Help! Sickly axies!

[jakeztheone]

Thanks again so much!
What about feeding my babies? They've been in the fridge for a few days now and reading through the boards, when others fridge them, they put in cap letters DO NOT feed while in fridge. I'm assuming they are hungry, should I attempt to feed them and just make sure to clean the water later?

 

[snuggly time]

You could try feed them, but they might not want to eat if they're cold. Offer a little bit of food. If they don't eat it, remove the food and clean the water afterwards.

Are they looking any better?

 

[jakeztheone]

Tried feeding yesterday and no luck.

The bay-behs look a little different:
Around the outside of the wound, there is a 1-2mm border which looks like it could be healing or new skin forming. I'm hoping that is what it is and not getting worse. I just love my Pac-Os and hope they get better soon! Thanks for checking on them

 

[leandrah]

Hey Jake
Could you post a picture of them now?

 

[jakeztheone]

Here are some updated pics of my little Paco-Os. 2Pac-O (wildtype), seems to be effected the least, he just has a tiny spot.

Let me know what you all think...... do they look any better???

 

[jakeztheone]

((The first picture is Pac-O, the second is QuattroPac-O, and the third shows both and 2Pac-O))

 

[jakeztheone]

How long can they go without eating???

 

[EmbryH]

It depends on how old they are and how much weight they had built up before they stopped eating.

Take them out of the fridge, let them adjust to a more normal temperature, and then try feeding them. If the situation becomes desperate, there are methods of force-feeding, but that is a last resort, so don't even worry about that for now.

 

[jakeztheone]

Thanks Embry.
I compared the first pictures w the 2nd and determined the spot is smaller. So...... fingers still crossed.
I'm hoping they start showing more improvement soon

 

[leandrah]

Hi Jake,
I think that they are looking much better, you can see that the skin is starting to reform.

Has anyone suggested that you give them a tea bath? It does wonders for their skin and it also soothes it - this might help with the protective layer.
I am sure that they are still a little bit sore, and I wouldnt be surprised if they dont eat for another 3 days or so.

I would highly suggest a tea bath, they love them Just take a mug of black tea, (with dechlorinated water), and add it to around 10 Liters of water. Or what I do which is easier - is i add the cup of black dechlorinated tea to the actual tank - yes it makes the water brown but you can just do a big water change and it goes away.

Keep us updated please.
PS - you can also try and feed them a small piece of scallop - Axolotl's cant resist them and it might get them to eat

 

[jakeztheone]

I got some scallops to try once I let them defrost a little they are also on day 2 of their tea bath...

 

[jakeztheone]

I got some scallops to try once I let them defrost a little they are also on day 2 of their tea bath...

By "them" I mean the axies

 

[leandrah]

How are they looking now after their tea baths?
and did they like the Scallops?

 

[jakeztheone]

They ate just a tiny bit. I hope they liked them!
Here are updated pictures since the 3 day tea bath...
I'm not sure if this is good or bad, it almost looks like the axies have scabs now - do they get scabs? Please let me know if anyone has seen anything like this... They have an appt at a vet tomorrow (exotic vet only in 2 days a week).

 

[leandrah]

I don't have much experience in this, but i think that the wound looks smaller and that it is possibly healing. (Like i said, I dont have experience in this so maybe someone else will know it better, i have never seen this before)

What has the vet said?

 

[jakeztheone]

Just back from the vet. One of the specialists thinks it's fungus and the other said it's scabbed over. They gave me some fungal cream and are also running a culture to see what happens.
I was really thinking it wasn't a fungus because they've been in the fridge w tea and thought that helped w fungus?
Dr is going to call me in a couple days w results. He also said if they don't start getting better in a couple days, he will call in a Rx for an antibiotic.

What do you guys think? I'm really hoping they have scabs..... I want my Pac-Os back to their normal, fun, energetic, and socialselves!

 

[auntiejude]

The brown colour is staining from the tea, it looks like dead skin taking up the colour and flaking of. It looks OK to me, doesn't look fungus-y, it looks like healing skin.

 

[jakeztheone]

The brown colour is staining from the tea, it looks like dead skin taking up the colour and flaking of. It looks OK to me, doesn't look fungus-y, it looks like healing skin.

That does make me feel a little better. I thought the exact same thing. Especially looking at pics before the staining, the wounds did look smaller. Could anyone else tell a difference (1st pics and then from 3/6)???
I was advised by the vet to put them back in their tank, so I removed EVERYTHING, scrubbed it down, and refilled with fresh water. I added some tea in case that's been helping and ensured the water was the same temp as the fridge. I added the cream just in case and set them loose back in their tank... going to try and feed them again later. I'm so distraught over all of this, I love me some Pac-Os! They're so cute!

 

[leandrah]

I can see that it looks smaller,
I think you are doing a great job! Hang in there

 

[Petersgirl]

Okay, Jake, you've done so much so far, so let's get you to the final hurdle.
Since you've scrubbed everything, please keep an eye on your parameters. You may have crashed your cycle - if you test your water and it doesn't read 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite or higher than 0 (usual number seems to be 10-20ppm) to 40 nitrate, it may well have crashed. If this has happened, you might need to remove the axolotls to a temporary tank in a cool, dark room (not the fridge) and 100% water change their temporary tank daily. Even if the parameters seem to be fine, it would be wise to test for a few days, possibly even a week, to ensure your cycle is still active.

Good luck with your babies! I hope they are close to the home stretch now.