Super sick Axolotls, already lost one desperate to save the other

[lQdALPHA]

Hi all! i URGENTLY NEED HELP
I had 2 golden girl Axolotls, Angel and Bella which i got from a pet shop about a year ago, they are probably 1-1.5 yrs old (18cm) and who were from the same clutch of eggs. Since Christmas time i noticed they began to eat less and their colour slowly darkened. a month after i purchased a juvenile white with blue eyes and put in the tank but with a divider so they were separated. i have a 120L tank with drift wood and afew live plants. Originally i had gravel (was reccomended) but removed recently. About a month ago both of my golden girls took a turn for the worst. Bella stopped eating altogether and became nothing but skin and bones; her colouring was darker and red-ish and she started to look hard almost. 3 weeks ago i rushed my two girls to a large petshop (largest in my state who specialise in breeding and treating axolotls) to try save them. Sadly Bella never improved and passed away. After being at the pet shop for 4 days i took Angel home who had started to improve and was feeding her dried black worm pieces afew times a day (placed her in a 50L tank with 27L of water in it i had set up with a clear bottom with an air stone a small filter and her favourite drift wood piece AND put my young white axie (whose very healthy and happy) in with her -they got on well-cuddling ) Her colouring improved alot and she was more responsive and active. However 4 days ago within afew hours her colouring went very dark and she has refused food since then. shes become painfully skinny, gills became smaller and sometimes when tries to swim she rolls over as shes so weak.

Food i have tried in the past few months: various axolotl frozen foods, dried and live black worms, frozen blood worms, earth worms, mealworms and live fish (ones that dont bite the axies)

Tank: 120L which i do a 15% ish water change every 2-3 weeks- had gravel but now sand. tho her current smaller tank is clear bottomed & usually sits at about 19 degrees Celsius

Water testing: i have a recent water testing kit which i test the water every 2 weeks. tho atm im testing her small tank almost every day. her ph, ammonia, nitrate and nitrite are all optimal

Treatments: everywhere i went noone had anything to help besides MELAFIX- liquid for aquarium fish-antibacterial remedy

I really need help, every petshop or person I've spoken to cannot offer my any further suggestions or advice - we all believe that mayb her and her sister were breed badly or something as Angel wasnt well when i had gotten her originally. I'm preparing to fridge her using methods i found on this site however im scared too as she is so sickly and weak : (
Pictures: her before when she was fat and healthy and a picture of her 2 days ago

Please >_< Angel is very precious to me and im so afraid to loose her and she could pass on any time

 

[mackinthebox]

I would suggest finding an exotic animal vet as soon as possible
since you had gravel there is a risk of impaction
has she pooped at all? when was the last time she pooped?
I would immediately stop the use of Melafix, this does not look bacterial in nature and Melafix can be harmful to axolotls if too much is used, it is readily absorbed through their skin and can affect their liver

what are your water parameters? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, PH?

 

[lQdALPHA]

Afew months ago after i had gotten her i had seeked out a specialist vet but there was very few and the one i actually found he doesn't work every day and is very far away from where i live
Ph: 7.4 ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm and nitrate sat at about 10ppm <-- organic matter
the melafix i hate but i am so desperate
i used about 2ml yesterdya and another 2ml today for the 27L of water they are sitting in currently.
i was only told to use it for 2 days then change water after a week.
I know from previous research that the true effect on the axie was unknow aka potential to be harmful but according to the person who trested her the other week it was the only thing that had helped

 

[mackinthebox]

yeah i dont have any source of info other than this site for the melafix, but from what I read its not suggested
maybe someone in your part of the world will see this and can recommend a vet
your water seems fine so im not sure what would be causing this

 

[Boomsloth]

Do a water change. Melafix is mild anitbiotic and sometimes doesn't even work on fish. It is oil based and can really mess with amphibians skin. Since you don't know what your axolotl is suffering from don't use melafix. Try to use indian almond leaves to soothe her until you find a vet. The fact that they got sick after you introduced the new axolotl suggests that it might have been carrying some disease that your goldens were not resistant too. Everything I find online suggest it can be anything an only testing done by a vet can confirm. You need to find a vet ASAP because everything that could be causing this requires different treatments and if given the wrong one can make it worse.

