Pyral
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- Aug 9, 2021
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- Cleveland, OH
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I have had 2 beautiful axolotls for around 3 years now, and have grown very attached to them. When I first got them, they had really bad ammonia burns, which caused most if not all of their external gill filaments to fall off. I have invested so much time and money into them. One is leucistic with freckles (Sweet Pea) and the other is a wild type that looks like a melanoid (Luci) and they are around 4 years old. They are my beautiful little girls and I adore them.
Recently, Luci began to float on the top of her tank, much more than usual. Her belly looked inflated and she was freaking out on the surface. I figured that she needed to poop or something, so I put her in the fridge overnight. The next morning, she was floating belly-side-up on top of the water in her Tupperware, even though there was not a lot of water in it. When I say float, her lower belly was above water, and her head was just underneath the surface. It also looked like her slime coat was flaking off, but not like fungus. I was getting very worried, she looked lethargic and like she was about to pop. Luci was also very pale, especially for a wild type. I took her to an emergency vet clinic that said they could take a look at axolotls. I was looking into axolotls with her symptoms (on this site!), and I was suspecting it could have been gas bubble disease. I also asked a local aquatic place that sold axolotls and they said that my conclusions were probably right (there's just no clear-cut answer).
The vet took a look at her and didn't know what to do, so they referred me to an associated vet clinic, that has an amphibian "expert". Luci stayed the night at the vet clinic to get transferred to the amphibian expert the next morning.
After taking a look at her, they contacted me and said that there seems to be air inside of her coelomic cavity (the sac in which most of her guts are in) and that she would need surgery to remove the air. For the surgery, they ended up inserting a catheter into her with sutures and trying to suck the air out. The only thing was, was that the air kept refilling her cavity. I was able to pick her up and take her home many hours after the surgery.
It is also worth noting that I did a pretty big water change, maybe like 50%, around a week before this all started. I also scrubbed some of the grime and algae off of the plastic plants in the tank. I also recently ran out of my API quickstart, so I just added a water de-chlorinator to the cold tap water. And that was that.
My other axolotl, Sweet Pea, is absolutely fine. She still has an appetite and acts for the most part normal. I usually have the tank set at 60 degrees F, but because of Luci's condition, I lowered it to 58-59F. I do believe that Sweet Pea is a little slower because of the temp change, otherwise, she is normal. Before I moved Luci back into the tank, I checked the water. The pH was a little high (around 7.8ish), the nitrite was trace amounts, there was a little more than trace amounts of ammonia, and the nitrate. Oh god, the nitrate. It was pretty high compared to what it was normally in my tank. So, I did a water change, maybe around 40%, and I bought some API quick start and what my local aquarium store recommended: Dr. Tim's one and only live nitrifying bacteria. I threw in the measured amount of Dr. Tim's and a healthy glug of the quick start. I also read up that API stress coat is good for axolotls' slime coat, so I threw in the measured amount.
After the surgery, the vet informed me about what was happening and her after-procedure care. She would also be seen in 2 weeks for a checkup to see how she is doing. The treatment is a .01 mL dose of Meloxicam (anti-inflammatory and pain medicine) every day for 10 days and a .03 mL dose of Fortaz (antibiotic) every 2 days, with 7 total doses. They gave me enough syringes to look like a heroin addict and the vials of medicine. They showed me how to inject Luci with the needles (only in the front limbs, around their bicep area, and that a little bit of bleeding was normal). They told me that I should feed her as normal while monitoring her appetite and bowel movements. They do not know what caused it, but they suspect a bacterial infection is resulting in Luci having air in her tummy. Another task they wanted me to do was to take the cap off of the catheter in her tummy and suck the air out with an empty syringe, and do it carefully, so as not to pull on the sutures. The vet told me to suck out the air if she was floating. My mom is a nurse, so I have her do the injections because I shake too much. Even when I suck out the air, she still floats. Sometimes taking out the air is slightly noticeable, but for the most part she just looks the same
Currently, she is on the 5th day of her care schedule, and she has no appetite, and not pooping. She also doesn't sink anymore, she floats on the surface, only her belly sticking up above the water (and sometimes an arm). The vet said that if she isn't eating by the 6th day, she will need to have a feeding tube inserted otherwise she will start losing weight. Compared to the first day she came home, she isn't as pale as she was, her belly is a little smaller, and she was able to start putting up a fight against the shots.
