Illness/Sickness: Axolotl Emergency

[AjaMichelle]

So I went to check on my axolotls this evening, and to my horror, my young female has endured a traumatic injury. I don't know what has caused it.

I fed them last on Saturday evening. Their diet is based mainly in organically grown night crawlers and she swam up to me (like normal) to get one.

She was completely fine.

I didn't check on them yesterday.

Tonight I went in and saw this... I don't think photos accurately depict how badly she's injured. She looks like something skinned her alive.

She looks like she's been skinned from head to toe. She has large bloody patches coated with hanging pieces of skin and mucous. It seems she can't move her right arm. She swimming lop-sided and doesn't seem aware of my presence. Her gills are curled in and missing chunks and she's not fluttering them to breathe. Her mouth is opened in a disconcerting smile.

She is the only organism in her tank. The only "furniture" is a large piece of driftwood. She cannot swim under it, as it's placed firmly on the glass and supported by sand. But this is the only thing I can think of that would have caused these injuries.

Her water quality produces zero ammonia, low nitrites, and moderate to higher nitrates (40 to 80 ppm). I've been working on lowering the nitrates and they've been around 40, which I've been told is acceptable for freshwater. The temp of the tank varies from 64*F at night to 68*F during the day.

What do I do?





This is what she normally looks like




Older photo (rocks no longer in the tank)

 

[AjaMichelle]

Here's my other axolotl, who shares the same water:

 

[AjaMichelle]

I just checked the original water quality and found that

Ammonia is 0
Nitrites are 0
Nitrates are 5.0 ppm

The temp is 76*F

 

[melfly]

What do you mean by share water? Is there a divider in there?
It looks to me like she has been 'chewed' by another axolotl. What is the size difference?

Keep her in cool water by herself.
Dont be surprised if she doesn't eat for a while.

Mel

 

[Bellabelloo]

I think she needs to be seen by a vet.

I don't think your other axolotl looks too good either. I personally would remove them both to clean, dechlorinated water and place somewhere cool.

 

[AjaMichelle]

There are two separate tanks, connected by an overflow system. They both share about 40 gallons of water. She definitely has not been chewed on by the other axolotl. They have no contact with one another.

What is wrong with the way the other axolotl looks?

I don't have any vets in my area that see axolotls.

 

[AjaMichelle]

I've called around to see if I can find a vet who sees amphibians and I'm always told they don't. But perhaps if I ask them if they can test for bacterial or fungal infections, they can help me.

 

[AjaMichelle]

I just went and checked on her and it looks like she's passed. She's totally unresponsive. This really sucks.

 

[maghan6]

76F is way to high a temp... They are probably suffering from heat stress on top of what looks like a nasty skin infection. Your second axolotl looks thin to me and appears to have some kind of abrasion on his lip. You need to put them in individual containers with clean, dechlorinated water immediately and start lowering the temp. I would do a tea bath on both of them as well until you can find a vet...

 

[AjaMichelle]

76F is way to high a temp... They are probably suffering from heat stress on top of what looks like a nasty skin infection. Your second axolotl looks thin to me and appears to have some kind of abrasion on his lip. You need to put them in individual containers with clean, dechlorinated water immediately and start lowering the temp. I would do a tea bath on both of them as well until you can find a vet...

Hi Maghan, now that I'm looking at these photos on a computer, I can see where you're getting the idea that he has an abrasion. I assure you, he does not. I am not arguing, but want to understand why you think he looks thin, so that I can pay better attention to this. What about his condition leads you to think he's thin?

Also, can you please direct me toward more information about the tea bath? I haven't heard of this before.

I agree that the temps are too high, but wanted to add that this is a new development as of yesterday. The water temperature is always between 64*F to 68*F, fluctuating between these values over a 24 hour period (night to day, respectively).

Have you all seen bacterial infections kill this quickly? This happened over a day.

 

[maghan6]

First let me say I am so sorry for your loss... It's never easy when one passes so suddenly.

If you search "tea bath" in the forum several threads contain info on how to do them. I can't seem to upload a link for you unfortunately. Basically it's just black tea that is cooled and added to the tank water. The tannins in the tea help relieve irritated skin.

About his weight, an axolotl's belly should be the same width as its head when the axolotl is at an ideal weight. The pic suggests he may be a little thin, but it could just be the angle. I would look at him from above to judge his weight properly.

I can see how an infection could be lethal so quickly if you look at all of the factors involved. The infection would be made much worse by the higher temp, and nitrate also becomes more toxic as higher temps. All in all it was just too much for the axolotls system.

 

[AjaMichelle]

First let me say I am so sorry for your loss... It's never easy when one passes so suddenly.

If you search "tea bath" in the forum several threads contain info on how to do them. I can't seem to upload a link for you unfortunately. Basically it's just black tea that is cooled and added to the tank water. The tannins in the tea help relieve irritated skin.

About his weight, an axolotl's belly should be the same width as its head when the axolotl is at an ideal weight. The pic suggests he may be a little thin, but it could just be the angle. I would look at him from above to judge his weight properly.

