PICS: Ballooned head, no movement, missing part tail, gills missing, bulging eyes, Ammonia poisoning??

[jessiecharlie]

Please Help!

I have just arrived home after 3 weeks away on my honeymoon and my poor Axie Barry is not looking good.

His head is very enlarged, he is missing a gill, his tail used to have a little kink in it (since we first had him) and from where the kink was is now missing (around .5cm), his eyes seem to be popping out of his head and he is barely moving.

My mother in law has been taking care of him, she did 4 water changes (we are in Sydney and it gets quite hot), feeding him a cube of fish dinner (blood worm/beef/fish/cube) every other day.

I have water testing kits and the nitrate is sitting @ 0, the ph is neutral @ 7, and I have just discovered that I should be testing for ammonia (which I didn't know before) so I will have to pick that up tomorrow.
I always put in a capful of "Prime" to remove ammonia after a water change, and a capful of "stabilizer" also (which I have just discovered I shouldn't be doing so will pick up the appropriate kits tomorrow)

I have just found out my MIL did not put in the "Prime" to remove the ammonia when she did the water changes over the past few weeks.

Could this be the reason he is looking like this?
Is there any chance he will survive?

I have already done a 30% water change but I will now do 100% change.

Pics are attached of the poor little guy
Any advice would be wonderful.

Oh and I have already checked his little mouth, nothing lodged in there, bare bottom tank so nothing to swallow.

Thanks!

 

[Bellabelloo]

Poor little guy , what a sad sight to meet you after your honeymnoon.
I suspect poor water conditions are responsible. Ideally I think a trip to a vet is needed, but in the mean time make sure the water is cool and clean and he is fed well. He is looking rather skinny so I would be tempted to offer him food twice daily for a bit, ideally earthworms. There is a possibility that he is morphing, this can happen occasionally. Do please keep us posted on how he is doing.

 

[Hayleyy]

Poor little thing! Maybe you could pop him in the fridge for a while, and give him lots of wormies. I adopted one off my cousin because she couldn't keep him anymore, and he was in a fairly similar state actually. He had big eyes, bloated head, he was skinny and gills were in a bad shape. Though, she was keeping him on gravel so I thought maybe he had impaction when he died.
Hope your little one gets better quick!

 

[jessiecharlie]

Thanks for the response!
Being Good Friday today nothing is open, but I have just done a 100% water change.
I tried feeding him by hand before, he wasn't super interested.

My original aquarium told me to feed him every 4 days maximum so he was super skinny for a while.
I have now gotten him up to every other day, I tried every day but I think his stomach has shrunk a little so he isn't overly interested.

Fingers crossed I hope he's ok tonight and then I will get him fixed up tomorrow!

Thanks again

 

[jessiecharlie]

Poor little thing! Maybe you could pop him in the fridge for a while, and give him lots of wormies. I adopted one off my cousin because she couldn't keep him anymore, and he was in a fairly similar state actually. He had big eyes, bloated head, he was skinny and gills were in a bad shape. Though, she was keeping him on gravel so I thought maybe he had impaction when he died.
Hope your little one gets better quick!

Hi Hayleyy,

So did your sisters axie not pull through? :sad:
Oh I hope Barry does, fingers and toes crossed!

 

[FX1C]

Hi

I've been chatting with you via msg on Instagram.

Luckily shops are open tomorrow & if you need some help just PM me as I'm in sydney too & have loads of earthworms & live blackworms if you need to encourage him to eat. He is sooo skinny he needs to eat regularly to bulk up & put come chubba on.

Until you can test your tank water - please put him in a large tub if dechlorinated water (aged if possible & measure dechlorinator carefully) change this water daily 100% & wash out the tub every 2nd day to keep it super clean & fresh. Place him somewhere cool (thankful got the general temperature cooling off now for a while ) and keep him dark with a towel over him & quiet - offer food but remove if not eaten. Place a hide he's familiar with in with him or some floating plants if you have any.

His gills look like they've been dealing with high ammonia for a while & as I mentioned a zero reading on nitrate means your tank cycle has crashed quite substantially & the tank is very likely to be toxic.

Wishing you & Barry luck

Please don't hesitate to PM me & I'll give you my contact number - I'm already driving all over sydney tomorrow - what's another pitstop



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[Kerry M]

You said that you are using a capful of prime. Are you meaning Seachem Prime? If so, I am using that. 0.5ml carefully measured with a dropper with measurements into 20L. I then let it sit for at least an hour. You will need to test your water daily for a while. You will also need a nitrite test. Earthworms are the best food source for axolotls. The shops will be open so I'd suggest that you get them ASAP from Bunnings or you could get the Catchall Crawler worms from your local BCF store. Just remember to cut the worms into pieces no wider that your little one's head.

 

[Kerry M]

Nikki's is giving you awesome advice. I agree with everything that she says. Hopefully little Barry will feel better after you make his environment more comfortable for him.

 

[axolotl newbie]

I don't know if it will be of any help but I have just had issues with a swollen head:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...8-sick-axolotl/89785-urgent-swollen-head.html

It turned out to be an abscess which I can only assume she got from biting a plastic plant and scratching the inside of her mouth. Burrito couldn't eat because her mouth was so swollen and she was treated with antibiotics.
I don't think the issues are the same as Burrito's problems were more localised, but Barry's throat looks similar to how Burrito's was, and Burrito's eyes were also starting to buldge. Is there any way he could have damaged the inside of his mouth on anything? I suspect Burrito could have ended up very much worse as the infection could have spread throughout her whole system if left untreated.

