Axl lost weight, floating, bleeding, struggling to breathe

[Cherylcw1]

Hi. I'm hoping for some advice.

I have 2 axolotls in a 150 litre tank with sand sunbstrate and a few bits of wood and stone for hiding places.

One axolotls we noticed had lost the feathering from his crown, wasn't sure if the other axolotl had eaten them. But the last couple of weeks he has lost so much weight he looks skeletal. We kept putting food in (worms, axolotl pellets, frozen bloodworm) but he wasn't bothered at all. Tuesday night I noticed him floating and thought he was dead, but he was breathing slowly.

Wednesday morning he was still floating and then last night when I got home he was still floating but seemed to be gulping for air.

I read about fridging him, so we gently scooped him into a tub with another bowl.

When I looked at him in the fridge there was a drop of blood under him. His cloaca looked like it had bits of cobweb hanging from it then I noticed he has a gammy leg with a bit of a hole in it (could be a bite from the other axolotl or maybe fungal infection?) and looked like cobweb around his toes.

I called the shop I had them from 18 months ago and they couldn't give any advice but to fridge him as don't know much about them.

Not sure whet to give him a salt bath... Seen so much conflicting information, but hate the thought of causing more distress with the salt burning him and making him thrash.

My previous filter didn't seem up to the job as always looked cloudy, so I bought a bigger better external filter, but that doesn't seem mega great and there's always debris at the bottom and the sides of the tank go a bit murky, so for the last month I've had both filters going and been doing weekly 25% water changes.
Any ideas anyone, can he be saved?

The outgrew axolotl looks pergect.

 

[Acacia]

If the other axolotl looks perfectly fine, then my guess would be impaction. From the photos, his cloaca appears to be distend- perhaps he ate one of the stones and it's stuck there? I don't any experience with impacted axolotls, but I wish you the best of luck!

 

[Cherylcw1]

The stones are huge, about 5 inches around so he wouldn't be able to eat them. But thank you

 

[Cherylcw1]

I've just changed him over to clean water whilst fridged. This photo is while I took him out of the old water, he seems to be bleeding from underneath, I presume from the cloaca, and this photo also shows his gammy leg. Feeling horrible for the poor boy, but he doesn't seem to be floating all the time at the mo.

 

[Tye]

What are your water parameters at? Gill loss is typically a result of poor water quality.
The "webbing" you are seeing could either be the slime coat shedding off, skin loss, or fungus. Fungus will typically look like cotton though.
Slime coat issues can also be a symptom of poor water quality.

You're already aware its super underweight, have you tried small, chopped, pieces of earthworm? If it's in the fridge the metabolism will be slowed so there might not be a feeding response, but I would try because of how underweight the axolotl is. Try feeding at different times during the day, I've found night feeding responses are more vigorous.

Can we also have a picture of the tank mate? I know you said the tank mate looks perfect, but it's strange to have one crash and not the other.
There's definitely something going on with the other to cause bleeding from the cloaca.

I'm hoping someone else has advice for cloaca based injuries/infections because I don't know.

 

[Cherylcw1]

Re: URGENT Axl lost weight, floating, bleeding, struggling to breathe

Getting very stressed over poor Axl.
He's been in the fridge for 4 days now and although he now isn't floating or going for air, his leg is a mess and he's swollen, sore and bleeding underneath. I assume that's from his cloaca.

I had been Struggling with the water quality from getting a new filter and it not seeming to be doing a good job, so I had both filters going... One internal one external, and was doing 25% weekly water changes. Also there was a fair amount of food waste axl wasnt eating.

Today axl looks a mess, his leg is horrible, but underneath he is bleeding from there and it just looks a mess. I've put 2 new photos of underneath and then a photo of Rose... His tank mate who seems to be in great health still.

Any help or advice?
My vets know nothing about them but will try to find me a vet for next week if he's no better... I'm just feeling so desperate for him

 

[Cherylcw1]

A couple of further photos

 

[Cherylcw1]

A couple of further photos.. It looks like a big wound on his underside

 

[Bellabelloo]

It looks like a bite on his leg and possibly a bite or tear underneath. I would guess the weight loss may be because the other axolotl is taking most of the food.
I would advise a vet visit, they will treat your axolotl. I would suggest you call them and let them know in advance and request their email address so you can send photo's. They will be able to consult another vet for advice with treatment.
In the mean time keep a close eye out for fungus on the wounds, it'll look slightly fuzzy/ cotton wool like. I'd treat this with regular untreated tap water, change water twice daily.
Offer twice daily pieces of chopped earthworm as well. I'd be tempted to bring your axolotl out of the fridge, but keep somewhere cool like a shed/ garage.
Please feel free to ask questions, and do keep us updated.

 

[Cherylcw1]

Thank you.
We've always fed at both sides of the tank and there's always plenty of food put in that I always have to clear uneaten food out of the tank.

He does look to have something around his foot /toes that isn't really showing in the pictures that could be cottony.... But also not sure if it's his spine coat hanging from the wounds. He definitely didn't seem to have the big wound before I put him in the tub.
Is it worth giving him a salt water bath today because of the wounds or would that cause him to much distress? It will be Monday or Tuesday before I can get him to a vets.

 

[Cherylcw1]

Also I'll move him to the garage, but is he still OK in the tupperware container whilst in there?
Cheers,
Cheryl

 

[Elise]

I don't think he's going to recover without a considerable amount of effort, and even then he might be too emaciated. I would look into euthanasia as a humane option at this point.

If you are intent on treating him, then I'd expect needing to fridge him for a couple months, most of the time in an antibiotic bath with the possibility of force feeding. A vet would be really helpful for this. Open wounds and emaciation are a difficult combination to recover from.