Hurt Leg!

[mifuneaxie]

I was cleaning my tank and my axies seemed to think I was going to feed them or something and one bit the other one's leg. She is now keeping her injured leg at her side and is not using it to swim around at all. I tried to get a picture but the wound seems to be on the underside of her arm. I'm pretty sure that I can see bone too. If she gets in a good position I'll post a picture.

So my questions are: should I do anything? They've had minor injuries before, but just a little missing tail. I know I should keep my tank extra clean so that she doesn't get an infection. And a few minutes after it happened I fed her to see if she was too stressed to eat and she ate normally. I read other posts about leg injuries but I really just want to make sure since nothings happened like this before and I'm still inexperienced.

Thanks for any replies in advanced.

[Shannon]

Hi Hannah,

You got it. I would just keep an eye on the injury to make sure it doesn't develop fungus or anything. It should heal fine as long as the other doesn't decide to come back for a second hit. If the aggression continues, of course you may want to consider separating them for a bit. Give the poor little frightened fella a chance to get over his scare and he should eat for you. Keep us posted and good luck!

[mifuneaxie]

Thanks for the response! I'll keep an eye on it. I'm blaming it on her leg being mistaken for food. She's black and her foot looks a little like a worm sometimes. I'll watch for other aggression signs too. Thanks again.