Illness/Sickness: Legs falling off, fungus infection? (Photos)

Hi All.

I am new to the forum and registered as i need a little help with my eldest Axolotl.


This is how he normally would be.


I came in last night and was looking in the tank, and it appeared one of my axles was on his side and all his toes kind of diminished as well as looking strange. Hes holding his legs up, has very little life hardly using his gills.

My mother actually thought he was dead but i saw the life in his tail and got him out the tank and into a container for fridging to try and stop him from being so stressed.

I put him in the fridge last night, i have done this before with a axle that had fungus on its gills however i am not sure if this will help Blaxle.

He is a fully grown adult i would say, hes around 8-10" long and around 3yrs in age, along with this issue, he wouldnt eat last night either. Im not looking to force feed him being hes in the fridge so metabolism is slowed down.

Here are a few pics from yesterday, this morning he looks more on his belly now but one of the legs looks worse then yesterday. I was thinking to start with salt baths unless there is any better advice that could help me.

If anyone has anything please suggest it, i dont want my axle to die.






Please help somebody,

What are your water parameters? What is the temperature? I think it is fungus, but one of the senior members will be able to help you... I don't have much experience with axolotls and sickness.

Yes, first think to check when an axolotl is sick or acting wrong is the water parameters. Let us know.

It doesn't look like fungus to me, but I'm also not an expert. So hold off on the salt baths.

Could a tank mate have bitten him? I'm not good at interpreting pictures.

Keep him fridged (100% daily water changes) until the experts have chimed in and you have a clear course of action. It is stressful for axolotls to change temperature, so no need to subject him to that again until necessary.

(I'm not sure if I would have fridged in this case - part of me says yes, the other part says that just isolating in another tank would be better. I'm interested in other opinions for future reference.)

Can you afford a vet? If so, see if you can find one in the local area that specializes in amphibians. That will save time if you decide you need to take him in.

I will check the tank later and get results for the water etc, however i cant see if being bad as it was changed 6-7 days ago and it was 50% change. I've always done this every 7-10 days with no issues of any of there health.

I can test for pH, nitrates, nitrites etc but seems odd the oldest axle got ill, i have a juvenile in there and he hasn't been bothered at all.

Hes definitely not been bitten, i had this trouble a very long time about when they were all young, they don't tend to bite each other or anything of the sort.

This is usually how they are all in the tank.
Black one is poorly, marble axle is of similar size however hes around 20 months, and you can see the juvenile, however they get on so well together i don't think there's been a altercation.




I hope somebody can help, His leg looks a lot worse today if i am honest as if it is falling off and disintegrating.

It looks like infection to me......would explain total lethargy...can you get to a vet?

If it is an infection and you have the resources you can see a vet, this can be a hundred to two hundred dollar visit. Else, the economic way is EM erythromycin which is an antibiotic. I would separate this axolotl from the others and put it in a hospital tank.

I agree with the infection. I would also see about a quarantine tank.

Well, since he is fridged, I think he is pretty well quarantined.

If it is an infection, a good vet is the best way to go, but yes, it is pricey. See this cautionary tale http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...-axolotl/100441-doxycycline-side-effects.html

If you have a vet that is willing, but not an expert, some vets will do a telephone consult with a local vet, who then administers treatment.

I agree with Laura. Keep him quarantined. I personally would not fridge in this case however. Just keep the water cool and clean. It's hard to tell from the photos, but it looks like an infection. I do recommend a vet, but if you cannot afford it, I would try treating with an antibiotic. I have used API Furan-2 successfully on an axolotl, so I feel confident in recommending it. I hope your axolotl improves.