D
Deleted member 42230
Guest
Hi friends,
I came home from vacation yesterday to a very anxious mom and sister in regard to my axie's health... I think he had/has an internal parasite that caused some quality of life damage, and I'm struggling to make a decision about continuing to try treating versus euthanizing him. I've attached pictures below of a very long, white, wormlike thing he either pooped or threw up while I was gone (about a day or two after I fed him a full, cut-up earthworm, except the pieces were larger than what I cut) and what he looked like, plus the oddly cloudy state of his tank, right before I got back. I fed him a single small piece of earthworm last night and then immediately tubbed him in the fridge. Within a half hour, he passed the worm in a normal, healthy stool. I also added some crushed metronidazole to the tub---this seemed to help him stop sloughing his mucus (which he'd been doing for a few weeks and I was treating with tea baths and recently read is a symptom of a parasite).
Over the last few months I thought he had some bloat/impaction (the latter way less likely) so I'd fed him a few peas periodically and given him salt baths but he floats constantly and is now unable to swim to the bottom of his tank or turn around without flipping or rolling upside down or sideways. My mom also said it looks like his back legs might be paralyzed.
I've had him for almost three years, and it's difficult to consider euthanizing him, but he's been showing unhealthy signs for about a year now and taking him to a vet isn't a financial option for me.
If anyone has a hail Mary idea, I'd be glad to hear it, but I don't know if I can let him live like this for another week.
Tank parameters:
pH: 6.6 (dropped from ~7 while I was gone)
Ammonia: .25 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 10 ppm (increased from 5 ppm while I was gone)
I did do a 20% water change after taking these and am still fridging him with metronidazole.
I came home from vacation yesterday to a very anxious mom and sister in regard to my axie's health... I think he had/has an internal parasite that caused some quality of life damage, and I'm struggling to make a decision about continuing to try treating versus euthanizing him. I've attached pictures below of a very long, white, wormlike thing he either pooped or threw up while I was gone (about a day or two after I fed him a full, cut-up earthworm, except the pieces were larger than what I cut) and what he looked like, plus the oddly cloudy state of his tank, right before I got back. I fed him a single small piece of earthworm last night and then immediately tubbed him in the fridge. Within a half hour, he passed the worm in a normal, healthy stool. I also added some crushed metronidazole to the tub---this seemed to help him stop sloughing his mucus (which he'd been doing for a few weeks and I was treating with tea baths and recently read is a symptom of a parasite).
Over the last few months I thought he had some bloat/impaction (the latter way less likely) so I'd fed him a few peas periodically and given him salt baths but he floats constantly and is now unable to swim to the bottom of his tank or turn around without flipping or rolling upside down or sideways. My mom also said it looks like his back legs might be paralyzed.
I've had him for almost three years, and it's difficult to consider euthanizing him, but he's been showing unhealthy signs for about a year now and taking him to a vet isn't a financial option for me.
If anyone has a hail Mary idea, I'd be glad to hear it, but I don't know if I can let him live like this for another week.
Tank parameters:
pH: 6.6 (dropped from ~7 while I was gone)
Ammonia: .25 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 10 ppm (increased from 5 ppm while I was gone)
I did do a 20% water change after taking these and am still fridging him with metronidazole.