I am in a dilemma. That surgery and emergency care put a really big dent in my wallet, and I can only assume that a feeding tube will be more expensive. I have the funds (was saving up for something else but hey I love my pets) to go through with this longer, I just don't know if it is worth it. Luci's life is miserable right now. She's not pooping, eating, or doing anything a normal axolotl should. She is being handled on a daily basis, getting shots, and getting air sucked out of her. I feel so bad for her, having to put up with all of this. From my perspective, I am greedy. I want her to fight till the end and persevere to try and get better, with a possible chance of things returning to normal. I love her dearly, she means everything to me. I care about her so much and no matter the sum of money I would cough it up to have her healthy again. I would do anything. But, when I look at the situation from her perspective, it really sucks. She can't swim down to her hides. She can't make herself right-side-up. Her quality of life is just declining and I don't know if I should put her through more of this. I want her to survive, I want this and I want that. What does she want? I know I cannot ask her, but I think it is starting to show up in her behavior. She is still fighting, but it's weaker than before. I don't want her to suffer for my own selfish needs and wants. Another bullet to my gut is that Sweet Pea is doing fine. Why did this happen to Luci and just Luci? I am glad that Sweet Pea is doing fine, I am just frustrated about how this all happened. The vet does not know what caused it, they can only predict the treatment. The vet was not very confident on her being able to live out the rest of her life.
Parameters of my tank; 40 gallon breeder with enough hides to support an axolotl family gathering, usually I have an amazing cycle going, I try to clean up poop with a turkey baster as it is produced, and do a 40% water change every couple weeks. Usually, my tank is pH 7.4, with trace ammonia, no nitrites, and trace nitrates. I also have an out-of-the-tank filter that hangs on the side of the tank, a really normal, basic one. I recently acquired a sponge filter that sits at the bottom of the tank and works with an air pump. I added the sponge filter while Luci was having her sleepover at the vet (the axolotl person recommended it compared to my current filter so I figured why not). The filter and the sponge filter are at the lowest setting, as to not cause strong currents in the tank. My chem has been good in the past while on the lower settings. For tank changes, in the past I would add a water conditioner (de-chlorinator) and the quick start. I feed the girls a few times a week, and their diet is exclusively nightcrawlers (I get mine from a hunting/fishing store so they are fresh.) (Also a worm tip, worms do not naturally smell like anything. When picking out your worms, open up the container and get a whiff. If the worms stink, they're old and going bad.)
This is an up-late post, I am going to call the vet clinic and ask for advice around 8 am, and I will post an update on what I think and what the vet thinks/recommends.
If you took the time to read this, please let me know what you think about any of this. Did I do anything wrong? Should I give in to my selfish needs and keep going with treatment? I love both of my axolotls to the moon and back, Sweet Pea can be really sassy while Luci literally has the sweetest personality. I guess that this post is a little more philosophical than I hoped. Please let me know if there are any treatments you recommend or advice to give or whatever comes to mind. I want to hear all opinions on this story. Feel free to ask questions as well.
The order of the photos is as follows: Sweet Pea, Luci (before poop hit the fan), before she was put into the fridge (I added more water don't worry), the morning I took her out of the fridge and to the vet, the first day back at home, a pic of Luci and Sweet Pea being cute, and Luci hanging out upside down.
Recently, Luci began to float on the top of her tank, much more than usual. Her belly looked inflated and she was freaking out on the surface. I figured that she needed to poop or something, so I put her in the fridge overnight. The next morning, she was floating belly-side-up on top of the water in her Tupperware, even though there was not a lot of water in it. When I say float, her lower belly was above water, and her head was just underneath the surface. It also looked like her slime coat was flaking off, but not like fungus. I was getting very worried, she looked lethargic and like she was about to pop. Luci was also very pale, especially for a wild type. I took her to an emergency vet clinic that said they could take a look at axolotls. I was looking into axolotls with her symptoms (on this site!), and I was suspecting it could have been gas bubble disease. I also asked a local aquatic place that sold axolotls and they said that my conclusions were probably right (there's just no clear-cut answer).
The vet took a look at her and didn't know what to do, so they referred me to an associated vet clinic, that has an amphibian "expert". Luci stayed the night at the vet clinic to get transferred to the amphibian expert the next morning.
After taking a look at her, they contacted me and said that there seems to be air inside of her coelomic cavity (the sac in which most of her guts are in) and that she would need surgery to remove the air. For the surgery, they ended up inserting a catheter into her with sutures and trying to suck the air out. The only thing was, was that the air kept refilling her cavity. I was able to pick her up and take her home many hours after the surgery.
It is also worth noting that I did a pretty big water change, maybe like 50%, around a week before this all started. I also scrubbed some of the grime and algae off of the plastic plants in the tank. I also recently ran out of my API quickstart, so I just added a water de-chlorinator to the cold tap water. And that was that.
My other axolotl, Sweet Pea, is absolutely fine. She still has an appetite and acts for the most part normal. I usually have the tank set at 60 degrees F, but because of Luci's condition, I lowered it to 58-59F. I do believe that Sweet Pea is a little slower because of the temp change, otherwise, she is normal. Before I moved Luci back into the tank, I checked the water. The pH was a little high (around 7.8ish), the nitrite was trace amounts, there was a little more than trace amounts of ammonia, and the nitrate. Oh god, the nitrate. It was pretty high compared to what it was normally in my tank. So, I did a water change, maybe around 40%, and I bought some API quick start and what my local aquarium store recommended: Dr. Tim's one and only live nitrifying bacteria. I threw in the measured amount of Dr. Tim's and a healthy glug of the quick start. I also read up that API stress coat is good for axolotls' slime coat, so I threw in the measured amount.
