Sick looking axolotl

[Sluggy]

Hi folks,

Seeking pro advice as Edgar the axolotl has been exhibiting some unusual behavior, and also looks weird. He is clearly not the happy camper he used to be.

1) He hasn't eaten in days. Edgar is a big boy (30 cm, about a foot long) and his staple food is special "axolotl pellets", I give him a piece of shrimp or a sliver of cooked beef once in a while for variety.

2) Comes up for air a lot, then sinks back to the bottom of the tank. Ive noticed he's blowing out air bubbles more often than he's ever done before. The water is pretty cool so "Warm water stress" it isn't.

3) His head looks REALLY SWOLLEN and his mouth is open all the time. He completely neglects any food that floats down right in front of his mouth. No response at all.
Swallowing pebbles can pretty much be ruled out as there are no pebbles or "bite sized" stones in the tank at all, no gravel. The bottom of the tank is covered with fine sand-like stuff. I don't think the plaster base of one of the decorative plastic plants has come off and that he ate that but it cannot be ruled out. Also I don't think one of the filter/pump suction cups came off and got eaten. However, there seems to be something physical inside his mouth that prevents him from eating and it's BIG. His "adam's apple" is really round and upper jaws protrude.
I'm guessing, but this is just a shot in the dark, that he's suffering from some fungal infection in his mouth.

4) One of his gills had a small, funky, brown, fuzzy looking tip. I thought it was some poop or something. When I gave him a 10 min. salt bath, gently wiping that gunk off his gill with a Q-tip visibly caused him distress and seemed to be painful, even. There was a small drop of blood, even, when the whole gill tip came off. Other than that he didn't mind being handled and washed.

5) I gave the 80 liter tank an 80 % water change to be on the safe side.

Question : is it possible to force open his mouth and peek in there to see if anything is lodged in there ? How do I do this without hurting him ? If so, if anything happens to be stuck in there, how do I remove it ?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[Charlotl]

If you can pictures would be very helpful to those who know more about these things than me. If you don't think there is a chance that anything large was swallowed it sounds more like it would be an infection causing swelling of his mouth. As far as I know fungus is stringy and would come off pretty easily. If it is an infection, he will need to see a vet for antibiotics.

When the gill tip came off was he in the salt water? Salt in wounds burns pretty badly so he was probably reacting to that if it is the case.

 

[Skudo09]

Do you have access to a vet? A swollen throat could potentially be a form of boost which can be caused by bacterial infection or organ failure (more likely infection) or an oral infection such as stomatitis. He may need antibiotic treatment.

 

[Skudo09]

Sorry, I meant a form of bloat rather than boost (darn autocorrect)

 

[Sluggy]

Thanks for the response, guys.

Forum user Kori with a K, describes identical symptoms here :

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...-axolotl/76158-axolotl-911-head-swelling.html

I'm inclined to think supersaturation of the water may well be a correct observation and cause of Edgars deteriorating health.

"Supersaturation" means there is more of some substance in the water than than that water can dissolve. It's basically the same as putting 30 sugarcubes in your tea. You will still see sugar on the bottom of your cup that will not dissolve no matter how well you stir it.

But it's also possible for water to be supersaturated with invisible gases rather than solids.
Gases like oxygen, or what I'm most afraid of in this case, ammonia, which is REAL BAD NEWS. Ammonia is caustic, toxic.AND poisonous.

More on supersaturation here :
Gas Bubble Disease - Betta Late Than Never Rescue

Edgar's coming up for air may well be explained by ammonia spikes in his tank before the 80% water change yesterday. I also noticed he liked to hang out under the filter and right by the airstone / bubbler. Maybe he just couldn't breathe.

I'm going to put Edgar in the fridge today, for a couple of days,and hopefully he'll bounce back. Meanwhile I'll change the sand in his tank and do some meticulous testing.
He was fine about 3 days ago, so hopefully it's not too late.
His head looks really grotesque, I mean it's HUGE. And he has developed what looks like an underbite. His mouth is open all the time. He scuttles back and forth a bit so he's not completely catatonic, but mostly sticks his head in the corner or in his flower pots.

 

[Skudo09]

Not to doubt that your theory could be a possibility, but I don't think you should rule out possible infection. I would strongly advise seeking veterinary attention urgently. I would not wait as the condition could deteriorate rapidly without treatment if it is an infection. I would start calling vets in your area to see if they can see Edgar asap.

 

[Sluggy]

Yr. right,
I sent an email to a vet here in the Netherlands (who is specialized in reptiles and amphibians) explaining the problem, and asked for advice.
Thx

 

[Sluggy]

Edgar's gills are pointed forward like the letter 'C' and I just noticed red spots on his tail,

These symptoms clearly indicate stress.

 

[Charlotl]

If you are concerned that the water is supersaturated with ammonia test it before doing a water change to check for it. If you don't have a liquid testing kit for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates, I highly suggest getting one as they are very useful. I second Skudo09's notion to see a vet ASAP to rule out infection. If it does end up being infection it is generally easy to treat but only if done sooner rather than later.

 

[Skudo09]

Could you post some photos? The red spots could be another sign of infection. Have you had any luck getting to a vet?

