Illness/Sickness: Axolotl frequently swimming into glass and coming up for air.

[Joshyschendel]

My axie is around 2 years old, and for the past 4 days has been refusing food, sometimes puking up what appears to look like his pellets after he digests and poops them out. For most of the day he is walking back and forth the entire length of my 30gal tank and then swimming up and gulping air. I noticed his tail might be floating lightly higher than his front so I assumed he was constipated. I have just moved him into a tub on the floor today so he doesn’t have to swim high up for ait, and attempted to feed him again, with no luck.

He otherwise looks overall normal, just constantly has vibrant gills and is active. Any advice on what could be going on? I’m looking into finding a vet nearby but I know that if he is sick, potentially waiting til I get into a vet would be too long.

I did test the water parameter and they are as followed

Chlorine 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 25

Attached is a photo of him after tubbing him (he only starting curling his tail after tubbing.

 

[wolfen]

what are the levels using liquid tests, also what is the temperature ph and gh kh if possible.
her gills (from the view of the photo looks female) are nice and red so something must have recently changed, if you have substrate ie.. sand etc.. go through it with a fork to release any debris etc.. move any ornaments etc..for any trapped waste, clean air stones, may need to do a filter clean.
add 2g/l non-iodised salt in the tub water, are any salts/minerals used in the tank normally.
are the pellets soft or hard, hard pellets can cause problems such as floating etc.. always soak before hand.

 

[Joshyschendel]

what are the levels using liquid tests, also what is the temperature ph and gh kh if possible.
her gills (from the view of the photo looks female) are nice and red so something must have recently changed, if you have substrate ie.. sand etc.. go through it with a fork to release any debris etc.. move any ornaments etc..for any trapped waste, clean air stones, may need to do a filter clean.
add 2g/l non-iodised salt in the tub water, are any salts/minerals used in the tank normally.
are the pellets soft or hard, hard pellets can cause problems such as floating etc.. always soak before hand.

Hard pellets yes, I will start soaking before hand. Nothing changed recently, temp is 64F and I did nitrite and ammonia using API liquid test but the nitrate from strips. I will go through the sand now and release whatever is embedded. I will buy a gh and kh test asap

I don’t typically used salts or minerals in the tank, so I can add 2g/L sea salt to the tub water? Does it need to be 100% pure salt or can it be salt with that silica additive that most brands include?

Tried feeding her frozen bloodworms in the tub today and she ate 1/4 of the cube and burped lots of bubbles. Not sure if I should continue trying to feed her or wait til whatever passes through her?

 

[wolfen]

sea salt should be fine.
whilst she is tubbed feed at night clean in morning.
burping bubbles is fine (there are two ways to get rid of gas, one is the mouth..) if she starts floating due to gas reduce water level until feet touch the ground.
any meat based frozen food is fine as well as bloodworm (bloodworm does seem to be an axolotl favourite)and pellets ie.. krill, mysis, brineshrimp etc.. make sure she is getting a balanced diet.

 

[Joshyschendel]

sea salt should be fine.
whilst she is tubbed feed at night clean in morning.
burping bubbles is fine (there are two ways to get rid of gas, one is the mouth..) if she starts floating due to gas reduce water level until feet touch the ground.
any meat based frozen food is fine as well as bloodworm (bloodworm does seem to be an axolotl favourite)and pellets ie.. krill, mysis, brineshrimp etc.. make sure she is getting a balanced diet.

It’s ok to leave them in the salty/brackish water all day though? I always thought that would dry their skin

 

[wolfen]

having a small amount of salt is beneficial to axolotls, helps prevent issues that axolotls are prone to ie.. fungus, edema caused by osmosis, problems caused by ammonia spikes as well as helping prevent toxicosis caused by nitrites and nitrates.
it is only problematic long term when salt levels increase over 4ppt (4g/l) although A.R.S. (amphibian ringers solution) is used to treat axolotls that already have edema.
above 2g/l isn't recommended for egg clutches although salt levels between 1-2g/l will reduce fatality's and deformities compared to fresh water.
using a solution such as 50% holtfreters (contains 1.75g/l salt) + 0.1g/l magnesium sulphate will help correct water chemistry (adds salts/minerals) as well as acts as a preventative. see here.. Axolotls - Requirements & Water Conditions in Captivity the only issues is that some plants won't tolerate the salt.

 

[Joshyschendel]

Update: Gus still hasn’t went to the bathroom, and appears to have puked up some food this morning, but not all the food that I fed her. I’m insanely stressed over her still not passing digested food

 

[wolfen]

just keep the water cool and feed her daily, there has been instances of people using laxatives but it can be a hit and miss when it comes to effectiveness, plus the effect needs to be mild so as not to cause prolapse.
there is a post on this forum regarding senokot which may help Axolotl Conspitation - the medical solution also the magnesium sulphate which is added to holtfreters solution aids in the movement of the digestive system.

 

[Joshyschendel]

Update m: brought her to vet today, got an x ray and he has a small ball of sand built up in his stomach. She is prescribed mineral oil to be given down her throat daily and fed after for a week and if that doesn’t work they will try to flush out his digestive tract.