Eyes white, gills shriveled in 24hrs

M

matt

Guest
My son's axie has been going really well since November, eating really well, swimming lots, having a great time, not stressed at all (we know what that looks like now) but over the past 24hrs his gills went from fluffy to shrivelled, and his eyes (usually black) are white. All water levels seem fine, except nitrate is up (got a new filter two days ago) and he spit out some of his food from two days ago.

Do you think it's the filter/nitrate or something else? We're really scared about it, I know you all hear that alot...
 
Whats the water temperature? Could be a bacterial or fungal infection.. and the hotter the water, the lower the axolotls resistance is to infection.
 
what are the exacts for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, shriveled gills can be from ammonia, are you sure your test kit is still good? alot of people get faulty readings from old test kits etc

sounds like your eye prob might be fungus, there are other parasites that attack eyes also but im not too certain on them so dont freak out, wait till someone with more experience comes along :D

i suggest moving him into a container with fresh water, do 50% daily water changes though. if the temp in the container will get above 24C move him to a esky, and pack around his container with icepacks. if thats not available move him to the fridge. do a search around this part of the forum for a 'how to'.

Hope this helps!!
 
It's 20 degreees celcius, I know that's high according to the books, but we've been cooling the tank all day to keep it that low and this guy thrives even when it gets up to 25 degrees. He seems to be used to the heat, after surviving xmas, when it got even hotter.

The meal he spat out today was a mealworm, almost intact, which he had as a treat two days ago. When I offered him food today, he just smelled it sluggishly, no snap.

We've never seen his eyes change colour before.
 
Levels are:
ph: 7.2 (constant since October when we bought him and the kit)
Ammonia: 0 (constant)
Nitrite: 0 (constant)
Nitrate: 10 (up from 5 last week)

Where could parasites come from? The mealworm?

I think I'll try the daily water changes...maybe...
 
no 20C is not high, its fine. he would most certanly not be happy at 25C, even though he may survive it doesnt mean hes 'thriving'. anything above 24C is in the danger zone. the high temps would make his immune system weaken so that nasites could take hold, very likely where the eye probs came from.

axies can throw up their food for a number of reasons but it could be stress in your case, they dont tend to eat much when theyre stressed out.
 
We've been paranoid about the heat since summer began but he's been very active and his gills were fluffy as heck so we stopped worrying about the temperature, just worked hard to keep it close to 20 until the season changes.

Anyway, if it is fungus in the eyes, what's the best treatment? And if it is a parasite, what then?

Thanks for all your help. We all get nervous about pets.
 
sorry i cant help ya too much on that one, dont know too much about parasites sorry, hopefully ed or joan sees this post, theyre experts on this sort of stuff. salt baths may work if its parasites might have to look into meds of some sort...
 
You want to check out http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/salt.shtml first.

However, I am very surprised that with the filter change there hasn't been a spike in the ammonia and nitrite. (your post gives the appearence that the timelines coincide).

Ed

(Message edited by Ed on February 07, 2006)
 
I was surprised, too. I made sure I tested the water from the bottom, where he is, and the kit is only a few months old.

The original filter was a hanging charcoal one but it started leaking out the back (down the wall and into the floorboards). so we got a quiet in-tank sponge filter with a dispersement tube.
 
I wish this were clearer. If the levels were bad or he had mucous on his skin, I would know what to do, but it's just his eyes and gills. Poor fella only moved an inch during the night.
 
I'd say get him in the fridge till you were sure what it is?
 
Very tempting. I asked around today and I'm heading home with some salt and anti-fungal stuff...

If I put him in the fridge, I should leave him there for a few days at least, yes? Scared about jerking him around.
 
what is the anti-fungal stuff you got? that can be toxic to axies if you get the wrong one and they absorb all chemicals through there skin. you can leave him in the fridge as long as you want.
 
id suggest a few days at least, moving him in and out will just cause him more stress
happy.gif
hope this get better for your little man
 
Thanks.

I tested the water again tonight, same levels except the nitrate was back down, then I changed 45% of the water, making sure the water I added was colder than usual. Got the tank down to 20c again and he seemed to perk up a little. Then he wriggled up to the new filter and climbed onto the pipe (below water level) and did some floating, very minimal movement, for about 5 minutes, a bit worrying but might've been enjoying the cool.

He then drifted back to the bottom and I reckon if things haven't changed in the morning, I'll pop him in the fridge before I go to work.

I don't think I'll try the anti-fungal until I know what is wrong with him, same with the salt bath...the pet store nearly sold me something with malachite green but I spotted it and asked for an alternative.

Thanks again everyone for your advice.
 
What anti-fungal medication is it?

There has been kind of a debate with 'Melafix' here in this forum. Mela fix i believe is a completely safe remedy to use of you half the dose, as it is ment for scaled fish. If its serious i'd suggest full dose.

His eyes do they have like a kindow mini pyramid white fungas/mucus sort of thing on them, i mean does it stick out. My poor baby had that just befor she died, oh poor girl. have a look, mabey post a picture.
 
He started floating again, I couldn't take it, he's in the fridge.

Whilst putting him in the fridge it became apparent that he has faint white marks at the base of the gills, looks like some fungal involvement. Lucky shopping we did today.

Pray to all available deities, comrades.
 
I considered Melafix, but ended up getting PimaFix...and yes, the eyes are sticking out. Unsure if it's pyramid-shaped but it is a white "something" on the eye.

arrrgh
 
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