After the surgery, the vet informed me about what was happening and her after-procedure care. She would also be seen in 2 weeks for a checkup to see how she is doing. The treatment is a .01 mL dose of Meloxicam (anti-inflammatory and pain medicine) every day for 10 days and a .03 mL dose of Fortaz (antibiotic) every 2 days, with 7 total doses. They gave me enough syringes to look like a heroin addict and the vials of medicine. They showed me how to inject Luci with the needles (only in the front limbs, around their bicep area, and that a little bit of bleeding was normal). They told me that I should feed her as normal while monitoring her appetite and bowel movements. They do not know what caused it, but they suspect a bacterial infection is resulting in Luci having air in her tummy. Another task they wanted me to do was to take the cap off of the catheter in her tummy and suck the air out with an empty syringe, and do it carefully, so as not to pull on the sutures. The vet told me to suck out the air if she was floating. My mom is a nurse, so I have her do the injections because I shake too much. Even when I suck out the air, she still floats. Sometimes taking out the air is slightly noticeable, but for the most part she just looks the same
Currently, she is on the 5th day of her care schedule, and she has no appetite, and not pooping. She also doesn't sink anymore, she floats on the surface, only her belly sticking up above the water (and sometimes an arm). The vet said that if she isn't eating by the 6th day, she will need to have a feeding tube inserted otherwise she will start losing weight. Compared to the first day she came home, she isn't as pale as she was, her belly is a little smaller, and she was able to start putting up a fight against the shots.
I am in a dilemma. That surgery and emergency care put a really big dent in my wallet, and I can only assume that a feeding tube will be more expensive. I have the funds (was saving up for something else but hey I love my pets) to go through with this longer, I just don't know if it is worth it. Luci's life is miserable right now. She's not pooping, eating, or doing anything a normal axolotl should. She is being handled on a daily basis, getting shots, and getting air sucked out of her. I feel so bad for her, having to put up with all of this. From my perspective, I am greedy. I want her to fight till the end and persevere to try and get better, with a possible chance of things returning to normal. I love her dearly, she means everything to me. I care about her so much and no matter the sum of money I would cough it up to have her healthy again. I would do anything. But, when I look at the situation from her perspective, it really sucks. She can't swim down to her hides. She can't make herself right-side-up. Her quality of life is just declining and I don't know if I should put her through more of this. I want her to survive, I want this and I want that. What does she want? I know I cannot ask her, but I think it is starting to show up in her behavior. She is still fighting, but it's weaker than before. I don't want her to suffer for my own selfish needs and wants. Another bullet to my gut is that Sweet Pea is doing fine. Why did this happen to Luci and just Luci? I am glad that Sweet Pea is doing fine, I am just frustrated about how this all happened. The vet does not know what caused it, they can only predict the treatment. The vet was not very confident on her being able to live out the rest of her life.
Parameters of my tank; 40 gallon breeder with enough hides to support an axolotl family gathering, usually I have an amazing cycle going, I try to clean up poop with a turkey baster as it is produced, and do a 40% water change every couple weeks. Usually, my tank is pH 7.4, with trace ammonia, no nitrites, and trace nitrates. I also have an out-of-the-tank filter that hangs on the side of the tank, a really normal, basic one. I recently acquired a sponge filter that sits at the bottom of the tank and works with an air pump. I added the sponge filter while Luci was having her sleepover at the vet (the axolotl person recommended it compared to my current filter so I figured why not). The filter and the sponge filter are at the lowest setting, as to not cause strong currents in the tank. My chem has been good in the past while on the lower settings. For tank changes, in the past I would add a water conditioner (de-chlorinator) and the quick start. I feed the girls a few times a week, and their diet is exclusively nightcrawlers (I get mine from a hunting/fishing store so they are fresh.) (Also a worm tip, worms do not naturally smell like anything. When picking out your worms, open up the container and get a whiff. If the worms stink, they're old and going bad.)
This is an up-late post, I am going to call the vet clinic and ask for advice around 8 am, and I will post an update on what I think and what the vet thinks/recommends.
If you took the time to read this, please let me know what you think about any of this. Did I do anything wrong? Should I give in to my selfish needs and keep going with treatment? I love both of my axolotls to the moon and back, Sweet Pea can be really sassy while Luci literally has the sweetest personality. I guess that this post is a little more philosophical than I hoped. Please let me know if there are any treatments you recommend or advice to give or whatever comes to mind. I want to hear all opinions on this story. Feel free to ask questions as well.
The order of the photos is as follows: Sweet Pea, Luci (before poop hit the fan), before she was put into the fridge (I added more water don't worry), the morning I took her out of the fridge and to the vet, the first day back at home, a pic of Luci and Sweet Pea being cute, and Luci hanging out upside down.
