Juvenile Axolotl is shedding skin very badly

[buatkelasvts]

Hello everyone,

I'm new at this, but I have been looking up for every possible answers on Caudata, YouTube, an axolotl breeder in my area & going to talk with a vet tomorrow (I haven't found an axolotl vet in my area).

The first night that I got Soju (my Axolotl's name), I put half a teaspoon of Methylene Blue to his tank just for precaution. The substrate was sand and most of the salt is absorbed by it. He seems very happy and all the conditions were met.
Two days ago (picture included) my axolotl is still very happy and always hungry for food. But that night, I added half a teaspoon of Methylene Blue to his 12 litre tank.
I very clumsily forgot that I had changed the substrate from sand to bare bottom.

He is now very stressed out, vomits his food, limbs aren't as sturdy as it was two days ago, gills are curved and his skin are shedding VERY BADLY. It got me super stressed out and I tried to force feed him by lifting him in my tank and tried giving him bloodworms, but every time he eats, he would spill it out again.

He is very very thin. He pooped this morning & afternoon. So I fed chopped off bloodworms & cleaned out the rest after leaving him 30 minutes with the worms.
He still moves a little in his tank. Temperature is always met (air con always on). But gills are curved to the front & slime coating is very thin now.
I'm placing him in the fridge right now. Some Indian leaves extract are on its way as i had just purchased it by now and baby shrimp just in case he is bored with his blood worms...

Would like to have your advice on what to do as I am very stressed.

I love Soju very much.

 

[wolfen]

by the sounds of what is described and from the photos it looks like your axolotl is stressed due to ammonia levels.
a couple of questions, was the tank cycled prior to use? what are the water parameters ie.. ammonia/nitrite/nitrate/ph/temperature?, why did you need to add methylene blue in the first place?
now that he/she is being tubbed do daily water changes using water that has been dechlorinated make sure the water is kept cold, also make sure that there is an airstone in the water to provide oxygenation, go to Axolotls - Requirements & Water Conditions in Captivity and read about how to make and use holtfreters solution or one of the modified versions.
the methylene blue will need to be removed from the tank as it will affect the filter bacteria and cause elevated levels of ammonia, removal can be done by washing the tank out, using activated carbon etc..
methylene blue is used as a medicine as it is good anti fungul and anti bacterial and as such is best used in the same way as you would with a salt or tea bath and not used in the aquarium itself.
your axolotl looks to be to small for sand so it is good that it was removed unfortunately by removing it you have probably removed some of you bio filtration.
whilst your axolotl is being tubbed you will probably have to recycle the tank.

 

[kristablide]

Hello everyone,

I'm new at this, but I have been looking up for every possible answers on Caudata, YouTube, an axolotl breeder in my area & going to talk with a vet tomorrow (I haven't found an axolotl vet in my area).

The first night that I got Soju (my Axolotl's name), I put half a teaspoon of Methylene Blue to his tank just for precaution. The substrate was sand and most of the salt is absorbed by it. He seems very happy and all the conditions were met.
Two days ago (picture included) my axolotl is still very happy and always hungry for food. But that night, I added half a teaspoon of Methylene Blue to his 12 litre tank.
I very clumsily forgot that I had changed the substrate from sand to bare bottom.

He is now very stressed out, vomits his food, limbs aren't as sturdy as it was two days ago, gills are curved and his skin are shedding VERY BADLY. It got me super stressed out and I tried to force feed him by lifting him in my tank and tried giving him bloodworms, but every time he eats, he would spill it out again.

He is very very thin. He pooped this morning & afternoon. So I fed chopped off bloodworms & cleaned out the rest after leaving him 30 minutes with the worms.
He still moves a little in his tank. Temperature is always met (air con always on). But gills are curved to the front & slime coating is very thin now.
I'm placing him in the fridge right now. Some Indian leaves extract are on its way as i had just purchased it by now and baby shrimp just in case he is bored with his blood worms...

Would like to have your advice on what to do as I am very stressed.

I love Soju very much.

Hi there,

I am going to just put this out there mind you I am not a vet but a aquaculture biologist. Methylene blue is actually quite acidic (pH = 6) while water is slightly basic around pH = 7-7.2. When you put it in initially, your sand acted as a buffer and I’m sure so did Soju’s immune system at first. Upon the second exposure, Soju was probably unable to adapt like before.

