Mexi is mince meat! HELP!

[candice]

Hi there, I'm really worried about my mexi...I've had him for about 5 years and my brother had him few years before that. Just in the last week or so he's become bloated (but not floating-yet!), his cloaca is really swollen, he's stopped pooing and eating and developed a furry white growth on one of his gills. The little fluffy parts of his gills (not sure of their name!) have virtually been eaten away/disappeared on the affected gill. Will they grow back if he survives? I've just moved house and think the water may have been a bit warm in the last month, even though i've been trying to keep it cool with the a/c. Can you offer any suggestions on how to fix him? I've put him in the fridge for starters, in water from his tank so that it cools gradually. Will change the water tomorrow. Should I do a salt bath as well? I've found in the past, the less I do, the better!
Thanks for your help, Worried Mexi owner

 

[karrie]

Can you post a pic? The wite stuff might be fungus.

 

[kapo]

<font color="0000ff">Make sure you keep a bottle of dechlorinated water in a big bottle or two that you can use for your saltbaths and daily waterchanges so they're the same temperature as his fridge container.

Do saltbaths twice a day if you can (2-3 teaspoons of tonic/uniodised table salt per 1 litre of dechlorinated water for 10mins, no more than 15 minutes max.), continue to do them until at least a week after fungus has dropped off.

When you moved house, did you transfer the same tankwater or add fresh.

If you added fresh, then your tank may be cycling (the nitrogen cycle to establish good bacteria in your tank); which is why the gills may have disappeared (through ammonia burns).

Do you have test kits to test your tankwater for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? If not take a sample to petshop and get them to test it; or alternatively buy them. If the petshop tests it, get them to write the figures down for each (some tend to say high or normal which doesn't really tell you a thing!).

If ammonia or nitrIte are high you would normally do daily 30% waterchanges on the tankwater, but only if your axie is in it! As he is in the fridge , and if it is cycling then leave the tankwater to cycle (no waterchanges). Then get the water tested before he goes back in and do a partial 30% water change if needed.

If you continue to have tank temperature problems keeping it below 22-24C are you able to keep him in the fridge longer, this will allow his tank to cycle if needed and also alleviate any stress associated with fluctuating temperatures.</font>

 

[kapo]

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>Quoting Candice Smith on Thursday 22 February 2007 - 14:14 (#POST122362):</font>

The little fluffy parts of his gills (not sure of their name!) have virtually been eaten away/disappeared on the affected gill. Will they grow back if he survives?<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

They may grow back very slowly, because of his age, but may not be as prominent as they were. Our 4 year olds had very damaged gills through poor water quality, there were no gill filaments (the fluffy/hairy bits!). Now a year on their filaments look stubbly (they're about a 2mm long or thereabouts. Yours might be luckier