I can see how an infection could be lethal so quickly if you look at all of the factors involved. The infection would be made much worse by the higher temp, and nitrate also becomes more toxic as higher temps. All in all it was just too much for the axolotls system.

Thanks for your kind words. Ill be sure to look up the tea bath. The water in the tank is pretty rich in tannins. Will those help the same way the tea bath will? Thank you for clarifying how to judge healthy weight correctly. I assume that being as wide as his head was too heavy, and have been intentionally keeping him a little thinner. But I'll bulk him up again. I've taken some better photos of Buddy, my remaining male. I would say he's pretty close to the right girth, lacks abrasions, and seems to be doing fine in spite of what happened to my female.

From above

His gills are usually bushier than they are now. He's always been a veiny patchy guy so I assumed it was normal. Is that not normal?

 

[Bellabelloo]

Weight wise I think he looks good, I was more worried about the number of small veins that are visible..these are not quite 'normal'. I would still advise moving this axolotl out of the tank into clean, fresh dechlorinated water and monitor closely. Keep the temp nice and cool too.

 

[Quentari]

It was probably a mix of sudden high temperatures + rise in nitrates. Test the water your other axie is in and try and get it cooler so he stays healthy

 

[Dipsy66]

So sorry for the loss of your female.

 

[AjaMichelle]

Weight wise I think he looks good, I was more worried about the number of small veins that are visible..these are not quite 'normal'. I would still advise moving this axolotl out of the tank into clean, fresh dechlorinated water and monitor closely. Keep the temp nice and cool too.

Thank you! So with respect to moving Buddy out of his tank into cold, clean, dechlorinated water, the only way I'll be able to do this is if I put him in the refrigerator. I can't maintain cool temps outside. We're having a brutal heat wave and it's been 105*F, which is what caused the initial (albeit gradual) increase in temperature (from ~66*F to 76*F). My house is pretty cool, but not cool enough. I have his water back down to about 66*F.

It was probably a mix of sudden high temperatures + rise in nitrates. Test the water your other axie is in and try and get it cooler so he stays healthy

Just so we're clear, the nitrates were typically 40 to 80 ppm in the passed but for the six weeks before this, the nitrates were 5ppm. So there was a gradual drop in nitrates, not an increase.

So sorry for the loss of your female.

Thank you so much for you kind words! It's starting to really hit me now.

--------------------------------

If you all can give me your opinions, I'd be much obliged.

So, I tested the water.

0 to 5ppm Nitrates
0 Nitrites
0 Ammonia
~7.6 pH
~68*F (average throughout the day)

I had been feeding them primarily nightcrawlers with other frozen rotational items. I keep a variety of reptiles in addition to the axolotls, namely monitors. One of my monitors had diarrhea for several days over the time all of this was happening with my female axolotl. They were all fed on Friday and Saturday from the same cup. Of the monitors fed, he was the only monitor who had any strange poop (diarrhea), the others were fine and also consumed nightcrawlers, though from a different supply. Buddy (male axolotl) was acting strangely, like he wasn't quite as aware of my presence. Now he's fine and seems less veiny.

I'm thinking there could be something wrong with the worms.

I haven't fed out of that container again.

How long does it take for a healthy axolotl in pretty good conditions to reach full size? I've had Leucy for 3 years and she was barely 8 inches total length. Does that seem normal?

 

[Quentari]

Thank you! So with respect to moving Buddy out of his tank into cold, clean, dechlorinated water, the only way I'll be able to do this is if I put him in the refrigerator. I can't maintain cool temps outside. We're having a brutal heat wave and it's been 105*F, which is what caused the initial (albeit gradual) increase in temperature (from ~66*F to 76*F). My house is pretty cool, but not cool enough. I have his water back down to about 66*F.



Just so we're clear, the nitrates were typically 40 to 80 ppm in the passed but for the six weeks before this, the nitrates were 5ppm. So there was a gradual drop in nitrates, not an increase.



Thank you so much for you kind words! It's starting to really hit me now.

--------------------------------

If you all can give me your opinions, I'd be much obliged.

So, I tested the water.

0 to 5ppm Nitrates
0 Nitrites
0 Ammonia
~7.6 pH
~68*F (average throughout the day)

I had been feeding them primarily nightcrawlers with other frozen rotational items. I keep a variety of reptiles in addition to the axolotls, namely monitors. One of my monitors had diarrhea for several days over the time all of this was happening with my female axolotl. They were all fed on Friday and Saturday from the same cup. Of the monitors fed, he was the only monitor who had any strange poop (diarrhea), the others were fine and also consumed nightcrawlers, though from a different supply. Buddy (male axolotl) was acting strangely, like he wasn't quite as aware of my presence. Now he's fine and seems less veiny.

I'm thinking there could be something wrong with the worms.

I haven't fed out of that container again.

How long does it take for a healthy axolotl in pretty good conditions to reach full size? I've had Leucy for 3 years and she was barely 8 inches total length. Does that seem normal?

Whoops I read that wrong lol, I forgot ammonia and nitrates have a different number system.

8 inches is pretty normal, they can grow longer but if it had unfavourable conditions at some point in its first few months it could have been shorter. By 3 years you axie would be done growing