Illness/Sickness: Foam building up and blocking mouth.

[demeester]

One of our two axolotls. One has been deteriorating over the past few months. It stopped eating, and has been building up a foamy residue. It is an older axolotl (9 years?).

Water quality has been tested and retested, and ph/nitrates are all fine.

I thought the lack of eating might be just due to aging, but in the last week or two, the foam has built up at an alarming rate, hanging on limbs, and now completely blocking it's mouth.

Is there anything I can do about this? We are finding it quite distressing!

 

[Chirple]

I would read the salt-bath sticky and do a salt bath ASAP ! Good thing you asked !

It looks like saprolegnia to me. It looks like fuzzy cotton wool, right ? Mine would get that on the the gills sometimes (and when I first got him, on the wounds on missing limbs) and I've seen people here post about it on the mouth.

I'm not an expert, but I would guess that perhaps being older, the axolotl can't fight it off like a young one would.

Err on the side of light salt - don't start off heavy right away. The axolotl should not seem uncomfortable or thrash around overmuch in the salt bath, either. A little confusion is okay at first, but it shouldn't be going crazy and snapping at the surface for air and thrashing about.

Read the sticky carefully and you will be okay.

- and congratulations to the axolotl for making it to nine years, too

 

[Bellabelloo]

I'm sorry, but that poor little axolotl needs veterinary treatment as soon as possible, you can not treat this at home.

 

[michel3171]

Is your Axolotl healty again? What did you do? What was the problem? I'm sorry for you and your Axolotl!