Pet shop rescued axolotl.

[Chillaxolot]

Hi there
I am so glad that I found this site About 6 weeks ago I rescued a wild type axolotl from a local pet shop. This axolotl has no frilly filaments and a missing part of the back foot. Pet shop said it had previously been kept with fish. It was on gravel substrate. It looked in a bad way so I bought it and took it home to look after it. Steep learning curve followed. We have named him/her Chillaxolot as he has spent most of his time in the fridge or in a tub. He was really underweight and what I now know impacted. He was in our tank for 1 day but kept tail floating and was getting stressed. I had gravel as substrate and fed him Cat fish pellets and treated his water with a quick start aloe water dechlorinator, as recommended by the pet shop! Same day found this site removed him from the tank removed all the stones and bought worms.Then realised he was impacted so began the fridging process. All in all he/she has passed or thrown up 11 stones. He was throwing up his worms lots so have been little and often feeding him and it seems to be paying off slowly but surely. The problem is he was so skinny that I have been fridging a couple of days and tubbing him for a few days to feed him up a bit. He still has floating issues. Looked a bit better and returned him to his tank but he/she immediately floated again so returned to tubbing and has to be kept in really shallow water in the tubs. For the last 2 weeks his back legs have been splayed right out to the side and I think he/she has a stone too big to pass. Also there is something going on with his slime coat so been doing tea baths to try and help this. Also changed to Prime to treat his water. Luckily all of this has enabled me to cycle his tank Seachem Stability, dirty tub water and food in a net in the tank.
After lots of internet searches and phone calls I have an appointment to see a vet tomorrow for a check and suggested x-ray or ultra sound to see what is going on with the little one. Think he is about 6 months old but only guessing. Can anyone give me some advice as to what I should be asking and looking for at the vets and any advice on his care as I am just reading, more reading and winging it here. I don't want to cause him any more distress. He's had enough of that already.
Don't think I've posted photos in order sorry.1st and 2nd pic 1 week ago. 3rd pic thought I should take this to the vets with me. 4th pic today before changing tub water. 5th pick the gravel( kind of obvious) 6th pic after first fridging.
Hope this all follows the rules.

Thank You

 

[Biev]

With all this gravel in the way and little to no gills to breathe from, it's amazing that he's doing as well as he is. This little guy is a trooper for sure... Hopefully the xrays don't show too many more pebbles!

Personally I would feed him bloodworms to fatten him up some, I don't know if others will agree. I'd also keep him in shallow water until the gill stalks and fins grow back, because he'll need to breathe from the surface a lot! And I'd want to keep him at 15 C or lower to help him heal faster, so if you can't keep your tank that cold, he might be better off living in the fridge for a while...

It's ok if he lets his legs float.They do that : )

It's great that you're using the waste water to cycle his tank in the meantime. I think the little guy lucked out, getting you as an owner!

 

[Chillaxolot]

Thank you. Couldn't figure out how to get back into my post there.
I am keeping him in the fridge at 8 degrees just now but I will definitely get some blood worms. He has still been eating 2-3 small worms chopped up a day until I fridged him yesterday. But will his weight gain be slow? Also he poops in spurts and hasn't done a solid poop since I got him. Another reason I thought a stone might be blocking him? Had an airstone in when he was tubbed out of the fridge but seemed to stress him out so I removed it.

 

[Chillaxolot]

Re: Pet shop rescued axolotl. Metabolic Bone Disease.

So we took Chillaxolot to the Vet and she was fantastic and X-rays done.
Good news is that he can get out of the fridge.Turns out he/she doesn't have any more stones.
So what was it? He has Metabolic Bone Disease. That's the not so good news He/she has been given 10 per ML Zolcal-D(Calcium). The vet administered it orally but we have to give 0.3 ml once daily soaked into feeding pellet. Some will be lost to the water so that is why we have this dose. Here is hoping that it works for him/her. That was the other thing cannot really tell his/her age because of his poor bones he's in a poor condition and a bit bloaty. How this came about we will never know for sure but I am so glad I went to the pet shop that day.
We have lowered the tank level right down with a couple of caves and a small filter so at least he can get into the tank. Now its a waiting game to return to the vets in three weeks time for another x-ray and see how he/she is then.

 

[auntiejude]

FYI if you buy an axie from a pet shop you're not rescuing it, you're buying it.

But metabolic bone disease is common in axies (and other animals) that don't get enough calcium in their diet, such as axies fed on bloodworm. Earthworms have a great balance of calcium and phosphorus, and really should be a staple for your axie. With terrestrial salamanders you can use calcium dust on dry insects (crickets), but it's not possible with axies. The other alternative is to inject the solution into a worm or waxworm and feed it to the axie.

 

[Chillaxolot]

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I now know I shouldn't have paid for him for that reason. I knew nothing about Axolotls I just knew he looked bad and I couldn't leave him there. Have been feeding him chopped up worms as from what I had read here they were best for him.

 

[Biev]

Looking forward to seeing how his/her health progresses!

 

[Chillaxolot]

Thank you Biev

 

[Chillaxolot]

So we euthanised Chillaxolot today.
He had stopped eating and we were very carefully administering his calcium and puréed food into his mouth with a syringe. But he developed a red lump on his right side and lost all balance. He looked so sad and uncomfortable so we read up on the articles here and decided that using clove oil was the method for us. It was very peaceful and surprisingly quick. Poor wee man had no fight left. Proper care and nutrition was too late for him. But I am so glad we have discovered these amazing wee creatures and this site.
We went back to the pet shop and all axolotls are in bare bottom tanks with plants for hiding So at least something good has come out of this.
RIP Our Chillaxolot and here’s to our next amazing amphibian.