Tail

[elizabeth]

My wee Javier is back from the fridge (Yay!), and happily living with his new aquarium sand...the only problem he now has is that something seems to be eating away at his tail. This had started before I put him on the fridge, and is still happening now. It is starting to get scarily close to where the actual flesh and bones of his tail are.

I have given him salt baths, to no effect. There doesn't appear to be any other growths on the tail, it is just not as there as it was before :S

 

[cynthia]

Elizabeth could you post of picture of his tail damage?

If salt didn't touch it you should try something else. Mercurochrome, Nitrofura-G or Furan-2. You could take him to a vet for a scraping to see if they can identify what is eating away his tail.

Refer to http://www.axolotl.org/health.htm
for more info on medications. At the bottom of that page is a list of safe and non safe medications.

 

[elizabeth]

I don't have a decent digital camera- the one in my phone does not have high enough resolution to actually see the damage. Basically it just looks like the outline of his tail (the see-through part around the pink, fleshy area- he's a leucistic) has become smaller and ragged.

I have yet to find a vet here who knows anything about axies

 

[sharn]

you dont have any other axies do you?

 

[john]

No I belive that he is in his own tank correct?

~John

 

[elizabeth]

Yeah, it's just him in his tank. There are a couple of tiny snails on the glass, and a glass cube with a dragon inside, but nothing that would eat his tail

 

[elizabeth]

And by dragon in a glass cube I mean there is a solid glass cube, and it has the image of a dragon (the fire-breathing kind) etched inside it

 

[sharn]

maybe you have some wierd snails that latched on without him knowing. its been heard of before so thats why some people are wary of putting snails in their tanks

 

[cynthia]

Sharn - I doubt it is snails causing the damage.

Elizabeth- the longer you let this go the worse it will get. If you are not going to seek a vet then at least try some safe medication (Mercurochrome, Nitrofura-G or Furan-2) and refer to the link I posted above.

 

[matthew]

My Axolotl Einstein is also suffering from the heat, (We live in the Whitsundays, Nth Qld, Australia) My mum and I have found it very hard to keep the temp down. We read that putting him in the fridge should help. What is the safest way to do this and for how long?

I would love to get a cooler but at $600+ that is not possible.

Any suggestions.

 

[sharn]

you can put them in the fridge for quite a while. the axolotl colony do ti for up to a month if i remember rightly.
just place him in a food safe container, like a icecream container etc and pop him in the fridge. if your worried about him jumping out you can put a lid on, also if your worried about him chilling you can wrap a towel around the container, it will stop temperture spikes. this will probably slow down his want for food but do offer it still.
oh also check your fridge before you put him in, if its below 5C i wouldnt put him in there.
other options are a fan blowing across the surface of the water, moving the tank to a cooler part of the house, ie basement, garage etc, or ice bottles rotated constantly to ensure the temperature doesnt fluctuate heaps. have a read around here, there are some people making their own chillers with car fridges etc.
also have a read of www.axolotl.org if you havent been there, might learn something new

 

[matthew]

many thanks for your advice, unfortunately He has just died. I wish I had researched this wonderful website earlier.

We are very sad and are going to check out a few ideas with an empty tank to see if we can keep the temp down before getting another axolotl.

 

[jojo]

OOOhhhhh Matthew im sorry to hear that!!! Very sad!!!!!!!
What temp was your tank sitting at??

And Elizabeth - Hows your little one doing? Did you end up trying medication or going to a vet?

 

[sharn]

oh im sorry matthew

 

[elizabeth]

I'm trying the Furan-2. I've not seen any improvement, but can't tell if it's still getting worse or not, so I hope it's working

 

[mikolaj]

Hi. My axie Eve has also problems with tails. I am very scared because her legs look pretty bad. I've tried some fish medicines but it didn't help. Now I am trying with salty baths but I am afraid it also doesn't help. She also has eyes problems- right now her right eye is white. I don't know what else can be done to help her. I attach a picture but now it looks even worse-the tails are shorter the eye is all white. Please help us !!!

 

[mikolaj]

sorry... of course I meant toes

. she has problems with toes and fingers, her tail is ok

 

[sharn]

if her toes are fluffy thats fungus, but white toe tips are common on wildtypes, its meant to mean sexual maturity (i dont beleive that though, ive had little babies get black/white toes) im not sure whats wrong with her eye sorry

im sure someone will be along soon to help you out

 

[mikolaj]

Thanks for reply. I add new photos in new thread, so that someone else will help.