mothEar
New member
One of my two axolotls (Dave) has sadly died. The remaining one (Gary) looks healthy, is active and interested in food, but as I'm unclear on why exactly the other one died, I want to be sure there isn't a danger of it being something contagious.
The illness and death of Dave went like this:
He was floating quite a bit, but he's always enjoyed a float, so it took me maybe a day to realise he was doing it more than normal. When I realised he was struggling, I put a thermometer in the fridge to check the temperature, in case he needed to go in there, but later he had stopped floating so much and I'd seen him let out a big air bubble so I figured he'd probably be okay. The next day, he was floating again, this time listing over to one side, and looking very bloated around the neck. I put him in the fridge, and this looked like it was going to help. I checked on him a few times and he seemed to be doing well, turning round occasionally, moving his mouth, etc. The next morning, I found him completely unresponsive. The fridge temperature was fine, and there was no poo in the water, so I can only assume whatever was wrong with him, it was too late. (I let the container sit out of the fridge for a while, to check it wasn't the cold, but sadly not.)
From what I've read, it sounds like Dave had some kind of infection, that was causing the bloating. It'd be helpful to hear if people think that sounds about right, and whether it could be contagious.
As a side note, any advice from UK keepers about what to do when you've had an axolotl die would also be appreciated - I'm struggling to know what to do with Dave that would be an appropriate and fitting send off.
Thanks!
The illness and death of Dave went like this:
He was floating quite a bit, but he's always enjoyed a float, so it took me maybe a day to realise he was doing it more than normal. When I realised he was struggling, I put a thermometer in the fridge to check the temperature, in case he needed to go in there, but later he had stopped floating so much and I'd seen him let out a big air bubble so I figured he'd probably be okay. The next day, he was floating again, this time listing over to one side, and looking very bloated around the neck. I put him in the fridge, and this looked like it was going to help. I checked on him a few times and he seemed to be doing well, turning round occasionally, moving his mouth, etc. The next morning, I found him completely unresponsive. The fridge temperature was fine, and there was no poo in the water, so I can only assume whatever was wrong with him, it was too late. (I let the container sit out of the fridge for a while, to check it wasn't the cold, but sadly not.)
From what I've read, it sounds like Dave had some kind of infection, that was causing the bloating. It'd be helpful to hear if people think that sounds about right, and whether it could be contagious.
As a side note, any advice from UK keepers about what to do when you've had an axolotl die would also be appreciated - I'm struggling to know what to do with Dave that would be an appropriate and fitting send off.
Thanks!
