Wounded Axolotl. advice needed

[fredrik]

Hello everyone.

new to forum as a writer but not as a reader. Had our axolotl for about 1 year now and everything have been good...but (<---i really hate those but).

"Axis" has been laying on the bottom for about two weeks now, only swimming once in a while and for very short times...last night i saw that he have lost the skin on hes toes, i can see the bones sticking out on some toes (others have broken off maybe). last weeks i have seen some marks in the bottom from "axis", just some marks in the sand. Anyway, anyone have an idea why he have lost the skin? our temp have been just over 20 degree C (peaking at 22 for the few hot days we have had in sweden this summer), hes the only one in the aquaria, 180l. he have a few caves that he can hide in, a few plastic plants to hide behind etc etc.

its my girlfriends aquaria so im going to try to convince her we need a cooling system for the aquaria, might help to drop the temp a few degrees.

another thing, we are going on vacation in 3 week, we will be gone for 2 weeks, should i put him in the refridgerator (sp) to slow him down or is 2 weeks to long? if theres a hetpeak in sweden the temp in the aquaria most likely will raise to dangerous degrees since we cant have windows open when we are gone.

hopefully looking for help

// Axis

 

[fredrik]

...i think i know why he lost the toes now, when i got home today he had been digging a crate in the bottom. I also saw that most of the toes is now gone and only a few have the bones sticking out.

Im desperat to get to an answer about this, it saddens me so much that he is hurt =(

any ideas why he is digging so much? looking for food or something? I dont know what I am missing, he have caves to hide in, plants to hide behind, good waterq. I change water once every week, should i change more often maybe?

someone in the world, please wake up (different timezones) and help me, need it badly ;\

// Axis

 

[kapo]

What are the water parameters, ie ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels?

By laying on the bottom, do you just mean standing normally or lying on it's side or upside down?

Do you have someone that can come in and look after him while you are on holiday? If he does go in the fridge, his water will need to be changed 100% every day, so it is not too long but you will need someone to do that.

 

[fredrik]

yes, I mean standing still on the ground.

No, i dont have anyone to come and check him out in the fridge so i cant do it, read after i posted that they still required waterchange. If i can get the room to put a 10l bucket in the fridge and attach the canisterfilter there then he would be able to survive? maybe it will be to strong current in that small bucket, the filter have 650l/h output without the filtermedia (i think).

ammonia, nitrite and nitrate is fine, normaly i check it once / two weeks, and i do a waterchange once / week.

thanks for the answers.

im going to try and do a massive waterchange today as well as clean the bottom and so if i can find some hidden treasures hes looking for.

// Axis

 

[kapo]

Well, with the feet disappearing I thought maybe it was water quality (ammonia/nitrites), hence the question of water parameters.

I don't know about the canister filter bit, hopefully someone else will be able to help you.

As for standing on the ground, unless he has been extremely active I would say it was normal but that is based on my observation of our axies that seem to be less active as they get older and larger (now about 9mths).

 

[fredrik]

Ok, our have passed one year atm and is about 25cm. That might be the reason why he (actually we think its a she but from the start we always said he so atm its a transexuall axolotl) is less active.
He have always been out on walkabouts since we got him, untill we gave him a bigger home, then he got a little less active and now hes just standing there.
Well, maybe not just standing there since there is footprints from him everywhere on the ground (more active at night).

Anyway, i have him in a bucket now and going to change 100% as well as clean the bottom completely, almost as a fresh start. Sadly i cant do a cycle on the aquaria...best i can do atm is running the filter in another aquaria so no germs (not sure its called that but cant figure anything else out atm) die, at least not all.


// Axis

 

[kapo]

Sorry, I missed your second reply before my first post. Yes, the axies are more active at night, while we sleep, and ours don't dig but they do snuffle a lot in the sand. I wouldn't change the water 100% on your tank. Test the water just to see how high the water parameters are. Chances are there might be food/waste/poo hidden beneath the decos or within the caves (ours do that a lot) that might need cleaning up.

Also, just watch out for infection with your axie and if need be do salt baths.

(Message edited by kapo on July 14, 2006)

 

[fredrik]

i cleaned the gravel yesterday and found some minor foodparts (we have had other fishes in that aquaria before "Axis" moved in, nothing in the parts where he had been digging but anyway i found some stuff. today when i woke up he left trails on the ground but no cates...atm hes just standing / hiding in one of the caves so with some luck the cleaning on the gravel was the thing i would have been better at before he moved in.

thanks for all the help Kapo.

// Axis