desperate to gulp at the surface very frequently then there is a issue with the tank.
the water needs properly testing, also the sand needs regular turning over as that can build up gas which isn't pleasant, does the water give of a bad smell on occasion?
the chances are his/her gut is loaded with sand, this isn't saying it is impacted the sand could have been swallowed to aid in swimming/ballast etc.. but it will be adding weight.

 

[Autistic Catholic]

Axolotls will sometimes swallow small pebbles or bits of sand which can function as a gastrolith and prevent them from having floating problems as they prefer to chill near the bottom. He might have done that a bit too much and now he's weighted down.

But saying that the "water is good" is really vague. As wolfen said, please try to get as accurate measures for the water parameters as possible.

 

[MirBr]

Thank you both for the responses!
Is there anything we can or should do if he swallowed a piece of pebble or a lot of sand? He has been fridged for a week and I feel bad about immediate fridging him again :/

I agree the water discription is vague, we only have te colors to go on.We just ordered a testing kit online to provide us with accurate measures!

 

[MirBr]

I just caught it on camera, it is truly heartbreaking seeing him struggle like this.

 

[Autistic Catholic]

Thanks for the video. He also looks overweight. If he swallowed the pebbles then he'll spit him out when he needs/wants to though others may suggest that he is impacted. If he's eating, then he's not impacted and will spit the pebbles and sand out when he wants to. But the width of the body needs to be the same width as the head and it's possible it's just his obesity is also making him clumsy.

 

[Autistic Catholic]

Other things you can do instead of fridging him is add an air stone in his tank or even tub him in lower water levels. Fridging should only be done in matters of life or death. He just looks like he wants to gulp air. May help him to have some access to oxygen or oxygenated water.

 

[MirBr]

Other things you can do instead of fridging him is add an air stone in his tank or even tub him in lower water levels. Fridging should only be done in matters of life or death. He just looks like he wants to gulp air. May help him to have some access to oxygen or oxygenated water.

Thank you so much for all your advice!
I am quite embarrassed to read we over fed Harry, we will definitely not be doing that anymore

 

[Autistic Catholic]

Thank you so much for all your advice!
I am quite embarrassed to read we over fed Harry, we will definitely not be doing that anymore

Fat like King Henry VIII, the lad's namesake

How often do you feed him? An adult should be getting fed two to three times a week. They have slow metabolisms.

 

[MirBr]

Fat like King Henry VIII, the lad's namesake

How often do you feed him? An adult should be getting fed two to three times a week. They have slow metabolisms.

We feed him once a week. He gets axolotl pellets/kibble like food and can eat up to 12 of those .

Bought a test kit today and the water values seem ok I guess?
Ammonia: 0.0 - 0.4
Nitrate: 10mg/l
Nitrite: 0-0.5mg/l
Phosphate: 0.5-1mg/l
Ph: 7-8
Gh: 7°DH
KH: 5°DH

Unfortunately no improvements, he is still struggling and not eating.

 

[Autistic Catholic]

We feed him once a week. He gets axolotl pellets/kibble like food and can eat up to 12 of those .

Bought a test kit today and the water values seem ok I guess?
Ammonia: 0.0 - 0.4
Nitrate: 10mg/l
Nitrite: 0-0.5mg/l
Phosphate: 0.5-1mg/l
Ph: 7-8
Gh: 7°DH
KH: 5°DH

Unfortunately no improvements, he is still struggling and not eating.

Are the pellets high in fat content?

Seems odd as to how he could have gotten that fat...

 

[MirBr]

Are the pellets high in fat content?

Seems odd as to how he could have gotten that fat...

They contain fish oil so theyre probably quite high in fat

 

[Autistic Catholic]

They contain fish oil so theyre probably quite high in fat

You might try switching to earthworms and nightcrawlers then.

 

[MirBr]

You might try switching to earthworms and nightcrawlers then.

Thanks for al your help and tips!
We finally found a vet who specializes in amphibians and managed to get a video consult (since its a long drive). Unfortunately she told us that it seems to be a neurological problem, especially because of the way he twitches (like in the video). She told us that there is a chance that Harry is suffering, also because he hasn't eaten in 3 weeks and is still refusing food. He just sits on the bottom of his tank and seems to have given up. We should consider euthanizing him as it is the most humane thing to do. Naturally we are pretty devastated and don't understand how he went from a happy, healthy looking axolotl to this but we'll just have to accept is. It would be worse to let him starve to death.
So unfortunately not a happy ending, still thanks for all the help and answers.

 

[Autistic Catholic]

Thanks for al your help and tips!
We finally found a vet who specializes in amphibians and managed to get a video consult (since its a long drive). Unfortunately she told us that it seems to be a neurological problem, especially because of the way he twitches (like in the video). She told us that there is a chance that Harry is suffering, also because he hasn't eaten in 3 weeks and is still refusing food. He just sits on the bottom of his tank and seems to have given up. We should consider euthanizing him as it is the most humane thing to do. Naturally we are pretty devastated and don't understand how he went from a happy, healthy looking axolotl to this but we'll just have to accept is. It would be worse to let him starve to death.
So unfortunately not a happy ending, still thanks for all the help and answers.

Wait, you haven't euthanized him yet, have you?!? Let me send your video real quick to a vet I know.

 

[MirBr]

Wait, you haven't euthanized him yet, have you?!? Let me send your video real quick to a vet I know.

No he is still alive! We just heard the news and agreed with the vet that we would give a call back once we've processed everything.
Thats really nice of you!!

 

[Autistic Catholic]

Also, consider force-feeding if he's not eating:

FYI: - How to: Force feed an adult axolotl

I am posting this thread as one possible option to help an axolotl. ULTIMATELY, IT IS YOUR DECISION on what you feel is best for your axolotl as every axolotl behaves differently. People do not like the idea of force feeding an axolotl because one can crush an axolotl's jaw or squeeze its...

www.caudata.org

Euthanasia is going to be irreversible and it is completely your decision but as long there are options left, you can still consider exploring those as well.

 

[Autistic Catholic]

No he is still alive! We just heard the news and agreed with the vet that we would give a call back once we've processed everything.
Thats really nice of you!!

You're welcome! Axolotls are not his specialty but he has studied them quite a bit. It's always good to get a second opinion, especially when the consequences of a potential decision are so extreme as in this case. He's always quick to respond.