Gills deteriorating... Not sure what it is....

[Gothica Lily]

Hi everyone,

Wanted to ask if anyone knows of any similar cases:

Our albino girl is loosing right gills.
Since be got her yearly this year, she had a disproportionate size gills, - the left ones had much bigger, longer feathers. But there looked fine & pink and I thought that may be genetic (I hope it's not because of some organ illness).

Recently though, while her male friend is being fridged, she started loosing her already little right gills. I noticed the very bottom one nearly turned into a stump now.. I saw a few white bits floting around the gills, which (I couldn't tell) were either fungus or dead skin tissue from shedding.

I tried the cotton swab trick, it doesn't look like fungus. The gills look like they are dying off more, but I don't know it that's the case. The bottom right gill is looking stumpy, but it looks as though the little young feathers (and that's pretty much what's left) are stuck together & look underdeveloped or something...

The 3 salt baths she had seemed to make little difference. I wonder what it is. Does not look like parasites either. She hates salt baths, so I'd like to know if they are appropriate/necessary...

Any advice?

(I'll try to get the pictures as soon as I have the time).

 

[Kerry1968]

Salt baths are only necessary when there is a definate case of fungus (or when advised by our friendly vet Rayson), I wouldn't put your axie in any more salt baths, they sting!

You can use a soothing tea bath for your axie, it can help to soothe any soreness. If you do a forum search you may find some details about how to do a tea bath.

Other than that I don't know what the options are. Just keep an eye on her in case the poorly gills DO seccumb to fungus.

 

[Darkmaverick]

Hi Kamilla,

Could you post up photos of the gills? Was this the axie that swallowed the gravel?

Cheers

 

[Gothica Lily]

Hi guys,

Thanks for prompt replies. It's our plain albino girl Peony (the one that swallowed gravel was Sovereign, the golden albino). She actiually seems better, the white stuff seems to have reduced. The bottom gill is somewhat better at the moment. Salt baths have been stopped.

Sorry for taking a while, was tied up hands & feet at work (really long hours). I tried to take pictures today but the batteries died... *sigh* :I

I put them on charge and we will post pictures tomorrow hopefully!


P.S.: Sovereign has spent nearly 4 weeks and was happy to join Peony in the tank today. He started pushing her around as soon as he saw her... He wants babies, but she doesn't seem interested yet. lol

Angie

 

[Gothica Lily]

Hi again,

Thanks for your patience!

Here are some pictures... As I explained, Peony has regrown some of the gill "feathers" since my post and salt baths.. Maybe it was fungus, maybe not, but the bottom right gill doesn't look like a stump anymore. She always had her right & left gills different sized (see her June & August photoes below). I wonder why there is such a difference between right & left gills thought!

Sovereign is eating blackworms happily, even had a baby nightcrawler last night. Thanks to Rayson, the critter is alive and well, and is looking forward for some love action... I attached some pictures of him with the rocks in his belly and today, without rocks.

 

[Darkmaverick]

Good to see them on the mend. There is evidence of fungal elements on the gill area of the albino. However, there is also some normal skin shedding. You might like to try tea baths now to replace salt baths. They are milder with their anti-fungal properties and can also sooth skin shedding.

 

[Gothica Lily]

Thanks Rayson,

It appears Sovereign has regained his appetite rapidly. Today I found Peony's front leg bruised. I think it was him trying to snap at moving stuff in search for food. It's not too bad. I'll stick to Tea Baths. Hope they will take care of bruised foot too.

So your theory is that her gills have some fungus?

She also stopped shedding. For the record, I think it was due to low Ph levels (6.4) and we brought them up to 7.

Could the fact that her right set of gills is significantly smaller suggest any internal disorder? Genetical or biological? She used to have equally small gills on both sides when we got her, since then her right gills became more feathery than left and pretty much exploded in length.

 

[Darkmaverick]

Based on your photos, i would say there is a combination of skin shedding and possibly some low grade fungal infection. If you look at the last photo, you can see wispy white strands of fungal elements around the gills.

Sometimes when an axie get injured or recieve prior trauma in the past on one side of the gills, that affected site may not regenerate to the former glory. My hypothesis is that the affected side might have sustained an injury in the past which resulted in suboptimal regneration. I have one axie myself that has lopsided gill lengths and it was due to being bitten by another axie.

The lopsided gills seriously though are only a cosmetic issue. If the axie is doing well in other aspects and not showing signs of being compromised or inconvenienced by the gills, i wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Gothica Lily]

Oh ok, many thanks for your opinion,

Will stick to tea baths for a little while, to soothe possible shedding/infection.
But we just had eggs laid all over the tank! We are now researching on how to feed our growing family...!