 

[Sluggy]

Okay, I've communicated with a vet who is one of the few specialist on reptiles and amphibians in this country.

She says that in most cases, Edgar's symptoms would be explained by bad water quality, and / or insufficient nutrition, meaning the diet is incomplete is unbalanced, and lacks certain vitamins and minerals.

My axie eats mostly "axolotl pellets" that are supposed to provide balanced nutrition but for all I know these pellets may well have been food for pond fish like Koi and sold as "axolotl pellets".

The vet said koi pellets are probably still okay, as long as it's not reptile food, which contain mostly insects that provide insufficient nutrition and cannot be digested.

Since the vet is on vacation right now (it was kind of her to get back to me ASAP) she can't really prescribe any medications but said Edgar should be administered an antibioticum called BAYTRIL for seven consecutive days. 5 mg per kg bodyweight.

My local vet is closed on sundays, but first thing on monday I'll heading overthere to see if they will give me some Baytril.

From what I read this stuff does not dissolve in water, so we'll have to inject Edgar with it.

Hopefully my little buddy hangs in there until then. He's visibly stressed but "chilling" as we speak.

Hope this info will be useful to others who may encounter similar problems with their axies in the future.

Thanks all for your input.

 

[Skudo09]

Have you tested the parameters for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH? Is your tank cycled?

I would cut out the beef heart as this is an unnatural food for axolotls and is lacking nutrition wise and may be difficult to digest. Earthworms are a nutritious option and make a good staple food. Just make sure you get the worms from a source free of chemicals such as pesticides or fertilisers.

 

[Sluggy]

Update :

I've communicated with the reptile/amphibian specialist vet, and she suggested administering stuff called BAYTRIL. This is an antibioticum.

Now in this country, doctors and also vets are EXTREMELY conservative and cautious when it comes to antibiotics.This is for good reasons, They will give only the right kind, in the right doses to combat a specific pathogen. But ONLY with a doctor's prescription,

Unfortunately the specialist vet is on vacation in Aruba, and can't prescribe anything.

And just what I was afraid of : my local vet won't give me the Baytril without a prescription. It's the law. They also can't diagnose themselves because they know nothing about axolotls. They did however forward me to another vet clinic which also treats "exotic animals". Now we're losing precious time.

After a 20 mins phone consultation the other vet agreed to sell me a medicine called ENROFLOXORAL. To my knowledge this is the same stuff as BAYTRIL.

Edgar the axolotl just had his first 0,2 mg dose, but boy his condition has deteriorated a LOT over the past 48 hours. He looks barely alive and his head has swollen to absolutely GROTESQUE proportions. His head looks like it's about to BURST.
He is looking LOW ON THE SCALE.

Hopefully the cure kicks in quickly, and he'll make it. Fingers crossed.

 

[Sluggy]

Another update.

I'm afraid Edgar has expired. He's completely unresponsive, no gills flicking, and I'm positive he's gone.

Now as crazy as this may sound, my girlfriend thinks he's NOT dead. She contacted the specialist vet, she says the following, which I hope may be useful to other axie owners in the future :

his gills are more pale than usual but he is still pink and appears to have blood and oxygen circulating. otherwise he would be white. the translucent flesh would turn milky and opaque and he would be devoid of color. this generally happens fairly quickly. i've been doing research for hours because there's no emergency vet and the only thing i can do is call the exotics vet in the morning. something has changed though, he's now got red blotches on his face, and his legs appear to be redder than before. it is quite possible that he has developed Aeromonas hydrophila "known as "red leg" bacteria, which is one the most common diseases that axolotls can suffer. It is septicemic, i.e. it can be widespread in the body because it is carried by the blood. Common symptoms are red patches on the limbs and parts of the body." if this is the case, it stems from there being a multitude of other problems and is essentially a death sentence. euthanasia is generally recommended.

in addition to all of the above, apparently axolotls like to play dead. i've read several accounts in the axolotl forums where people believed their axie died, went to bury them, and then they started moving again. tony is sure that edgar is dead, but he's thought that off-and-on for the last 3 days. i'm fairly certain he's not. i know this makes me seem crazy, but i assure you this isn't some wacky form of denial or wishful thinking. he just isn't showing the typical signs of being dead. i even looked up pictures of dead axies, and they don't look how edgar looks. axolotls really are amazing little creatures. when my dog died, i knew. when my cat died, i knew. there was no question. with this little guy, i honestly am not so sure. if he is alive, (i say 'if' to sound only slightly less crazy) i just hope he's not in pain. i also think that if he is alive, he's ultimately not going to make it through this. he's most likely too far gone and it's just a matter of time. provided he's not floating belly up in the morning, i'm going to give him his second dose of antibiotics and call the doctor. that's about all i can do.



In addition :


well, at least I'm not crazy. I emailed current pictures to the vet this morning (after giving edgar his medication) and just got off the phone with the specialist. she said it is very difficult to tell if an axolotl has died because they do all sorts of weird things. she said to wait it out a bit. she also said if we wanted to make sure and/or have him euthanized, the specialist is there today.