Illness/Sickness: Axolotl Leg Falling off

Hi everyone,

This is my first time posting here, I have had axolotls for about 5 months now

I have 2 in the same tank, dorothy (my first axy) and sonic, who i got about a month ago.

I noticed yesterday sonics front legs skin had started coming off, i thought dorothy must have bitten him but signed up to this forum anyway just incase. I just got activated so I'll show you whats happened since then in the photos... his leg has pretty much come off, and now the end of his tail and ends of his other toes are going the same way.

Photos are pretty grizzly.

I have taken him out and put him in new water in the fridge, can you please tell me what else I should do!?

Or what medication I need to help him? I'm in Australia. I found some "Multi Cure for fungal diseases" i used on my fish a few years ago, it says it helps white spot, velvet disease and has malachite green, methylene blue and acriflavine in it.

I'll have another look at the threads on here but if someone could respond asap I'd be greatly appreciative!!

Where in Australia are you? It's winter so fridging shouldn't be needed unless you're in the warmer parts.

It doesn't look like fungus to me - in my experience the gills are the first places to show signs of fungus & your axies feathery fronds look fine.

So I'm guessing it could've been a bite from Dorothy
I've got a couple of questions for you.

- are they similiar sized axies?
- what do you feed them?
- what is your tank temperature?
- what are your tank parameters - ammonia / nitrite / nitrAte?


I would not add any medication to the tank or axie at this stage,
Axies are super sensitive to medication and usually do better from a salt bath,
But I don't think you need to do salt baths at this stage either.

Please answer the questions & we can go from there

Don't panic it's not a bad injury - it will be ok

Hey Nikki

Thanks for your reply!!

Sonic's gills are fine, but his front right leg has almost come completely off now, leaving the bone showing, the toes on his other legs are starting to peel away and the end of his tail is eating away as well, and it seems to have gotten worse again since separating him from dorothy so I don't think she's done all of it, maybe she started it with a bite though?

I'm in Perth, I put him in the fridge just from what axolotl owning friends/google told me, but I will take him out now then. I was concerned as they were being kept inside by a window where sunlight came through, they've just been moved here so it's happened since then, maybe it was too warm? I was concerned about putting him outside as the temp fluctuates from about 24 degrees celsius down to 6 degrees celsius at night.

I haven't measured the exact temp or parameters... I'm not very experienced :S How do I measure this?

Sonic is slightly larger than Dorothy, and I feed them the heartworm blocks of meat (frozen ones that you thaw) and axolotl pellets.

I'm just so confused as Dorothy is 100% ok (still is now) and this came on so quick on Sonic and seems to still be deteriorating in him only?

Before I got your reply I called the local fish place and they said salt would be better than meds anyway so I guess that's all I can do.

It might also be worth noting that when he pumps his gills, the gills on the side where his leg is coming off don't pump down fully, whereas the other side does.

Any ideas?

Firstly, I would purchase your own liquid testing kit for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH and also a thermometer so you can accurately test the parameters and temperature. I use the API Freshwater Master kit. I would do this asap so you can find out whether there are any problems with water quality. Also, if you are not regularly testing the parameters, you will not be able to know if the parameters are good, whether your tank is cycled or if your cycle has crashed at all. Having a kit and testing regularly is important.

Salt baths are generally recommended for fungus treatment. However I don't see fungus in the photos. Fungus appears as a cotton wool like fuzz. Salt baths can be quite irritating to their skin so I would probably not do this at this stage. However you could offer a black tea bath which has mild antifungal and antibacterial properties and will help soothe the skin. Here is a link which has a guide on how to do this Caudata Culture Articles - Illness Part 2

I personally would not fridge him at this stage but keep him in a tub of cool, clean, dechlorinated water. You will need to do 100% water changes daily so it may be easier to pre-prepare a second tub you can transfer him to each day.

I agree with all the suggestions from Skudo09. It is crucial that you immediately get a liquid test kit (the strips are not at all reliable) such as the API Freshwater Master Test Kit, as well as a good thermometer. Temperature should preferably not exceed 20C but it is also important to avoid large fluctuations in temperature. (Interestingly, axies often heal better at lower temperatures, around 10C.)

Indian almond leaves can be put in the tank/tub for their antibacterial and antifungal properties, so either that or the black tea bath suggested by Skudo09 would be a good idea at this stage to prevent an opportunistic bacterial or fungal infection.

Also try to source some earthworms, as these are the most nutritious and balanced food for axies. They are also cheap. If you get them from someone's garden, be absolutely certain no chemicals have been used on the site.

Gorgeous axie btw.