Illness/Sickness: URGENT: Sick Axolotls? Not Eating & Shedding

[Photosniper89]

My wife and I are a new axolotls owner and we really need the communities help.

When we brought out little guy home everything was amazing. He/she was full of life, swimming, eating worms all the time. Our water temp was high so we slowly brought it down to what the pet store said, 75f. I do regular water changes and clean filters on a weekly basis. Our ph lvl is roughly 7, ammonia, nitrate, & nitrite levels are in line.


Our little buddy slowly stopped eating and he has become noticeably smaller. Also, his gills are tucked up and are almost gone. On top of that it looks like he is shedding.

I got a new tank setup for him, with existing water, and dramatically cooled it. I'm trying to get it to 65 but right now it is around 70.

I'm actually starting to think he is morphing but since we just got him isn't that to soon? The pet store told us it would be a few years before that happened. I've included some pictures. Please give us any guidance possible, I don't want to lose our little guy.

 

[Photosniper89]

Any recommendations at all? Please help. I'm willing to try anything to keep my little guy alive.

 

[Chinadog]

Well, the good news is he's not sick at all, the bad news is he's not an Axolotl, he's a Tiger salamander going through metamorphosis!
He will be wanting to leave the water and become terrestrial, so here's a good article on keeping Tigers from Caudata Culture. They are easy and fun to keep and just as interactive as an Axolotl, just in a more land based way.

https://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/tiger_sal_101.shtml

 

[Photosniper89]

Wait, are you serious? I'm in shock right now. The wife and I have spent the last week and a half thinking our little guy was slowly going to die on us. I can't thank you enough for coming in and letting us know he is something completely different than what the pet store said he was.

I'll have to start researching what to do now and will read over that link you sent me.

Since he is going through his metamorphosis, should I get him into a land environment asap?

 

[Chinadog]

I'd reduce his water level to 6" or so with a decent sized land area (a big flat rock or some bricks should do) with a shelter of some kind. Obviously keep his water filtered while he's in there and wait for him to become comfy on land. After that you can move him to a terrestrial set up with a large water bowl he can submerge in as a starting point. Tigers are very easy to keep in simple or elabourate set ups as long as they're kept clean.
Don't be surprised if he takes a while to start feeding on land, but once he starts again there'll be no stopping him! Tigers quickly learn to recognise their owner and how to beg for food. Here's another link, and check out the Tiger salamander section of the forum.
I know he's not an Axolotl, but I think you'll like him!

https://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Ambystoma/A_tigrinum.shtml

 

[Photosniper89]

I can't thank you enough for all the support. We are so releived to know he is going to have a happy long life with us. We aren't upset at all that it isn't an axolotl; we think this little guy is amazing and we are so excited to have a land creature addition to our two 40g fish tanks.