Found my big guy... not... alive...

[kmak]

Hey everyone,

So, I have two... had... two, adult axolotls.

They shared a tank.

This morning when I woke up, I went to go say hi and everything like I usually do, when I found my male floating, clearly dead.

He has a girlfriend that he shares a tank with. She, from what I can tell, is just fine.

Their temperature this morning was ~21C.

Two days ago, he ate just fine. Yesterday he barely ate anything. Today he... was no longer with us.

When I took him out of the tank, he was dripping some weird mucusy slime or something. I don't know what it is. it was clear and clearly not water. His mouth also looked super fat.

Are these normal things related to their deaths? Or is it possible that he ate something that he couldn't swallow?

I use a PVC woven placemat as a substrate, so there's nothing inherently in the tank that he could have eaten. However, I have found that my children will occasionally put things into the tank that they think is cute... sea shells, toys, etc. But, if a fat mouth is common in death, then it might be something else that I need to be sure I can get rid of so that my girl doesn't become infected.

If a fat mouth is mostly related to them eating something big, then I clearly need to get a lock for the tank.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Daimler]

1)if your children put something like soap... :nono: .... in the water you have to change all water, clean the tank and call a vet for the survivor.
2)if the problem is a "very big mouth" probably you gave a piece of food too large for his mouth.
3)if it is a Virus? Bacteria? Parasite? i really don't know if these are the cause of death :angel:
4) PVC woven placemat??? the right substrate (for me) is or sand or nothing. If you dont want the sand, use a very big gravel or stones
5) put in your tank some real plants like elodea densa, anubias or duckweed, cause they are a natural filter

 

[kmak]

I feed frozen brine shrimp, blood worms, and those salmon pellets that that one guy sells. Has a sticky for contacting him on the forum. So... nothing should have been too big.

I'm pretty sure they didn't put soap in there as that wouldn't have been "pretty" or very "water" themed as soap disintegrates and stuff. No, the stuff they put in there are related to sea shells, toys with a water theme (alligators, fish, etc.), or rocks because when I first got them I was using extremely large rocks as a substrate.

But, I got the idea for the PVC placemats from someone else who has been using them successfully for awhile now. A link to the kind of placemats I'm using:
http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K1XBQOU?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00

And, I'll look into the plants. Do plants need an overhead light source or any other special requirements?

 

[Daimler]

well... in this case probably he eat too much!
about the plant, the anubias and the egeria need light (i use a neon t8 6500k, you can buy it for 5dollar) and about the substrate, for my opinion is still better the sand or nothing, because this are very easy to clean.

here some helpful info
Caudata Culture Axolotl Articles

 

[Skudo09]

I am sorry for your loss. Have you checked the parameters for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH? If random objects are being added to the tank, it may be possible something was swallowed and may have caused a blockage. When did you notice the fat mouth? The mucous was probably the protective slime coat covering and it was probably sloughing off as part of having died. However if he was 'peeling' before having died it may be a sign of water quality or something contaminating the tank.

I am not sure about the placemats... I would probably not use them mainly because they are not purpose made for aquarium use and there may be additives that could be harmful.

 

[kmak]

Well, his cage mate is just fine. I did a minor water change and she's still just fine.

And he was only slimy when I took him out when I saw he was dead. Otherwise I never noticed any abnormal slimage.

So, I'm going to lean on it was something he ate. I actually had just fed him beef heart and I was reading another post about someone seeing something similar in their axolotl and they were feeding beef heart.

I had only mixed in beef heart into the food rotation within the past ~2 weeks of him dying. But, it seems possible that this may have been a factor. And, of course, ive since thrown out the beef heart.

 

[Skudo09]

Yes I would avoid beef heart or any mammalian meat. The beef heart alone though doesn't seem likely to be a cause of death though. It may be possible that the beef heart was contaminated with some nasty bug. I would still test your water as water quality issues don't always show signs with all axolotls in the tank, even just to rule it out as a factor. Was it just his mouth that seemed swollen or his whole body?