Extremely unhealthy little axolotl! HELP!

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JadeAnnette

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AxieDaxie
This little guy was given to me by our local pet shop owner that we have been going to. She said he was badly beaten up(you can see scars) and she separated him into a container and had been hand feeding him and doing regular water changes. He looks in terrible condition and because he is so small I have him separated in a breeding container. The first day we got him he went crazy for blood worms but yesterday and today he isn't showing any interest :/ he is so thin and today I noticed he has some white stuff on his body and I think it's where his scars are :( please help!
 

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The weird stuff on him( sorry it's so hard to see)
 

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This little guy reminds me of the water dog that i rescued back in January. Hes so thin! It was a good sign that he was eating for you. Speaking from my experience with my waterdog he ate for the first few days and then i think his slime coat started to deteriorate and then he would stop eating. I cant tell what the white stuff is, it could be fungus growing on the wound or his slime coat deteriorating. if its just the slime coat then i would wait a few days and keep offering food. Try wax worms or small bits of earthworms. If however its fungus i would do salt baths. Im not super experienced with axolotls so if any actual experts could correct me if any of my information is off that would be great lol. When my little guy had fungus i did salt baths and fridging 2 or 3 times over the course of a few weeks before it finally went away and i was freaked the whole time because he was so akinny and frail but he pulled through like a real champ and im sure yours will too! Just keep an eye on him and keep offering food!
 
As long as your tank is cycled meaning proper water quality, and temperature below 20 degrees Celsius, your Axolotl should hopefully recover.

I would not salt bath in his current state, especially if there is only minor fungus or the slime coat is deteriorating slightly. Water quality and temperature is top priority and continue to feed daily. Can you take clearer pictures of his body? It's hard to make out what the white stuff is at the moment.
 
Best of luck with your little one. I hope he makes a full recovery.
:happy:
 
AxolotlChris said:
As long as your tank is cycled meaning proper water quality, and temperature below 20 degrees Celsius, your Axolotl should hopefully recover.

I would not salt bath in his current state, especially if there is only minor fungus or the slime coat is deteriorating slightly. Water quality and temperature is top priority and continue to feed daily. Can you take clearer pictures of his body? It's hard to make out what the white stuff is at the moment.
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It's hard to get good photos of him, I'll try get more when I'm home
 

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One thing I would say is that what ever pet shop sold you this Axolotl is a joke. Seems they let the Axolotl get in this condition and then pawned it off on you. They said it was 'badly beaten up' but it looks more like its been starved within an inch of its life.
 
This axolotl is emaciated. This is more than just beaten up... I have seen some amazing recoveries of axolotls in such conditions so it is not to say that he doesn't have a chance but I do think you need to be prepared for the worst. Make sure your water parameters are perfect as this is will be vital for any chance of recovery. As AxolotlChris said, I would not give salt baths as his current condition is fragile and salt baths are more likely to do more harm than good. Keep offering foods and offer a variety to see what he may be more tempted to eat. Small meals more often are better than large meals less often.
 
AxolotlChris said:
One thing I would say is that what ever pet shop sold you this Axolotl is a joke. Seems they let the Axolotl get in this condition and then pawned it off on you. They said it was 'badly beaten up' but it looks more like its been starved within an inch of its life.
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I know what it looks like, she didn't sell him to me she gave him to me so I could get him happy and healthy, he was in a tank with adults and he's only about 3/4 inches long,
 
You have taken on quite a task in trying to get this little one happy and healthy, but I feel that it is utterly admirable that you are prepared to do so.
It says a lot that a pet shop owner would give away some of their stock, but not knowing the shop owner or the full details of the situation, I wouldn't like to comment on whether the owner was doing the best for the axolotl by giving him away, or getting rid of stock that didn't look good.
Either way I think that you have a lot of work and worry ahead of you and I hope that we can offer you enough support on this forum to make the whole situation slightly better for you and your little one.
Hopefully great water and a calm environment will help your little one to recover, regain his appetite and become an adorable bundle of weirdness that is a happy and healthy axolotl.
:happy:
 
Wow I haven't seen one so emiaciated before that I can see bones. Keep offering food and try different ones too. The gills are bent forward so it is a sign of stress.

At that age fungal problems are hard to see. If you see the supposed 'fungal' problem getting worse, put it on antibiotics ASAP. I use em erythromycin by API. This was a recommended by a friend of mine who worked in a lab studying axolotls.
 
Just remember to keep an eye out and check the axie every few hours. It is still very young, truthfully I am surprised it was kept with adults and it is that small....I am pretty sure there is some detail left out by the pet owner but truthfully she gave it to you since she felt it was the better thing to do and it would be cruel to leave the juvenile there in a tank of adults.

Basically it is a juvenile, it is likely about 3-5 months old. And if they get sick real bad, it would happen fast, hence observation, offering of food, clean water and the right temperature is all you can do unless you see any other indication past malnourishment. Good luck!! :happy:
 
He is still very skinny but he now has the whole little tank to himself, I took the sand out because I think I read that it wasn't good to have little ones on it so now he just has rocks and a hide and he looks happier I think, any opinions on how I can improve though?
 

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HitmanSougo13 said:
Wow I haven't seen one so emiaciated before that I can see bones. Keep offering food and try different ones too. The gills are bent forward so it is a sign of stress.

At that age fungal problems are hard to see. If you see the supposed 'fungal' problem getting worse, put it on antibiotics ASAP. I use em erythromycin by API. This was a recommended by a friend of mine who worked in a lab studying axolotls.
Click to expand...

Where would one get said antibiotic?
 
A vet is the best source of the antibiotic, though dosage and method of administration would presumably require advice from a vet with some experience in reptiles. Otherwise, this site is a great source of information, so if you can obtain the drug from a vet, people here will most likely have these details.

Meanwhile, please keep us posted on the progress of your little axie. And stupid as this is going to sound, (non-loony) research strongly suggests that directing intensely loving emotions towards other living creatures is beneficial (see for example a documentary called "I Am"), so it certainly can't hurt. By intensely loving, I mean that actual physical feeling when you love something or someone so much it's as if your heart's actually swelling in your chest. I've had some truly amazing (apparently impossible) recoveries in fish that I can only attribute to this factor. Or to inordinate amounts of luck.
 
I do not see the signs that your axie needs antibiotics. To be fair it is hard to say when they are young. The pet store bought antibiotics work for general curing of fungus or gill eating bacteria but they can't handle severe internal problems. Your axie is more dealing with starvation then anything else. A vet can prescribe stronger antibiotics.

At your stage, it may be too early to assume the axie is sick. Has it pooped yet?
 
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