Upside down, Please help me save him

[mmcgee]

Hello all, I am in need of serious help. Every since I've seen axolotl's I've fallen in love with them, but haven't been doing very well with keeping them . I researched them out and after about 3 months of research purchased 3 of them around October 2012. Two were about 3 inches while the other was accidentally sent to me too small (Person offered to replace him, but by this time I've already fallen in love with him because he just randomly started alligator rolling :bowl: ) . I placed the one that was small in a separate container and he kept getting air bubbles, I would get rid of them, he would get more air bubbles, I would get rid of them and so the cycle continued. The other two who were in a separate tank died shortly shortly after, even though they had showed no signs of problems, and I was told it was because of an air stone I had in the tank. So, long story short, now my last axolotl has gotten a little bigger and got another air bubble in his stomach. I placed him in the fridge like I usually do, but this time the air bubble got bigger, and now he is upside down on his back with a huge stomach. He's not really eating, and has developed a very large red vain down his stomach (Not sure if that really means anything). Also I've noticed around the time this air bubble came on, his nails have turned black, but I heard that sometimes happens Just tested again and no nitrates or nitrites, water comes from a larger tank that has a filter on it. It was set up for the other two, but once the other two passed, I changed out all the water and got it ready for him. Can anybody help me with how to get him healthy again? I'm really worried and don't want to lose him. Can anyone please help me save Gator?

 

[mmcgee]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t0cl23yfqlprvcp/20130128_204748.jpg This is a picture of him.

 

[Olivia97]

Oh no! Just a few questions first,
1. what are your parameters? Nitrite, Nitrate and Ammonia?
2. What are you feeding them?
3. How often do you feed him?
4. When you are fridging him, once the bubble was 'gone' did you put him back in the tank?
5. Could you please post a photo of your setup as well?

 

[mmcgee]

1. Nitrates are between 0 and 20 (closer to 0), Nitrites 0, and I just ran out of ammonia but they should be at 0 as well from the last time I tested. (I plan to get some more tomorrow and retest)
2. I am feeding him a pellet that I got from the breeder. He was eating them fine before.
3. I put in a few pellets every other day.
4. After the bubble was gone, I would keep him in the fridge for another day or so before putting him back into his Tupperware container.
5. His current living arrangements are a Tupperware container with a hiding spot. When he gets bigger, I will be putting him in the tank (60 gallon tank). I will post pictures of the tank shortly.

 

[Olivia97]

I would be trying to feed live foods at that age in addition to the pellets. However I'm hoping someone with more experience with young axolotls as I hear they are fairly common in juveniles

 

[mmcgee]

When I first got him I had him on black worms, but there is only one shop that I know of that carries black worms. When I ran out, they were out, so I just fed him the pellets and he loved them so I didn't bother witching back. But that is probably a good idea to switch back to the black worms. Thanks.

 

[Olivia97]

You can feed chopped earthworms, bloodworms, whiteworms and waxworms(treats)

 

[Kerry M]

How often are you changing the water? Without a filter I changed my water daily to ensure that adequate oxygen was in the water. When I changed the water I would use a mix of salt and bicarbonate soda in order to keep the container free of bacteria. I'm not sure whether the axie is gulping too much for air as it is not in the water. I have five month olds and they prefer two feeds daily. They are very hungry if I only feed them once. I had babies floating upside down a week after hatching. I fed them lots of food and the air bubbles were burped out. Perhaps leaving lots of blackworms in the water would really help. However I am not an expert, I'm sure that someone will respond with lots more experience soon.
Hope he gets better soon

 

[NeekaLovesYou]

I think he needs to be fed more often :happy: As said earthworms, black worms, bloodworm are all fine for them to eat as juveniles. At the size he is he needs to be fed at least once daily. What is the temperature of his container water? If too warm (over 20 degrees) this can make the issue worsen, so a brief stint in the fridge may help. Lower his water so it's shallow enough for him to stay steady on the base (and hopefully not roll over on to his back) but deep enough for him to stay fully submerged. This should help relieve some stress. If he's placed in the fridge he won't eat a lot, if at all. The bubble should pass on its own eventually and it's a good sign he is eating, even if it's not an awful lot. I have a feeling the vein is due to the swelling in the abdomen - obviously as he's expanded it's made the skin taught, causing the vein to protrude slightly.

 

[wandering]

Hi, perhaps my experience can be of help.
I bought 13 at 1 to 2 inches and have grown all of them successfully to 3 to 5 inches in 12 weeks. At first I separated them into 3 plastic tubs by size. Kept them at 14 to18c and changed 70% water every day after feeding and cleared all food and poop. Blob of java moss in each tub to hide under. Fed them on small bloodworm on the end of a pipette. After a couple of weeks separated them into small tanks in 10 litres water in pairs again by size and did 50% water change every other day. Still fed on bloodworm. One did not grow so I put it in its own tub at 20c and fed BBS/daphnia twice daily for a couple of weeks. Then i started it on bloodworm, waving it in front of its face! When it had its back legs I moved its tank back with the others in the porch at 18c. Fed all on bloodworm for a few more weeks and moved them into their own tanks (10 to 15 litres of water in each). The little one has now overtaken one of the others! They are now all eating chopped earthworms daily. Sometimes they lay up near the surface or resting on top of the Java moss. Especially when they were waiting for their bloodworm on the end of the pipette!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[mmcgee]

Thank you everyone I am going out to get more food for him right away. I was thinking that cutting back on the food would help him, but it is actually hurting him.

I change his water every other day. The container that he lives in is pretty large. It is actually a Tupperware tote that I have about has enough water to cover him about 3 times over so he could stretch his legs without having too much water. It's funny I've trained dogs for people, and wondered why they did what they did, and now I'm doing the same thing. Thank you everyone for your help.

 

[mmcgee]

UPDATE!!!!!

Gator seems to be doing a lot better. I have placed him in a shallow container so that he wont flip upside down and began feeding him a lot more. The bubble has goten smaller and seems to have nearly completely shrunk on one side. Thanks everyone for your help.