Illness/Sickness: "Folded" tails?

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I have a few concerns regarding my two juvenile axolotls. Both were shipped to me through Jay in October, and have been healthy since then. They're roughly two and a half inches long. Recently I've noticed that they seem to have bits of their tails that seem to be...folded for a better lack of words? The in their tails seem to be a bit more prominent too. Activity and feeding has been normal. Can anyone tell me what this may be and if it's cause for concern?

Also, they both seem to be a bit underweight, especially the melanoid who's beginning to concern me. They each receive a cube of frozen bloodworms a day and always leave leftovers that they later go back and clean up. Is there anyway I can fatten them up? Are they big enough to start eating earthworms or something that may be more nutritious than the frozen bloodworms?

Thanks for any help! These are my first axolotls and the little guys have stolen my heart. I'm terrified I might be doing something wrong!
 
Can you post a picture?
 
mug3l.jpg

I apologize that this is sort of large! Anyways, it's sort of hard to see but the tail is literally folded down on itself. This continues a few more centimeters up the tail, but it's not visible in the picture. The leucistic seems to have the same thing though maybe slightly less progressed. It's quite hard to see on him since his coloration is so light.
 
This came up once before, but I don't remember the outcome.

Do you test your water quality?
 
I preform a water test every week along with a patial water change.

I just did a test to make sure everything was normal. This is a uncycled tank and the results came back as usual.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0

The pH of my water is 8.0 and is consistent. The temperature of the tank is generally about 64 degrees Fahrenheit.
 
Hi,
Just to share my experience with new young axolotls.

My new axies have big fluffy gills and are between 3 and 4 inches now. Got them early November at 1 1/2inches and feed them on less than one cube of bloodworm between all 12 of them twice daily, clearing away all uneaten worms. They are spread between 9 small bare bottomed tanks now and I do 50% water changes every other day and also have java moss and bits of Java fern and Indian fern floating about, both for cover and for mopping up ammonia ( a bit!). I also suck up poop in a turkey baster and remove it after feeding. So these are uncycled tanks. (Although I would concede that there is likely to be a film of bacteria on the glass by now)

I notice you have a substrate and don't understand how you can have an uncycled tank. With the best will in the world the good bacteria will colonise the substrate and begin a cycle, however limited. There is bound to be waste trapped in the (fine gravel?) that will feed the bacteria. The waste must also be building up ammonia levels, especially if you are only doing water changes once a week and leaving food in the tank until it gets eaten. I think your test kit is not working. Test levels of 0, 0 and 0 are not necessarily normal. I have never measured 0 nitrate.

I've kept fish for a number of years, so have learned the hard way that water quality is often the root of health issues. As a newbie axie keeper who reads a lot I would be more concerned the the gills look abnormal ( ammonia burn?)

Still learning myself so would be interested in what the experienced 'axoists' have to say.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
 
I've not heard of "folded" tails before, not like that of your babies anyway! I doubt it's of that much concern. I have seen axolotl fins receding when they're underweight but this usually occurs along the spine rather than on the tail itself. Always keep an eye on their progress (if it's getting worse/better). I feel if they're large enough to be readily eating frozen bloodworm, they're large enough for earthworms which are amazing for weight gaining and nutrition, in my opinion. They will ,however, need to be chopped roughly to the same length as the width of the axolotls head if they're still quite tiny. Waxworms are also great as they're really fatty but may be too large for your axolotls to comfortably eat. I recommend only usually waxworms for this purpose or as the occasional treat, due to them being high fat. As said, your test kit might be giving false readings and it may be worth getting a new one just to be sure. Although they're gills aren't full of "fluff" I can't be sure if it has something to do with ammonia - juveniles don't pop out with a full set of long, luscious gills, Everything has to grow! I definitely recommend a new test kit though so you can check everything. I'd change your substrate to sand in the near future as well.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone! I really don't think there's an ammonia issue with the tank. They get a pretty large water change weekly and it's pretty heavily filtered. The melanoid has always has sparse gills, but they don't look burned or damaged in any way. Regardless, I'm going to put him in a smaller tank and do daily water changes to see if that helps anything.

I can't afford to purchase a whole new test kit as a student with no job. The kit is only a few months old, could it really go bad that fast? It's the API liquid test kit.

Looks like they'll be starting earthworms then! I'll see about the waxworms too. I'd really like them to put a bit of weight on.

That substrate is actually supposedly a sand. It's the Petco brand, and actually looks wayyy smaller than it does in that picture which was zoomed pretty tight to be able to get the best picture of his tail.

Happycamper, I'm sorry for your loss! I really hope I don't lose my guys! They mean so much to me. Does anyone have any more advice in regards as to what I should do?
 
An important note to testing NitrAte...

It is a 2 part test - it is very important to shake the 2nd bottle of drops for a FULL 30 SECONDS before adding it to the 5ml of tank water + 10 drops of 1st NitrAte test solution... Once added the tube of tank water + 10 drops of solution 1&2 the cap is added & then SHAKEN WELL FOR A FULL MINUTE! leave the well shaken tube for 5 minutes then take your readings!

Please try retesting the NitrAtes using the above directions (as clearly stated in the API testing instructions) :)



<3 >o_o< <3
 
Yep, I've always followed the directions exactly. I did another test just now, to double check, but I'm still getting zero. Guess my kit's gone bad...
 
Even if you've only had it for a few months doesn't mean it didn't sit on the shelf for who knows how long.
 
Alright, I borrowed some money and ordered an all new test kit. However, after reading through the thread posted that was similar to mine, it seems that the culprit here is some sort of skin fluke...not water quality though of course I need to make sure that's in check as well. Does anyone have any advice on getting rid of these nasties? Their tails seem to be getting worse and I'm starting to panic a bit. A salt bath tends to be the best way of riding parasites and such in fish, would this be good for the axies as well?
 
Salt baths are acceptable. You can try them and see if they'll help. Please keep us updated!
 
Alright, I'll try that with fridging and see if they improve! If that works, should I clean the whole tank or just treat it with the salt solution?
 
I think skin fluke is just an educated guess. Aren't most flukes big enough to see? It could be a genetic problem or something else. A salt bath couldn't hurt. It seems like lots of people are anxious to fridge axolotls. Fridging can be helpful but is not a cure all. It might be as healthy to keep the axolotl in a cool quarantine tank as to keep it in a small container in the fridge.
 
Even if skin fluke is an educated guess, it's the best I've got at the moment. If anyone has any other possible theories, I'm all ears! The reason I decided to fridge was because it seems that that's usually recommended with the salt baths. I'm sure a cool quarantine tank would work just as well, but aside from their main 20 gallon tank that's possibly infected with whatever they have, I don't have another tank nor do I have a way to keep it cooler than what their main tank is at since the heat in my house is on.
 
We are just guessing. My first two guesses would be genetic weakness or husbandry problems. You should see what input you can get from the breeder.
 
Though I'm pretty sure it's something they've contracted since they've been with me, that's not a bad idea. I'll give it a shot, thanks!
 
That's weird I have the save problem. My axie has this little fold to.....
IMG_0081.JPG.jpeg


My axie is a rescue. I found it at a pet store and a leg was missing and was skinny. Later it started pooping out parasites. I think they are parasites. :confused:There little white things that pop around like shrimp
 
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