 

[lQdALPHA]

AHH sorry if i wasn't clear but they started showing signs of sickness before i got the juvenile and ok i'll try contact that vet again and see if i can get an urgent appointment

 

[Boomsloth]

AHH sorry if i wasn't clear but they started showing signs of sickness before i got the juvenile and ok i'll try contact that vet again and see if i can get an urgent appointment

Are your axolotls still together? since now two of yours have gotten ill its more likely its spreading and the new one might also get sick.

 

[lQdALPHA]

Yes they were still together as some people i had originally spoke too said it was most likely something the mother had passed onto my two golds and thereby wouldn't be passed on but now im unsure so im about to move my juvenile back into my 120L main tank

 

[leandrah]

Try scallops
Axolotls LOVE them, it might help with getting him to pick up some weight

 

[lQdALPHA]

Found a vet!
they are booked out but the receptionist felt bad so is going to make the exotic vet fit me in tomorrow!!
im literally crying as i feel i have a genuine chance to save her now!! :,)))
thankyou all so much tho <3

 

[leandrah]

Please let us know what they say just in case we are ever in the same position

YAY there is hope

 

[mackinthebox]

Found a vet!
they are booked out but the receptionist felt bad so is going to make the exotic vet fit me in tomorrow!!
im literally crying as i feel i have a genuine chance to save her now!! :,)))
thankyou all so much tho <3

thats great news
I hope they figure it out
Let us know what you find out

 

[lQdALPHA]

I will 100% post what they say! Or if they give any advice or anything

 

[HayleyK]

Same vets I told you about? Please let me know how it goes and how knowledgable they are

 

[lQdALPHA]

I don't think so- there page wouldn't load for me and wasn't sure if it was a 24/7 vet :s
I had actually forgotten until tonight but there was an axie vet i had been emailing months ago and they had a 24/7 emergency line so i called it.
the exotic vet who deals with axies isnt in until 8:30am tomorrow so approx 11 hours from now? and said they are completely booked out but that my axies conditioned sounded so serious that they'd make sure i 100% get in to see the vet tomorrow
SERV - Sydney Exotics + Rabbit Vets this is the vet-if they don't confirm a time by 8:30am like they said then i'll be 100% calling the vet you suggested

 

[HayleyK]

Thanks for the link - good to know there is more than one around me! Good luck

 

[lQdALPHA]

thanks again <3 And this pic is of my girls when they were healthy Angel swimming over/into Bella

 

[kjnorman]

I hope they are able to help you and your poor little girl. Mystery illnesses are always the worst.

 

[lQdALPHA]

Ok saw the vet.
After looking, weighing and doing a skin test - it seems we have found out part of the issue!
She has really bad parasites on her skin and mayb internally- seems i must of got it from her feeder fish early this year? however the fact that her condition worsened so fast means there is most likely another issue with her.
First -every day for the next week i have been told to give her a strong salt bath:
5g of salt per 1 L of water and keep her in for 30 minutes. (if it agitates her then i skip the next day bath or just shorten the bath times for the rest of the week)

Since i had a juvenile in with her and even tho it isn't showing any signs i was told to give it one bath today and one more in a week just to be safe

In a week i am to call back the vet and tell her how Angel is going- it is predicted that i'll have to go in and get an antibiotic injection for her to hopefully fix any other underlying sickness. Also when i am to go back in i will most likely be requested to take in Bella's body to be examined- the axolotl that died over a week ago- we had bagged and frozen her body and kept it in a spare freezer as we thought we would of been burring both my girls together x_x lucky this doesn't seem to be the case anymore!

With Angel not eating - the vet thinks a large part of this is the parasites -making her not feel well. SO i am praying that mayb tonight or tomorrow she'll be feeling up to having something to eat!

Also incase i hadn't added yet- i did seperate my juvenile and Angel last night. my juvie is in the large tank making the cutest footprints on the sand bottom #>_<#! and Angel is in her small separate tank with no bottom, filter, airstone(as she's still very weak) and her favourite driftwood plant.

 

[leandrah]

Well that's positive. I'm glad that your little one is going to be fine. Please keep us updated with how the salt baths help. Good luck