Somethings eating OOPA's flesh... please help!

[fred]

A relative had left us with oopa about four months ago. at the time she was rather neglected and her gills had been eaten away by another axie. using this site as reference, we had brought her back to health and she was rather fat and happy as u can see in the first 2 pics until just this morning.

She was fine just two days ago when we were feeding her. we weren't able to see her at all yesterday but we checked on her this morning before work and found her like the pics above. we immediately put her in the fridge and bought aquarium salt and gave her a salt bath. we never had to do anything like this before so we're not sure wat to do. how long can we keep her in the fridge? how long and what concentration should the salt baths be? the salt bath seems to hurt her, or at least surprise her cuz she starts rolling as soon as we put the salt in. any help would be much appreciated. we didnt think possible but we have grown very attached to oopa in the last few months.

 

[kapo]

Saltbaths:

2-3 teaspoons of salt per litre of dechlorinated water, for 10-15minutes twice daily.

Do you have enough dechlorinated water in the fridge (separate bottle and/or container) that can be used for her saltbaths as well as daily waterchanges.

If you do, pour the chilled water in another container add the required salt, mix. Then add Oopa to the saltbath. Don't add the salt mix directly to her container she's currently in. Then when bath is finished transfer her back.

I've kept mine in the fridge for 2-3 weeks at various times during the past year.

Is there anything she could have scraped her tail on in the tank, or does she share with anything else that may have damaged her?
And have you tested your tankwater parameters = ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? Also her stomach looks like she has an odd lumpy shape unless its angle of shot - any chance she could have swallowed one of the smaller stones ?

 

[fred]

Thanks for the info Kapo.

We've been monitoring the water and also tested it after removing Oopa from the tank. Everything seems normal except the pH of the water was on the low side.

We also had been keeping trouble keeping the water cool. We noticed people on the forum using fans, so we may try that. Could water temp have done this?

So the tail looks like it had been scraped rather than something eating away at her flesh? It's possible she may have scrapped herself but i dunno how it could have been on both sides exactly on the opposite side. And her whole body looks as if its deteriorating. Her gills and veins were red but now looks dark purple and her whole body looks shriveled up.

You also mentioned swallowing stones; could that have caused something like this?

She also has a bottom feeder as a tankmate. They been together for about four months now and they dont seem to bother each other. The bottom feeder is very passive usually runs away from anything that moves. The bottom feeder seems fine but we have quarantined it for the moment.

We also boiled everything that was in the tank and sanitized everything we can.

We will keep doing the salt baths as per your directions and hope that we can see some improvements in the next couple days. We appreciate your help. Thank you again.

 

[fred]

Also, the fridge is about 4.5 degree celsius. Is that about right? We're not sure wat a safe level is.

 

[kapo]

Raise your temperature to 5 if you can. <blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>Quoting Fred n Lisa on Sunday 25 March 2007 - 18:33 (#POST125786):</font>

So the tail looks like it had been scraped rather than something eating away at her flesh? It's possible she may have scrapped herself but i dunno how it could have been on both sides exactly on the opposite side.<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote> Sorry, didn't realise it was both sides, must have been tired - middle of the night when I answered your thread. What is the bottom feeder could he have done any damage to her at all? This can happen, whether this was the case I don't know, but that's why it's usually advisable not to add other companions - fish have been known to nibble and suck at an axolotl (other than another axie).

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>Quoting Fred n Lisa on Sunday 25 March 2007 - 18:33 (#POST125786):</font>

You also mentioned swallowing stones; could that have caused something like this?
<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>Only mentioned the stones because of the lumpiness on the side of her stomach.

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>Quoting Fred n Lisa on Sunday 25 March 2007 - 18:33 (#POST125786):</font>

We also boiled everything that was in the tank and sanitized everything we can. <!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>
Was this prior to adding it to your tank or just recently when you realised something was wrong with Oopa

Can you raise your fridge temperature a bit to 5C?

axolotls can live in pH levels of 6.8-8.0.

Keeping her in the fridge will slow her metabolism down and hopefully give her a chance to recuperate.

Keep us posted

 

[fred]

I doubt the bottom feeder did this. He and Oopa tend to keep away from each other. He is very skittish. He won't even come out if we are in the room. When we used to give her feeder fish he would freak out and stay in his cave for days. We haven't used live fish ever since we read they may carry diseases though.

Also i doubt he could injure her like this, on both sides and all. Also her wounds on her tail and middle are these dark patches and the end of her tail and the fin are sort of a yellowed color and she is all shriveled up.

We usually clean her tank pretty well abt. once a week, but as soon as we realized she was sick we boiled and sanitized everything in there.

We also raised the temp in our fridge this morning. She does seem a little better, happier, than yesterday. She is still in bad shape. I wish we could figure out exactly what is wrong.

 

[fred]

Oopa's finger tips have turned dark while she was in the fridge. we dunno if it is because she is in the fridge or because she reached sexual maturity. Is there any symptoms where the finger tips get dark, besides sexual maturity?

 

[kapo]

Yes our fridge temp is about 5-6 and our axies tips get darker/greyer looking, whereas the dark wildtypes tips get whiter/light greyer looking - so assume its cold slowing their body temp.

 

[fred]

Thanx Kapo, you've been a big help. one other question; how do we transfer from fridge to tank? does the temp change need to be gradual or can we just put her back in straight from the fridge?

 

[fred]

Hey guys,
I think Oopa is getting sicker. She is unresponsive now and has quit eating. Her eyes are all sunk in and the membrane around her tail has completely receded. Her whole body is shriveled and stiff and is a yellowish colour. Also, her gills have shrunk and the filaments are only white fuzz. Can't tell if it is fungus or just turned white, but she wasn't like this when she first went into the fridge. The tip of her tail is bent as well. Any other recommendations on how to help her?

Also thinking of using a fungus tablet. Two of the active ingredients are considered safe for axolotls but the third ingredient, "nitrofurazone" was not mentioned in the health page. Anyone know if this is safe for Oopa?

 

[fred]

Oopa seems to be getting worse in the fridge. I've read that some people's axolotls have gotten better when taken out of the fridge. The relative who owned Oopa previously said she had had a broken arm before and never put her in a fridge or anything, but just let her heal on her own and it healed fine. We also nursed her back to health from when we had her before in her tank. Would it be advisable to take her out of the fridge and let her try to heal on her own?

I'm just afraid w/ her not eating she won't last much longer; the cold seems to almost paralize her.

Also, would anyone know if it would be safe to use the fungus tablets w/ the nitrofurazone? All other ingredients were considered safe for axolotls, but we weren't sure w/ this one.

 

[shelly]

im really sorry about how sick she is. i love the picture of her 'smiling' though and i hope she picks up. dont know about the tablets though sorry