Poorly Parker

[Kerry1968]

Parker my adult male axie was recently sharing digs with my female axie in the hope they might feel 'in the mood'. They both spent a lot of time at opposite ends of the tank and when they came into contact there was fireworks, but not the right kind!

Lottie the female seemed to take a dislike to having to share her accommodation with this new guy and bit him quite severely on the arm and tail.

I have Parker residing in the fridge since I witnessed the last attack and his arm is doing well. I originally thought he was going to lose it as it was just hanging limply by his side. It was swollen for a couple of days, but the swelling has gone down now and it looks and moves almost normally!

His tail is a different matter. The end of his tail is kind of shredded and looks like some of the skin/flesh has been stripped. I must admit he may have had this injury for a few days before I fridged him as I wasn't disturbing the 'happy couple' and just dropped worms into the tank (opposite ends) every couple of days while they enjoyed their 'honeymoon'. Anyway, the tail is taking a while to heal, in fact it hardly looks any better in the week or so he's been in the fridge. Then today I noticed he has a little fungus on the tail tip. I was surprised that fungus showed up on his tail while in the fridge, when he was at a warmer temperature in the tank (18 degrees) and had no fungus! I salt bathed him and I'm hoping that after a few days salt bathing I will see a difference. Do you think that I'm on the right track for a healthy healed axie? Poor Parker, since he joined our family in August he seems to have spent more time in the fridge than out of it!

Sorry about the long post, it turned into a bit of an essay!

[Rayson]

Yes salt baths will be good.

Most bacteria thrive in warmer waters hence fridging slows down their proliferation. Fungus on the other hand actually do better in cold water. Fridging will do nothing to stop fungal infection directly. Fungus just happens to have the optimal growth range within colder temperature environments.

[Kerry1968]

Aah, that explains it, thanks Rayson.