Illness/Sickness: Swollen legs

[Coffeegirl]

My female Axolotl'a legs are swollen, red and her toes are white. Her tail is erect too. The males are fine .
Any idea what is wrong with her and what I can do for her?
Thanks

 

[layna]

Hey
What are the water parameters and do you have a piccy?

 

[Coffeegirl]

Hi Layna ,
I can't attach the pic to this post but I put one in my profile album. She is not as red this morning. Water is a wee bit high in ph so I have done a partial water change. And temp is 21 degrees.
I think it might be stress?
Should I seek a vet or try fridging? Not done that before

Any help us appreciated :happy:

 

[layna]

You need to try and cool the water down, try some ice bottles or pointing a fan at the waters surface

 

[Elise]

Here is coffeegirl's image to make it easier for everyone:

I have never seen a tail like that or toes with those conical deformations. This thread would probably interest a lot of the experts here.

 

[Coffeegirl]

Thanks Elise.

 

[layna]

That is very strange, theyre short and swollen, whats underneath her tail, all the white stuff, does it brush off?

What substrate is that?

Cooling down is the first thing we need to do because a lot of problems are due to heat
What are the exact readings for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph?
She doesnt look great and a trip to the vets may be in order if no one has a solution for you.

 

[Coffeegirl]

Temp is down to 18 pH is 7, ammonia 0, Nitrite is 0 and Nitrate is about 40.
The substrate is aquatic sand.

The white spots on her tail look like the same texture a her toes, they dont brush off. It looks fungal or ulcerated.

She had gone a bit pink on Wednesday and I thought maybe he was pregnant. Friday morning her feet were a wee bit red and her gills darker red than normal, then last night this white on her toes and tail appeared.

The 2 males have no symptoms, and their behaviour has not been affected.

I will call my vet and see if they can see her.

Should I try fridging her meantime?

 

[layna]

Its not recommended to fridge an axie for a day or two then take them out ect,as the temp changes can make them worse.
Have you tried salt baths, because imo the tail looks like it could be fungal, but get a second opinion first.

At 40ppm its pushing the higher ends of nitrate levels so a 20% water change wouldnt be harmful for them

 

[Coffeegirl]

An update:
Have given Medusa a 2nd salt bath and she seems to be a wee bit better. Her tail is more horizontal and she is moving about a bit more. White swelling is still there. It actually looks like her flesh on her toes is dying! Still not eating but showing some interest in the food.

 

[Kaysie]

I would get to the vet ASAP. With necrotic flesh and edema, it's probably a systemic infection that will need to be treated aggressively.

 

[Alkylhalide]

I would agree with kaysie. This does not look like a normal fungal infection or water quality issue. If she is not out of the tank yet i would definately be removing er and putting her in a tub of dechlorinated water doing 100% water changes and try to get a vet appt immediately. If its a bacterial or viral infection you dont want to spread it.

 

[snuggly time]

My axies leg swelled up when he had an infection. Salt baths are good but I'd agree you need to see a vet too,

 

[zombieaddict]

I don't have much advice to offer here other than get her to the vet like the others suggested. But I wish you good luck with your girlie. Tail bend and swollen toes aside, she looks like a beautiful girl. I hope the vet is able to help.

 

[Coffeegirl]

Thanks all. Medusa is in the fridge and have a vet appt tomorrow. Hope they can help. She seems better in the fridge although her toes are definitely necrotic :-( Her tail is much better and her demeanour is better too. I'm worried sick but feeling positive.

Thank you for all your advice


The 2 males Stheno and Euryale are showing no symptoms which is a good sign, I hope.

I will update tomorrow when I have been to the vet.

 

[Dipsy66]

All crossed for you here......

 

[smiley1996]

Atleast your doing the right thing ... goodluck tomorrow hope all goes well for you and your beauty!

Every animal has the right to be loved...

 

[Coffeegirl]

Aeromonas Veronii

Just heard back from the vet about my Medusa, who I posted about a few weeks ago.
To fill you in, her body turned pink and her tail erect. Her legs became swollen. Within a couple of days her toes started to disintegrate, and the bones were visible and dissolving too. The vets, including an exotics specialist had no idea what was causing it. She was treated with antibiotics but had to be put to sleep when her underbelly became ulcerated.

It only took 4 days for her to go from her toes turning white to her death.

I asked for a post mortem and for lab tests to be done, in case my other axies got sick.

Vet has called and it was a bacteria called Aeromonas Veronii. It is water borne and is resistant to 4 antibiotics including Baytril, which is used for aquatics.They are not sure what antibiotic would work on this bacteria. It causes diarrhea in humans apparently and liver damage in dogs.

Medusa also had septicaemia which explains the red colour of her body.

My 2 males are fine and showing no symptoms and the tank water has tested negative. The thinking from the vet is that she may have been a carrier and not contracted it and this would explain why the 2 males are okay.

This bacteria is prolific and caused so much damage to her wee body in such a short time.
I wanted other owners to be aware of it.

 

[auntiejude]

Re: Aeromonas Veronii

I'm so sorry tor your loss. But I'm glad your others are OK.
Thank you for posting this information to keep us informed.

 

[layna]

Oh dear! Im sorry to hear this, there was nothing you could have done to stop this
Im glad your other two are okay though, at least they can keep you busy being all cute and what not