Changing the pH of your solution with a salamander is going to likely cause this. Even if your water is fine now he could have “burned” physiologically and you can’t see that at a molecular level. I know there is some dermatology cream medications specifically for the axies. If you are taking him in just make sure you really pick your vets brain! Hope Soju is okay

 

[wolfen]

Hi there,

I am going to just put this out there mind you I am not a vet but a aquaculture biologist. Methylene blue is actually quite acidic (pH = 6) while water is slightly basic around pH = 7-7.2. When you put it in initially, your sand acted as a buffer and I’m sure so did Soju’s immune system at first. Upon the second exposure, Soju was probably unable to adapt like before.

Changing the pH of your solution with a salamander is going to likely cause this. Even if your water is fine now he could have “burned” physiologically and you can’t see that at a molecular level. I know there is some dermatology cream medications specifically for the axies. If you are taking him in just make sure you really pick your vets brain! Hope Soju is okay

if the methylene blue caused a ph reaction with the water because of its low acidity (a banana is more acidic) it would mean that the water was very soft with almost no kh, although this is possible with ro and distilled water (both of which shouldn't be used without re-mineralisation) if it is dechlorinated tap water there should still be some buffer there, if on the other hand the methylene blue was highly overdosed then it might be possible. some treatments for axolotls require them to be in a methylene blue bath for 3-5 days and has been used for such cases since the days that they were used for test subjects.

 

[buatkelasvts]

Hi

Hi there,

I am going to just put this out there mind you I am not a vet but a aquaculture biologist. Methylene blue is actually quite acidic (pH = 6) while water is slightly basic around pH = 7-7.2. When you put it in initially, your sand acted as a buffer and I’m sure so did Soju’s immune system at first. Upon the second exposure, Soju was probably unable to adapt like before.

Changing the pH of your solution with a salamander is going to likely cause this. Even if your water is fine now he could have “burned” physiologically and you can’t see that at a molecular level. I know there is some dermatology cream medications specifically for the axies. If you are taking him in just make sure you really pick your vets brain! Hope Soju is okay

Hello!

Thanks for your response. Yes the vet prescribed Vitamin E for his skin but it will take a while to heal. But as for his apetite, indian tea leaves inside a separate container & mineral water managed to fix it.

Here’s his condition today. I’m doing the acclimation process and will place him back in the tank afterwards.

 

[wolfen]

what are you tank water parameters? ie.. ph/ammonia/nitrite/nitrate/temperature
if there are issues with the tank then acclimatisation will make no difference and you will be putting him/her in water that is toxic.
make sure the tank water is safe first.

 

[Keefe]

Hello everyone,

I'm new at this, but I have been looking up for every possible answers on Caudata, YouTube, an axolotl breeder in my area & going to talk with a vet tomorrow (I haven't found an axolotl vet in my area).

The first night that I got Soju (my Axolotl's name), I put half a teaspoon of Methylene Blue to his tank just for precaution. The substrate was sand and most of the salt is absorbed by it. He seems very happy and all the conditions were met.
Two days ago (picture included) my axolotl is still very happy and always hungry for food. But that night, I added half a teaspoon of Methylene Blue to his 12 litre tank.
I very clumsily forgot that I had changed the substrate from sand to bare bottom.

He is now very stressed out, vomits his food, limbs aren't as sturdy as it was two days ago, gills are curved and his skin are shedding VERY BADLY. It got me super stressed out and I tried to force feed him by lifting him in my tank and tried giving him bloodworms, but every time he eats, he would spill it out again.

He is very very thin. He pooped this morning & afternoon. So I fed chopped off bloodworms & cleaned out the rest after leaving him 30 minutes with the worms.
He still moves a little in his tank. Temperature is always met (air con always on). But gills are curved to the front & slime coating is very thin now.
I'm placing him in the fridge right now. Some Indian leaves extract are on its way as i had just purchased it by now and baby shrimp just in case he is bored with his blood worms...

Would like to have your advice on what to do as I am very stressed.

I love Soju very much.

I would carry out a water test and if ok I would put him another container with some of your diluted mature water say 50 _50 ratio buy some API pimafix and maybe some tap safe ? I always keep my axie in a bare bottom aquarium and vacuum every day ..I use two usb computer fans to control temperature.
Clean out/ sterilise your aquarium and any objects in it.

 

[Autistic Catholic]

He needs food. Food. He is disappearing.