Illness/Sickness: Can someone please help?

[Roother]

I have a 4 month old axolotl that is currently experiencing a sudden health breakdown and I need help figuring out what is happening and how to react.

**What happened:**
My axolotl's tank is right beside my desk, so I watch his activity regularly. The first irregular behavior was when he stared to swim rapidly in circles. I fed him, but he immediately vomited it back up. I clean that up, and left him a;lone for about 20 minutes. Then he was suddenly behaving as if dry heaving, vomiting with no food in his stomach. At that point I inspected him closely and noticed a small tumor- like bulge next to his left side gill, surrounded by inflamed tissue and pronounced veins. He was acting lethargic, hardly moving at all on the bottom of the tank. About 30 minutes later, he starting swimming around sideways in apparent discomfort. Soon a red mass appeared over the left side of his head that looked like internal hemorrhaging. The bleeding area started to protrude, and is now a relatively large expelled tissue mass, surrounded by inflamed and bloody tissue.

**What to do:**
I looked up several online sources about axolotl health, and discovered the process of "fridging." The guides described a process of refrigerating the axolotl to slow their metabolism until hopefully their condition improves. Would that be appropriate in this case?
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Please let me know what you think the cause could be and how to best proceed to save him. We are very concerned for his survival and any help is greatly appreciated.

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[charleybambino]

I would say signs of bacterial infection. Needs antibiotic treatment and fridging will just slow down everything but not cure in this situation.........need a vet

 

[Icyriah]

Try to find a vet right away! There's a site to help find one near you! This really looks like a bacterial infection. Fridging will help slow it down, and they usually do heal quickly, but I don't think there's any way to know how long it will take for it to heal or if it will heal without veterinary action... I hope your axie gets better soon!

 

[Sweetie]

I must agree with the other members. Antibiotics are needed asap. Bacterial infections can progress and kill very quickly - within 24 hours sometimes. So time is of the essence. Find a vet fast. Do not use fish products for your axie without checking with an amphibian expert first - fish medications can harm axolotls and even if they can be used, the dosages are usually much lower for axies. Good luck and please keep us posted.

 

[Icyriah]

Yes, please do keep us updated!

 

[Roother]

thank you for this list. I will give a vet a call first thing in the morning. I hope he gets better

 

[Icyriah]

I'm sure he'll be okay! You caught it within 24 hours and if you're calling tomorrow, I'm sure everything will be fine!

 

[Icyriah]

Any updates?

 

[Roother]

I would say signs of bacterial infection. Needs antibiotic treatment and fridging will just slow down everything but not cure in this situation.........need a vet

Hello. So none of the vets that were listed where close to where I live and I took him to this vet a couple of towns from where I live and of course the vet didn't know what it was so I have just been keeping a close eye on him and he looks 95% better.

He is very active and the bumps have gone away. I think it might be something genetic but I hope he lives for a very long time. thanks so much for all the help:happy:

 

[Roother]