kaynels
New member
Hello all, hoping to get some advice on my lotl, Preguntas, whose been a bit under the weather the past few days. I'm not a new aquarist but am new to salamanders, and I've been getting very little sleep trying to make sure they'll be okay. I'm not really sure what normal axolotl behavior is, or what I should be concerned about.
My top concerns relate to constipation, they haven't pooped in ~5 days now and seem a little uncomfortable, and within 12 hrs they suddenly developed red/bloody gill filaments at the tips of their gills.
Background: Preguntas is an unsexed 6mo old, 8in long dirty leucistic axolotl who came from a reputable breeder in healthy condition. I've never had any health issues with them before, they've always been a voracious eater and are very active. I spent 3 months doing fishless ammonia cycling for my 29g tank. It is full of live plants and has pothos cuttings + a peace lily for nitrates. Very fine sand substrate, only large rocks, always below 66 degrees. Stocked with ~8 ghost shrimp & 15 red cherry shrimp, no other axolotl. I feed a diet of primarily earthworms, with pellets about 1 every 3 days, and occasional blackworms.
Here's a timetable of what's been going on:
4/4: Last confirmed poop
4/6: Sudden vomiting & lethargy for ~24 hrs. Some slight thrashing & kicking at gills. Tested parameters, nitrate spike!
[7.8, 0, 0, 100] Did a 90% WC to reduce nitrates. After WC, [7.6, .50, 0, 20]. There is some ammonia present in my tap, added extra prime to neutralize.
4/7: Starting to move a little, ate a few pellets but vomited them up after ~3 hrs. Parameters same. Starting to see light signs of constipation. Their cloaca is slightly enlarged and their rear half floats sometimes, but doesn't make them go to the top or seem to stress them out much. They are usually able to keep all 4 feet on the ground but are light on their toes.
4/8: [7.6, .25, .25, 30] Activity levels are much better, they are actively scavenging and caught a RCS. Eager to eat today - I give them 2 pellets and a few small pieces of frozen wild caught salmon to see if the fats could help move their digestion along. Keeps all food down, no vomiting! Back legs often stretched out in constipation stance. Added a new stone to their tank. Skip WC today as to not stress them. Notice some red gill filaments on one gill tip around 2am.
4/9: [7.6, .25, .25, 30] Activity levels great, very responsive and excited to eat. Ate ~2/5 an earthworm and some pellets. But, the red/bloody gill filaments are now on 3 of their gill tips! They aren't scratching at them and don't really seem bothered at all. I remove the rock I added yesterday in case they were rubbing up on it weird or something. I'll be making a 50% WC today.
So my questions are: what is happening with their gills, and do I need to take action beyond a water change? Could it be a residual effect of the nitrate spike? And should I be concerned yet about the constipation - and if not, when should I be? I'd like to save fridging as a last resort. They seem active and not terribly bothered yet, so I'm not ready to jump to that yet.
Thank you so much!
My top concerns relate to constipation, they haven't pooped in ~5 days now and seem a little uncomfortable, and within 12 hrs they suddenly developed red/bloody gill filaments at the tips of their gills.
Background: Preguntas is an unsexed 6mo old, 8in long dirty leucistic axolotl who came from a reputable breeder in healthy condition. I've never had any health issues with them before, they've always been a voracious eater and are very active. I spent 3 months doing fishless ammonia cycling for my 29g tank. It is full of live plants and has pothos cuttings + a peace lily for nitrates. Very fine sand substrate, only large rocks, always below 66 degrees. Stocked with ~8 ghost shrimp & 15 red cherry shrimp, no other axolotl. I feed a diet of primarily earthworms, with pellets about 1 every 3 days, and occasional blackworms.
Here's a timetable of what's been going on:
4/4: Last confirmed poop
4/6: Sudden vomiting & lethargy for ~24 hrs. Some slight thrashing & kicking at gills. Tested parameters, nitrate spike!
[7.8, 0, 0, 100] Did a 90% WC to reduce nitrates. After WC, [7.6, .50, 0, 20]. There is some ammonia present in my tap, added extra prime to neutralize.
4/7: Starting to move a little, ate a few pellets but vomited them up after ~3 hrs. Parameters same. Starting to see light signs of constipation. Their cloaca is slightly enlarged and their rear half floats sometimes, but doesn't make them go to the top or seem to stress them out much. They are usually able to keep all 4 feet on the ground but are light on their toes.
4/8: [7.6, .25, .25, 30] Activity levels are much better, they are actively scavenging and caught a RCS. Eager to eat today - I give them 2 pellets and a few small pieces of frozen wild caught salmon to see if the fats could help move their digestion along. Keeps all food down, no vomiting! Back legs often stretched out in constipation stance. Added a new stone to their tank. Skip WC today as to not stress them. Notice some red gill filaments on one gill tip around 2am.
4/9: [7.6, .25, .25, 30] Activity levels great, very responsive and excited to eat. Ate ~2/5 an earthworm and some pellets. But, the red/bloody gill filaments are now on 3 of their gill tips! They aren't scratching at them and don't really seem bothered at all. I remove the rock I added yesterday in case they were rubbing up on it weird or something. I'll be making a 50% WC today.
So my questions are: what is happening with their gills, and do I need to take action beyond a water change? Could it be a residual effect of the nitrate spike? And should I be concerned yet about the constipation - and if not, when should I be? I'd like to save fridging as a last resort. They seem active and not terribly bothered yet, so I'm not ready to jump to that yet.
Thank you so much!
It was so large and round that I was sure they'd just prolapsed, but nope, just the answer to all my lotl problems! Case closed 