Green stuff?

[HitmanSougo13]

Hi, one of my axies lost her appetite, she is a wild type. I have seen this stuff twice so far, once a few weeks ago and then she was eating again after. I don't know whether she is puking this out or if it coming off her skin or any other excretion. The stuff is a pretty saturated green. It looks like seaweed but is certainly not.

There is nothing in the tank to hurt her, ie no substrates.
Parameters are normal, ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrates 20.
Temp is 17 to 18

I have never seen this...she could be shedding but not sure...any knowledge would be helpful. Thank you!

 

[LSuzuki]

It looks like algae. Is your tank well enough lit that it could be ordinary algae? (I hope your axolotl isn't producing something that color - that is a pretty intense green.)

 

[Cacique]

Do you have any kind of plants in the tank? Maybe she's biting the plants or eating them.

 

[HitmanSougo13]

Hi guys! No plants. I typically scrub the walls too during the weekly clean. There is stuff in the filter but it is a brown color usually. I will probably take apart the filter just to check. Because she was not eating, I already isolated her into a sick tub which was where the green stuff was appearing. I did swapped sick tubs daily doing 100% water changes since I would clean the heck out of the swapped out tub. Hoping it is not something I can't see growing in her which she spits out or something once in a while :/

I am not sure how algae grows (whether it is on the walls or water surface) but this green stuff is at the bottom of the sick tub. I do have areas that are slightly covered away from light but I turn on a led daylight bulb when I go feed the axies.

 

[LSuzuki]

I'm stumped and I'm curious. Hopefully someone else knows.

 

[Bette]

I think we can assume that it is green stool. I would try bringing a fecal sample to your vet(refrigerate until you can get it to the vet). According to some information I was able to find, green stool in reptiles or amphibians can indicate some type of enteritis, - bacterial or protozoal. A lack of appetite can be another symptom of this. Maybe try herpvetconnection. com or the ARAV (Association of Reptile and Amphibian Vets) websites to locate a reptile vet near you.

 

[HitmanSougo13]

Hey Bette, I was a little moronic and threw out that green stool before I saw your post but I think you are right. Today she poop out two worms. One is alive. I am taking her and those worms to a vet today because only vets here sell deworming medication.

I have never really fed her live fish in her 6 years, mostly pellets and in the past I have given her a feeder fish a few times, earthworms a few times. Sometimes I may cut off raw fish, raw shrimp for her. Of course it won't be easy to figure out the culprit, the issue is there's worms.
It is is sucky because she is probably not getting the nutrition from the food she did eat.

In any case, I want readers to be aware that antibiotics and constipation medication do not work for internal worms.

 

[Bette]

Hey Bette, I was a little moronic and threw out that green stool before I saw your post but I think you are right. Today she poop out two worms. One is alive. I am taking her and those worms to a vet today because only vets here sell deworming medication.

I have never really fed her live fish in her 6 years, mostly pellets and in the past I have given her a feeder fish a few times, earthworms a few times. Sometimes I may cut off raw fish, raw shrimp for her. Of course it won't be easy to figure out the culprit, the issue is there's worms.
It is is sucky because she is probably not getting the nutrition from the food she did eat.

In any case, I want readers to be aware that antibiotics and constipation medication do not work for internal worms.

Please keep us updated. Hope she recovers fully!

 

[HitmanSougo13]

I hope she is on her way too! The vet cost about $150 and we got the deworming medication. She passed stool which didn't have live worms but we took back to the lab and she has been eating almost everyday this week Although, she is being picky and only wants Gray coloured minnows.

 

[LSuzuki]

Hurray! On her way to recovery!

 

[HitmanSougo13]

We brought in two lab results plus the two actual worms to the vet and the results are negative she is eating every day although right now she just wants live minnows which I want to wean her off of eventually. She has eaten a pellet here or there kind of unintentionally on her end but we are getting there. Thank you everyone for your quick response!

 

[Bette]

I am so glad she is improving! So, you said that after bringing in actual worms and stool samples that the results were negative? I wonder what type the worms are then? Strange.

 

[HitmanSougo13]

I know eh. I am going to call the vet tomorrow just to be sure as they just left me a voicemail and email about the results. That is a lot of samples and stool analysis we paid for. But if we are lucky maybe those two worms just grew and then she managed to poop them out.

 

[HitmanSougo13]

Hi I missed the opportunity to post an update. The vet said there can be a myriad of parasites that affect amphibians but he was unable to identify the live worm in his library or his sources online. I assume the work may have come from some food she eat as we periodically gave her a treat, ie raw scallop, raw beef, raw shrimp.

Basically I just need to watch if it happens again and be on the lookout for floating stuff at the top of the water as that is likely dead worms, so far so good after a few weeks so she has been back in her tank and happy. I weaned her off live fish which for a week she was in some sort of axie rehab craving for fish. Maybe I will hold off on raw meat for a while until I get comfortable with any of that.