Axolotl Illness

[Kribby]

I've been reading a fair amount on the forum and I see a good number of posts about sick axolotls. As I sit here watching my growing boy I can't help but wonder if this is because axolotls are over susceptible to disease, a general frailty, or if it tends to be a result of inadequate care.

I know that with aqurarium fish, disease and illness is also prevelent. However, my observations have shown that 90% of health problems can be avoided with adequate care and attention to their needs.

I was wondering what some experienced keepers might have to say on the matter and trends?

 

[danchristopher]

Inadequate care definitely. I'd say most axolotl illness stems from water quality and temperature issues, as well as impaction issues caused by gravel. Axolotls are actually very hardy and the fact they can live so long (and people have had them live a long time) is proof that they are probably not as frail and susceptible as you might think after a visit to the sick axolotl forums.

I've had sick axolotls. Once after coming from a pet store where one of my axies was kept in some terrible conditions and once because of temperature issues (flaking skin, fungus). Other than that my axolotls have been fine; when I got them I had absolutely no idea what I was doing which, to me, proves that they can survive and withstand a lot of the bad conditions thrown at them (not that I've kept them in bad conditions! lol)

 

[Amy82]

I think another reason you see so many questions here is that there aren't allot of vets who specialize in amphibian care and good info on Axolotls is hard to find (not many books) so people come here to consult other hobbiests and experts. That's why I'm here, to learn to care for these amazing little creatures.

 

[Schambers87]

I'd like to mention that if you look on Internet like I did to research before I buy, many say they are a beginner pet that only need feeding every few days.eople look t just thy and think ideal. What they don't look into is the difficult bits. I remember whn I bought my two, the shop selling knew nothing and pretty much said that I didn't have to do anything and this worries me when complete novices want one.
Luckily I have common sense and looked into everything before I committed but can't say the same for everyone...

 

[LeFarge]

one of the worst things is youtube which is packed with videos of sick axolotls on gravel eating the wrong things etc -- the depth of ignorance is staggering.

 

[Chirple]

I think exotic pet forums see a lot of "sick pet" posts because it can be hard to find help locally, especially if they got the animal from a shop they now realise was not properly caring for their creatures. A lot of people don't have access to a vet that would know anything about amphibians, too. I've seen threads on here with vets without the necessary experience inadvertently doing harm, too.

I see a lot of sick-axie posts due to incorrect knowledge of feeding or substrate. It seems awfully common that the pet store gives incorrect information. I can't entirely blame people for being trusting and being mislead by someone they thought they could rely on.

I research everything that interests me, not just pets - but I won't condemn a person for having a different personality and approach. Responsibility does lie with the animal's caregiver, but I am sympathetic to those who thought they were getting information from a good, professional, and reliable source.

And there's a lot of information out there, on-line, that's not that great, too. It can be tough wading through all that if you don't have any idea what you're looking at. I've certainly seen this as a culprit in the "sick" threads.


And the ones that scare me the most are the sick threads where no one knows what happened. Unfortunately, this is possible with all living things. We lost a two year old cat, one I helped deliver, to unforeseen congenital health problems not detected by any routine screening. I can only imagine things like this can happen to axolotls, too - but lacking vets and autopsies, we may never know what really happened in some of these cases.

I think in these strange cases, you get people reaching out more often (opposed to easily solved conditions) as the vet may have no idea, even with experience - and their last resort is to see if anyone else has seen the same thing before and if so, what happened, what worked, et cetera.

 

[LeFarge]

my wife was in a pet shop yesterday looking for some new aquarium sand - the owner told her it was cruel to keep amphibians on anything other than gravel and that it was nonsense that they ate the gravel and it could harm them. I wish I'd been there. Thankfully we know better now but many first timers wouldn't and if they don't look here or elsewhere online they'll never know why their new pet died.

 

[Schambers87]

Sites like this are amazing, questions are answered that no pet shop or even my local vet could answer just hope I never need a vet as still haven't found a specialist

 

[memojo1979]

I think that in a lot of cases, axolotls start lives in a new home with a disadvantage, due to inappropriate care at a LPS. Then, combine that with a new owner, who doesn't quite know what they're doing + the axolotls can get ill rather quickly.
Having nursed my friend's axolotls back to health easily enough, I think that in the right conditions, axies are very easy to care for + easy to heal, but you need to maintain the correct conditions. It took a long time with my friend's axies, as it's always easier to maintain rather than repair after something goes wrong!
Plus, of course, there are the people who don't listen to the majority + want to feed fish, or use gravel. While my axolotls might very well live happily + healthily using either of those, I wouldn't want to take the risk - responsible pet ownership / care is about decreasing risks as much as possible. My daughter could very well survive on microwave meals + candy, but the majority vote says that we all need fruit + vegetables too
But, unfortunately, there will always be, with any animal, the few that don't survive for no apparent reason, even with the best care possible + even with autopsy, the reason might not be revealed.