Rescued 3 axolotls from pet shop - hoping for some help on their care/treatment

[tiggerific]

As the subject says, I rescued 3 young axolotls from the local pet store (they gave them to me for free).

They don't look very healthy
They are extremely skinny and their gills are almost down to nubs.

The shop said they were in a bad way when they first got them, and had trouble getting them to eat. They were feeding them cut up prawns, cut up fish and had live neons swimming around for them to feed on.

I was told that they had started eating again, but I'm not sure how true that is (different stories from different people at the shop).

I don't know if they have any kind of parasites or anything so I definitely wasn't going to put them in my tank with my 4 axies (now just over a year old). I've also just about finished with raising/selling almost 100 juveniles (which is why I was in the pet shop anyway).

I was relieved that I could go back to just having 2 large tanks to worry about now and not having to do lots of small tanks and daily water changes! Then my daughter asked about the pet store axies.

So now I have these guys and I'm wondering if I can care for them/treat them in a similar fashion to the juveniles. I have tried feeding them bloodworm and live worm since I bought them home, but as yet they haven't been interested.

Will I be able to manage these young ones (probably somewhere between 4 and 6 months old) by doing 100% daily water changes with aged/dechlorinated water?

I'm going to try the black tea treatment as well to see if that improves their condition at all. I don't really want to fridge them unless the experts here think it's necessary.

I'm attaching some photos of the 3 skinny guys - help on here is always appreciated

 

[rachel1]

Poor babies! I would treat them exactly like the juvies, with frequent small meals and daily water changes. Fridging will slow down their metabolism and discourage eating, so I don't think that's a good idea unless they get sick. I would offer constant access to live blackworms, as they are high in fat and the movement might stimulate a feeding response. It is normal for a starved animal to eat very small quantities at first, so keep at it and don't get discouraged.

 

[Bette]

You've gotten some good advice. Please keep us updated on their progress. :happy:

 

[LSuzuki]

Here is a thread from last year, in case there is any info of use to you. WARNING! GRAPHIC PICTURES. But it has a happy ending. http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...s-need-some-advice-please-graphic-photos.html

I am wondering if there is a parasitic infection or something. They were being fed, just not eating. If you can get a stool sample (not easy if they area seldom eating), perhaps you can bring it to a vet to find out.

When my axies were sick (with a protozoa infection) and not eating (and getting skinny), the best way I found to get something in them was to drop it so it fell right in front of their noses. They would instinctively snap at it sometimes, and sometimes not spit it out.

 

[tiggerific]

Thanks all for your advice.

It's been nearly 24 hours and although they aren't eating live worms or bloodworm that is dropped or dangled in front of them, one of them at least is snapping at the neons (I decided to add them as I figured this is what they are used to and might stimulate them). He hasn't caught any yet.

So, although still not eating well, they do seem more stabilised and not agitated. One of them was a constant swimmer at the shop and hardly even stopped for a rest, just back and forth and looked really stressed. They do look calmer.

I have at least one floater, and the others do take gulps of air often. I imagine this is also to do with the poor state of their gills.

As they were supposedly fed (and ate) cut up prawns at the shop, I might try some of those as well to see if they will take them. I also have some mussels and pellets around so can try a variety of foods to see if there are any they are more interested in than others.

I like the suggestion of the live black worms, but even with the blood worms being wiggled around in front of them, they didn't give them a second glance, so my guess is they'll ignore those too. Maybe it's the size - they're used to a bigger meal?

Anyway, I will keep at it, doing water changes with black tea just for the moment, and trying to feed them. You're right about the poop - there really isn't any yet!

Thanks all for your advice, and the link to the previous thread. I will post some updated pics in a couple of days to see if there has been any improvement.

 

[tiggerific]

This is frustrating - can't seem to get them to actually eat ANYthing.

There was one poop! It looked like a strange poop to me but that might just be to do with their previous diet. My axies are mostly fed on earthworms and bloodworm so I'm used to a very dark brown, almost black, poop. This one was really light, like a bone colour, and I thought it was a piece of gravel at first.

Tell me that's normal for axies that don't eat worms (neons, prawns and other fish seem to have been their staple diet).

Could they be impacted? I assumed a swollen gut, but I could be wrong. I'll look up the threads relating to that just to be sure.

 

[LSuzuki]

I suggest you get that poop to a vet. It would be good to eliminate one cause of their lack of appetite. :happy:

I don't know what kind of poops you get from other diets. Hopefully someone here does.

 

[leandrah]

Axolotls love Scallops - you can try those and see if they take some

 

[officerPuckles]

Have you tried separating them so they are away from one another? Maybe they don't want to eat next to eachother. My axolotls were like when I first integrated my Melanoid, I had to take Puckles out of the tank and into tupperware to feed her.
I feed Brent and Puckles dehydrated shrimp when they are down in the gills and they eat them up like CANDY. But if these guys are used to live food then maybe try getting feeder fishies and holding the fish by the tail in front of their mouths. That way they are squirming and your Lotls will notice they are alive, but having a grip on them means they can't swim away. Cause if your one guy who is snapping at neons can't get a hold of them because he is so tired and malnourished it might just be frustrating and stressing him even more.
Can't wait to hear more updates on these guys! Love seeing people put time and commitment into saving some lives!

 

[tiggerific]

Thanks again guys.

Just a bit of an update - we are making progress :happy:

Out of the three axies, Ollie is the skinniest and he managed to eat a live earthworm and a neon today (I was able to hold the little sucker in front of him for a while!) He attempted to pick up and eat another live worm off the tank floor and played around with it for a while before spitting it back out. But that's ok, he's eaten a lot for one meal.

Sharky is the healthiest (fattest) looking out of all of them and she ate a live worm last night and a neon today. Also when I woke up this morning, 2 neons were gone before I attempted feeding them - and there were 2 poops! One was that weird light colour and one really long poop was more of the colour I'm used to seeing.

So now the only one I haven't seen eat (with my own eyes) is Rambo (the middle child). I have waved all kinds of things in front of him with no success, and my guess is that he is not one of the axies that ate the neons. This guy has a bit of a "faraway" stare and doesn't take notice of the food. The others tend to at least turn their heads a little now as if interested.

Rambo's eyes appear strange to me - somewhere between a melanoid and wildtype, so he appears to have a mucusy ring around them. He's also the most often floating one. I'm attaching a pic of Rambo floating with his eyes in good view (well, one of them anyway). Maybe it's a fungus?

Ollie has a bit of a floaty bum sometimes but usually keeps the rest of himself under water, but Rambo seems to want to be at the top of the tank.

Overall, they seem to be much less stressed than they were at the shop. I'm keeping their tank mostly covered to keep out the daylight and I think that helps them stay calm as well.