Axie Escape!

[JasmineLeigh848]

Hi everyone,

This morning I woke up and my axolotl Mossamander (monster + salamander, courtesy of my 3yo) was not in his tank. Now the lid had been left off (our fault, I know) so I’m not sure if he jumped or if one of my cats scooped him out... but I found him behind the tank ALIVE! I have no idea how long he had been there and I assumed he was dead when I first found him but, he’s not! He seems fine walking around. There is a small 1/2 a tic tac sized chunk of tail missing and some of his skin seems flaky but not a lot. It’s hard to see either of these things in the pics... I know there are options for tea baths but I’m wondering if he even needs this? And if so what kind of tea & how long!? Also I’ve wondered for months why his gills are bent forward like that if anyone has any insight? Not sure if that’s even a problem or not. All water levels are good and he eats fine and seems friendly and interactive most days. Also if he maybe DID jump out...why would he do that!? I haven’t seen any signs of morphing, he barely ever guys air.. only when his temp rises does he seem to gulp and I keep a close eye to minimize that.

 

[JasmineLeigh848]

I should mention the lid was off because we just moved his tank. The room he was in was hard to temp/light control so we moved it and siphoned and cleaned and everything yesterday. Not sure if that could have stressed him some how? We put him in a large tupperware container while moving it.

 

[miola]

I would not tea bath him right off, salt or tea baths are usually for things like fungus. Just keep his water clean and cool to speed healing, and keep an eye on his skin for fungus. Stress can make them more susceptible to illnesses like fungus.
Check your water parameters daily to make sure all the cleaning and siphoning did not affect your cycle, that could send him to the top for air, or further stress him, leading to fungus.
Forward turned gills are usually a sign of stress. It could be the temperature problems you were having, or it could be a water current issue in your tank. Do you have a sponge filter? Or a HOB (hang on back) filter with the water fall effect? If you have a HOB it may be the water current that is causing him stress. You can rig up a baffle, or put plants or accessories below the waterfall to break up the current. I have a HOB and even the low setting creates a current, so I rigged up a baffle out of a plastic water bottle. I found the diy poking around on YouTube.
My money is on your cat, but I've read plenty of warnings about how much they like to jump, usually when startled. I'd say he's had a lucky escape, and it's a bit miraculous he survived!
Great name, by the way. My teenager named one of ours Smirnoff, so enjoy the cute little human stage while it lasts

 

[JasmineLeigh848]

I do have an HOB filter but it’s all the way up at the top of the tank and on the lowest setting. It creates a barely noticeable current across the top but I don’t think its enough to bother him, especially with 20gal of water between him and it lol. I am planning to get a sponge filter soon, just haven’t pulled the trigger yet. I’m thinking I may have been paranoid about his gills before. After this mornings episode they are REALLY bent, making me think before this it wasn’t really anything. Obviously he is extra stressed right now though. He has started to move around a lot more than he was when I initially put him back in so that’s a good sign!

 

[miola]

No need to replace the HOB with a sponge filter, & glad to hear he's moving about! He is one lucky guy!

 

[Murk]

Just to add (because I often see some confusion on this part):

- Salt baths are very harmful to the skin and hurt a lot, but are also harmful to fungus. You only want to do these if the axolotl has fungus problems.

- Tea baths are soothing and can help with healing skin. They do not help against fungus, but can help after skin problems or after salt baths. They're pretty easy: just take some unflavoured, unprocessed black tea and hang it in the aquarium until the water is a slightly darker colour. Not as dark as you would drink tea - the colour you would expect the water in a forest creek to have. That's it. It's no miracle cure, but some axolotls like it.

 

[JasmineLeigh848]

Much much better today! He must not have been out TOO terribly long. I didn’t expect him to bounce back quite so fast after that

 

[Binditheaxolotl]

Hi everyone,

This morning I woke up and my axolotl Mossamander (monster + salamander, courtesy of my 3yo) was not in his tank. Now the lid had been left off (our fault, I know) so I’m not sure if he jumped or if one of my cats scooped him out... but I found him behind the tank ALIVE! I have no idea how long he had been there and I assumed he was dead when I first found him but, he’s not! He seems fine walking around. There is a small 1/2 a tic tac sized chunk of tail missing and some of his skin seems flaky but not a lot. It’s hard to see either of these things in the pics... I know there are options for tea baths but I’m wondering if he even needs this? And if so what kind of tea & how long!? Also I’ve wondered for months why his gills are bent forward like that if anyone has any insight? Not sure if that’s even a problem or not. All water levels are good and he eats fine and seems friendly and interactive most days. Also if he maybe DID jump out...why would he do that!? I haven’t seen any signs of morphing, he barely ever guys air.. only when his temp rises does he seem to gulp and I keep a close eye to minimize that. View attachment 84222View attachment 84223View attachment 84224

Just to add (because I often see some confusion on this part):

- Salt baths are very harmful to the skin and hurt a lot, but are also harmful to fungus. You only want to do these if the axolotl has fungus problems.

- Tea baths are soothing and can help with healing skin. They do not help against fungus, but can help after skin problems or after salt baths. They're pretty easy: just take some unflavoured, unprocessed black tea and hang it in the aquarium until the water is a slightly darker colour. Not as dark as you would drink tea - the colour you would expect the water in a forest creek to have. That's it. It's no miracle cure, but some axolotls like it.

I’ve also used green, since it has high tannins also, I’m assuming this is fine?

 

[Murk]

Green tea has dried and fermented less than black tea, so you might want to be careful with other nutrients leeching out as well if you leave it in too long (I imagine green tea is slightly easier to rot or grow fungus).
As long as it is unflavoured, just pure tea, I don't think it will do much harm.

Honestly, I'm not even sure tea baths actually do anything (I've never read any scientific articles on it - if someone has I'd be happy to hear) but it's such a popular treatment on the internet that I feel it is important to stress, at least, what it won't do. It won't cure illnesses or fight fungus.

 

[Binditheaxolotl]

Green tea has dried and fermented less than black tea, so you might want to be careful with other nutrients leeching out as well if you leave it in too long (I imagine green tea is slightly easier to rot or grow fungus).
As long as it is unflavoured, just pure tea, I don't think it will do much harm.

Honestly, I'm not even sure tea baths actually do anything (I've never read any scientific articles on it - if someone has I'd be happy to hear) but it's such a popular treatment on the internet that I feel it is important to stress, at least, what it won't do. It won't cure illnesses or fight fungus.

Ooooh okay thank you! No I’ve never actually read anything on it, I’ve just read some axies like it and it feels nice on their skin. Fungus is probably my least favorite disease to fight, because I know salt baths hurt axies skin, but we need to do it anyways. I think Furan2 can be used also, but luckily I’ve never had to fight fungus, only ammonia burn and a bacterial infect. But I used Methylene blue and Furan2 for that.