Axolotl is getting worse...

[happycamper]

Something is seriously wrong with my female axolotl.

Background info:
Last June my female and male axies were sharing a 55 gallon, they laid a bunch of eggs so I put a divider in. At that point I noticed the female was losing weight, this made me nervous so I started feeding her a bit more. She seemed to stabilize and for a couple months all was well, then her health took a sudden nose dive. She started to lose weight again.

This whole time she is sharing a 55 gallon (divided) with a very healthy growing male axolotl, so I can't see how it would be environmental. She was eating about 3 one inch pieces of earthworm every other day. I test the water weekly and have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and do 20% water change weekly to keep the nitrates close to 0.

Around the beginning of October. I went out and bought a sponge filter and a 20 gallon long, seeded the sponge to kick start the cycle and had her in there after about a week of cycling. Everything seemed OK for a couple weeks then she came down with some fungus on her gills. I asked for advice on here and was told that because of her weight issues I should just make sure she was in clean cool water and up her feeding.

Well, the fungus cleared up quickly. She lost a gill in that battle but seemed otherwise unharmed.

Current condition:
So here we are now. I feed her daily, 3 one inch pieces of worm. She used to eat all 3, the last 2 weeks she seems to lose interest after eating piece.This week she is looking way worse. She is losing weight rapidly all of the sudden, her gills and fin are shrinking, and her tail is very curled... she just looks awful. I have been working so hard for months to try and get her healthy again. I test her water every other day, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and very little nitrate. The water is a stable 57-59 degrees (we keep our house really cold in the winter). I just don't know where to go from here. I don't understand how she can be eating and pooping and never putting on any weight. She is in a bare bottom aquarium, she used to be housed on sand. Never gravel.

This is her a while back, before this all began...

These pics are really sad...

I never have a light on her tank, this was just for these pictures. I actually have black fabric over her tank to keep her stress levels down.

I am out of ideas. Any advice appreciated.

 

[XDragonGrlX]

Im sorry I cant help but I do hope someone can!! Poor girl!

 

[hannahll]

Poor thing! Have you ever tried sticking her in the fridge?
Although i'm not sure that would help at this point..

 

[happycamper]

Her water is so cool already I didn't think that would be beneficial. We actually have a room in the house that is even colder, the tank in that room stays at 50 degrees, I could move her in there if it would increase her odds. I think I read that fridging suppresses appetite though, which wouldn't help.

 

[EmbryH]

If her water is already at a good, cool temperature and fungus isn't an issue anymore, I wouldn't suggest putting her in the fridge.

Fridging them slows their bodily functions, meaning they're likely to eat less at temperatures that cold.

I'm so sorry about the state of your axolotl, especially since it's clear that you're doing everything you can for her. I don't have any experience in something quite like this; The closest thing I can think of is when my doberman starting to suddenly lose weight and we found out he had cancer.

If this were the case, it would make sense that she was in the tank with other healthy axies who weren't affected. Perhaps it's a genetic tendency towards cancer or a similar disease?

 

[happycamper]

I just hope she isn't suffering too much

 

[Kaysie]

Have you tried offering more fatty foods, like waxworms?

 

[happycamper]

No I haven't, I'll call around tomorrow and see if I can find any.

 

[happycamper]

I took Pearl to be euthanized today. I came home from work to see that her health had turned drastically over night, she was actually surrounded by blotches of blood on the aquarium floor. She was still alive, barely. I could tell she was suffering and couldn't let it go on any longer. I took a picture before taking her to the vet, but it is too sad to post. I have no idea what made her so ill, but I'm glad she is not suffering any longer.

R.I.P. Pearl

 

[ebonykrow]

Oh I'm sorry to hear that. Poor thing. Was the vet able to diagnose anything?

 

[Kaysie]

That's really sad. I'm sorry there wasn't anything else we could do to help.

 

[happycamper]

The vet had no idea what the cause was. She had actually never seen an axolotl before, but agreed that the presence of blood was a very bad sign and agreed that euthanasia was the best option. Pearl went quickly and is in that big pond in the sky.