Illness/Sickness: Help! Injured axolotl and I don't know what to do

I'm not new to fish keeping or anything like that but I am new to axolotls. Yesterday I brought home a very lovely axolotl and put him in a ten gallon tank along with a medium African clawed frog and a cichlid. The cichlid I was planning on taking it to a fish place that specializes in cichlids because he got way to big and was aggressive. This morning I checked on my axolotl and discovered that my cichlid had bitten off his gills and caused some damage to the skin around the gills. I immediately moved the cichlid to a holding tank and I severely regret not moving him sooner. At the moment he seems to be doing alright as he is laying on top of my aquatic plants and getting air from the surface. My filter is very close to the surface and has a bar that prevents splash. I also turned on a bubbler to keep the water oxygenated. What do I do now to help him with the regeneration process? I heard that it usually takes a couple weeks and that giving them tea baths speed it up. I still have him in my main tank along with my ACF(he's quite friendly) and a few apple snails. I didn't want to move him to a separate container because he had just arrived and I thought it would only stress him. Any help and advice is much needed.

Use black tea once or twise a day to prevent infection or fungus. Keep the water clean. He should regenerate, but they are not ok with fish, as this tends to happen. You can keep him with the frog, but he may end up eating it.

I gave him a black tea bath last night and he didn't seem to mind. Both the frog and the axolotl are about the same size and he is pretty docile. Is there anything else I can do to prevent infection and help the healing process?

Also for a tea bath should I move the axolotl to another tank and keep him there with clean water each day until he is better? Or should I just take him out whenever he needs a tea bath and put him back in?

What temperature is the tank at? Over 70 will increase the risk of fungus now that your axolotl is injured, 77 and over is deadly. I would separate the axie from the other animals. Axolotls don't do well with tank mates (he could eat the frog or get parasites from it, and choke on the snails).

Karayna said:

What temperature is the tank at? Over 70 will increase the risk of fungus now that your axolotl is injured, 77 and over is deadly. I would separate the axie from the other animals. Axolotls don't do well with tank mates (he could eat the frog or get parasites from it, and choke on the snails).

Click to expand...

I just measured it and found that the temperature is about 72. I filled 2 bags with some ice and set them in the tank to lower the temperature by a bit. Tomorrow I'm gonna be to take my cichlid to an aquarium store and buy a tank cooler/heater and some other stuff. It might be tricky because the axolotl shares the tank with the frog and a few apple snails. Snails enjoy cooler water but the frogs limit settles around 68 degrees Fahrenheit. I don't have any more room to put a separate tank for the axolotl and he already gets along well with his tank mates. I'm pretty sure he's a wild type because he's greenish black

Also is it normal if he isn't eating? I tried giving him bloodworms but he won't accept them. He's hanging around near the surface all the time because of his missing gills.

This morning I went to check on him and now he is not moving. I thought he was dead but I saw his tail moving slightly. I moved him into a container and put it in the fridge. I'm not sure what has happened as he was fine yesterday. My fridge is set a 42 degrees Fahrenheit

At this point, I think you need to do everything you can to reduce stress. I would stop handling your axolotl (no tea baths) and only work on keeping your water quality pristine and temperature in the mid-sixties while offering food once a day. I would also keep the light off.

I hope your axolotl makes it, but the situation is dire. If your axolotl pulls through, he really needs to be housed separately from the frog and snails. Good luck!

Thank you ;(

Unfortunately my little guy has passed away. I did everything I could to help him get better but nothing worked. Axolotls are much more sensitive that I thought and I don't think I will try to take care of another one anytime soon. Thank you all who responded to my questions and helped me try to find solutions.

I am sorry you lost your pet!

So sorry for your loss! ? If you do decide to try again in the future, don't hesitate to come here and ask for tips & help!