Dead or Alive ?

[john]

This may seem silly but how do I tell if my Axolotl has passed away.

He has been very sick lately and I have tried numerous things to get him better.

This morning he was on his side in his tank and I thought he was a gonner, I reached in and gentle put him back on his belly and he moved a bit and did a gill movement as well.

I have given him a salt bath and stuck him in fridge but he hasn't moved a bit in the past few hours, not even a gill swish as far as I can observe.

Are there any indicators apart from picking him out again which I want to limit.

 

[daniel]

drop food in front of him
or wiggle something directly in front of him

 

[natashja]

so sorry to hear about your baby, i know that it can be very hard to see if they are dead or not,
so to be sure this is what i do.
just leave the poor baby in the container and then take him out of the fridge and leave him there overnight, if he is dead you will know.

 

[ravenous]

My axie didn't move for about a week and didn't eat or react to any kind of food for the whole time. He has now made a full recovery despite apearing dead for a week. The only reason i didnt bury him was because his gills still had colour in them and therefore must of had some kind of blood flow. Keep trying him on food until you are 100% sure.

 

[heihei]

I agree with you on that Dan. My sister had a really sick axie, white one, that looked a ghastly grey white colour in fridge (no colour in gills = which must have been something like a temporary anaemia) and also didn't move even with the salt baths. It eventually moved a bit after the 1st week but took several weeks before eating.

 

[natashja]

what i meant was if it is dead it will begin to decompose and the skin will come off.

 

[kaysie]

It probably won't react to food while in the fridge.

 

[john]

OK it's time to come clean!

I am not confident he is ok because I think I poisoned him whilst trying to cure a fungal infection on his mouth (It was prior to finding all the wonderful info on this and axolotl.org sites) but..

There is a small discharge of blood seeping from a wound on his mouth and when I gently press my finger on some arteries they slowly appear with colour after a bit. I am hopeful these are good signs.

 

[john]

There is no mistake, He has gone, Skin was starting to come off and was starting to smell a bit.

Sadly we have buried him.

 

[natashja]

oooh im so sorry for your loss, it hurts to lose them like that.
but at least he is up in the great axie lake in the sky now, chasing fat slow shrimp and fish.