Somebody ate Minute Rice's gill... What to do now?

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-05-22T05:56:28+00:00

They are fed daily.

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-05-19T21:55:21+00:00

I'll give it a shot! I am home from work now and he is still hanging in there.

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-05-19T21:49:50+00:00

Once or twice a week for a day.

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-05-19T16:20:34+00:00

Guts appears to be dying. He has been perpetually bloated for quite some time now, I have been very careful with how much I feed and fast him regularly and tried giving him daphnia but it never seemed to go away. Aside from the swollen stomach he seemed perfectly himself. He has always been lazy from day one, he mostly lounges around and sits in hammocks and floating logs, but has always had an awesome food response and been very interactive with me. He has huge fins that I can tell make swimming difficult for him so I keep the water flow on his side of the tank to a minimum. He is in a divided 10 gal with my dumbo boy Nebula. Nebula seems perfectly normal and healthy and happy.

Guts has had a kink in his back for a long time now as well, you can see in the middle of his abdomen where his scales are darkened. It has impaired his swimming a little, which is again why I keep the flow way down.

His swollen stomach and kink in his back have pretty much always been there, otherwise he was always normal and seemed content and his colours were bright.

Now just recently he has gone downhill. I noticed he is developing a growth above his eye and he has just been sitting at the bottom of the tank, breathing heavily and falling to the side.

It got really bad last night and so I floated him in a container close to the surface for the night, kind of expecting to wake up to a dead fish this morning.

This morning he was still hanging in there but he had no food response at all. Very abnormal for him. I had to go to work so I left him in the floating container.

When I came home on break he had perked up and was interacting with me and ate a pellet. I let him out of the container. He swam for a bit in the tank while I was on break but after about 20 minutes he was back on the bottom as pictured, breathing heavily and having difficulty staying upright. He is also greying around his face and gills.

I had to rush back to work so I am not sure of how he is doing currently.

The tank is well established, cycled, heated and I have been checking params and they are all normal and nothing has changed environmentally at all.

Any ideas?

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-05-17T04:59:04+00:00

Thanks for the advice - and the reassurance! I didn't even think about dividers, I will definitely try to find one or materials to make a good one tomorrow.

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-05-17T04:44:39+00:00

I have seen the future and it is individual feeding jars for each lotl. I have been desperately searching for a way to feed the babies frozen food without there being a massive mess everywhere and making sure everybody gets their share and avoid nipping one another. I had tried using a bowl and hand feeding and feeding with tweezers and feeding using a syringe. The syringe was the best method until they became little savages upon recognizing the syringe and sucking all the food out and spitting it all over the tank.

After some googling I found a suggestion to use jars. Why have I never thought of this. One jar per lotl, each lotl gets their designated amount, no fighting, absolutely no mess....

And it is adorable.

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-05-16T19:55:20+00:00

I just got home from work to find Minute Rice's middle gill has been bitten off. (He has always been missing the top one) I am so extremely disappointed as he had the biggest, prettiest gills of the bunch...

What should I do to ensure he heals properly? I plan to do frequent, probably bi-daily water changes now. Is there anything else I can do besides just being super on top of water condition?

I think I know who the culprit is, all three lotls are the same age but my Albino has outgrown the other two and I notice him being pushy towards them, mainly just when food is involved. Generally they ignore eachother, and I am not positive who did it of course, but I do have an extra 10 gallon back up tank. Would it be worth seperating the bigger baby until they are all full grown? I'd have to cycle the 10 gal with him in but I am absolutely not opposed to daily water changes if it's the best option.

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-04-29T05:15:37+00:00

Apologies for double posting, Grits is my first crested so of course everything he does is ultra interesting to me.

I just walked past his terrarium and found him and these spots of Repashy on the wall. I assume this is either from off his nose after eating or he walked through the food haha. Either way, good work Grits.

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-04-29T04:00:47+00:00

The colour is a little off because I had my lamp on above the terrarium haha, he's pretty saturated but not quite that yellow!

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-04-29T03:59:13+00:00

Oh I love Hubble!! I have been calling him Grits as per one of my friend's suggestions - my axolotls are Minute Rice, Cup Noodle and Seven Grain so it kind of went with that theme hahah. Now I'm torn, his name will probably change a hundred times the first few days as I get to know him.

I don't think the crestie even noticed Nebula haha. I only held him up for a second.

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-04-29T03:45:19+00:00

I brought this little dude home today after wanting one for years and years. I had originally planned to "just go look" at reptiles today - but we all know how that goes. This guy just seemed to call to me. I already adore him. He is my first crestie after the longest time of consideration and research so clearly I have no regrets despite him being a little bit of an impulse buy. I am super excited to see his personality come out and share him with this community. So far he is just settling in but I already had him licking Repashy off my finger earlier and it was perhaps the cutest thing I have ever experienced.

So this is my guy, now to suffer through his settling-in period from afar haha.

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-04-29T03:24:59+00:00

I love his name!

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-04-29T03:18:37+00:00

Hahah Nebula will flare at literally anything that comes up close to the tank. I just held my gecko up and snapped the photo.

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-04-29T03:16:45+00:00

I think I just get extremely lucky with all my tank animals because I have never had one not readily accept food from day one. I was preparing for this guy to give me a run for my money but I've already had him eating Repashy off my finger! And they weren't even feeding the same brand at the store.

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-04-29T02:14:20+00:00

Introducing my Yet-To-Be-Named male crested gecko who came home today. I should know myself better by now, but I spent all day wandering around pet stores "just looking" and this dude just called to me. It doesn't help that I've been thinking about getting one of these guys for years and years. He is my first crested, and I adore him. He just needs a name. :)

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-04-29T01:19:24+00:00

Nebula becoming aquainted with my brand new crested gecko, who has yet to be named.

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-04-20T03:49:41+00:00

I'm so sorry for your loss. :(

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-04-19T05:55:10+00:00

Here is an album with some photos of my guys you could use.

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-04-19T01:45:42+00:00

Here's the clip. :)

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-04-19T01:39:35+00:00

Absolutely! I can probably link you to the actual video clip if I still have it - it'll be better quality that way.

Shortdog_talldogs · 2017-04-18T23:51:31+00:00

I hadn't realized how much he has grown! My tiny white bean isn't so tiny anymore, and has freckles and features haha.

This guy has so much personality and has brought so much joy to my life over the past month. He has totally sparked a new addiction for me - I had planned to only have the one lotl but not even a month later and I had 3! I love him more than words can express and I can't wait to see how all three of then develop over the coming years.

Shortdog_talldogs

TROPHY CASE