I agree that the fridge is the best course of action until you can get him to a vet. Burrito was given an antibiotic injection every three days, and is now pretty much fully recovered.

What a horrible shock to come home to- and how typical that it has happened just before the Easter bank holidays. Wishing you the very best of luck with him x

 

[jessiecharlie]

Hi

I've been chatting with you via msg on Instagram.

Luckily shops are open tomorrow & if you need some help just PM me as I'm in sydney too & have loads of earthworms & live blackworms if you need to encourage him to eat. He is sooo skinny he needs to eat regularly to bulk up & put come chubba on.

Until you can test your tank water - please put him in a large tub if dechlorinated water (aged if possible & measure dechlorinator carefully) change this water daily 100% & wash out the tub every 2nd day to keep it super clean & fresh. Place him somewhere cool (thankful got the general temperature cooling off now for a while ) and keep him dark with a towel over him & quiet - offer food but remove if not eaten. Place a hide he's familiar with in with him or some floating plants if you have any.

His gills look like they've been dealing with high ammonia for a while & as I mentioned a zero reading on nitrate means your tank cycle has crashed quite substantially & the tank is very likely to be toxic.

Wishing you & Barry luck

Please don't hesitate to PM me & I'll give you my contact number - I'm already driving all over sydney tomorrow - what's another pitstop



<3 >o_o< <3

Hi Nikki,
Thanks so much for all of your help, I really appreciate it!
I headed to the aquarium today who were great, his ammonia level after the water change you recommended is now 0.
Also pointed out I am not measuring NiTRATE, I am measuring niTRITE which is why the reading is 0.
They advised if the nitrite and ammonia is 0 then the nitrate levels will be fine.

I got some frozen bloodworms for him from the aquarium but I wanted to come home to make sure he is ok before I head out to get him some blackworms.

He has a little bit of colour back in his gills today and is a little more responsive, which is good

Thanks again!

 

[jessiecharlie]

Nikki's is giving you awesome advice. I agree with everything that she says. Hopefully little Barry will feel better after you make his environment more comfortable for him.

You said that you are using a capful of prime. Are you meaning Seachem Prime? If so, I am using that. 0.5ml carefully measured with a dropper with measurements into 20L. I then let it sit for at least an hour. You will need to test your water daily for a while. You will also need a nitrite test. Earthworms are the best food source for axolotls. The shops will be open so I'd suggest that you get them ASAP from Bunnings or you could get the Catchall Crawler worms from your local BCF store. Just remember to cut the worms into pieces no wider that your little one's head.

Hi Kerry,

Yes I'm using seachem prime and stability.
I feel like I am destroying him the poor little thing.
Hopefully he makes a recovery!

I do have the nitrite test, I just had a moment and I have always read it as "nitrate" because I didn't actually know there is something called nitrite! So Nitrite is always at 0, and ammonia tester bought today is showing @ 0 as well.

Nikki has been amazing I am really lucky I happened upon her on instagram because I think Barry would not be around if she hadn't helped me!

Thanks for your advice

 

[Hayleyy]

Hi Hayleyy,

So did your sisters axie not pull through? :sad:
Oh I hope Barry does, fingers and toes crossed!

Nah, the little guy didn't But I think he was about 10 anyways, so he lived a great life I'm not sure what her water parameters were like, so I really have no idea what happened to him

 

[jessiecharlie]

I don't know if it will be of any help but I have just had issues with a swollen head:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...8-sick-axolotl/89785-urgent-swollen-head.html

It turned out to be an abscess which I can only assume she got from biting a plastic plant and scratching the inside of her mouth. Burrito couldn't eat because her mouth was so swollen and she was treated with antibiotics.
I don't think the issues are the same as Burrito's problems were more localised, but Barry's throat looks similar to how Burrito's was, and Burrito's eyes were also starting to buldge. Is there any way he could have damaged the inside of his mouth on anything? I suspect Burrito could have ended up very much worse as the infection could have spread throughout her whole system if left untreated.

I agree that the fridge is the best course of action until you can get him to a vet. Burrito was given an antibiotic injection every three days, and is now pretty much fully recovered.

What a horrible shock to come home to- and how typical that it has happened just before the Easter bank holidays. Wishing you the very best of luck with him x

Hi Anna,

Yes I read through yours last night, I'm very happy Burrito is making a speedy recovery!
That was the first one I read and I instantly went searching through but I can't think of anything that Barry could have even snapped at.

The aquarium agreed with Nikki, looks like ammonia burn on him.
Poor Barry I feel horrible for the little guy!

Thank you for your help

 

[Kerry M]

How is your little one going now?

 

[jessiecharlie]

Unfortunately Barry passed away tonight.
It's such a shame, his cheeky personality was really developing.

Thank you all for your advice and wishes x

 

[snuggly time]

Aww sorry to hear the bad news

 

[axolotl newbie]

Really sorry to hear that

 

[FX1C]

sorry to hear that Barry didn't make it.

RIP Barry - frolic in the cool worm filled
waters that flow under the rainbow bridge.



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[frogman]

very sorry to hear about your loss. RIP Barry

 

[Kerry M]

I'm sorry that little Barry passed. Just as Nikki said, he can now live peacefully in his rainbow hide. ?