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Chances of Recovery from limb injury

J

jody

Guest
Hello
Since yesterday my wild type Ren has an injured leg (I think he grazed it against a rock or something). Anyway he's in the fridge and he's getting daily salt baths and 100% water change but my question really was:
has anybody had an axie survive this kind of thing? What are the odds or is it not possible to say?
Is there anything else I can do to help him?

Thank you in advance

69363.jpg
 
J

joan

Guest
Unless it gets infected, that's not a bad injury at all, just a flesh wound. Survival is probably close to 100%, as long as you keep it clean. Mine had one like that about a year ago. I would ease up on the salt baths unless it shows signs of fungus. Just keep it cool and it should heal within a few days to a few weeks.
 
J

jody

Guest
Hello everyone

Well since the above photo above things were looking good. the redness had decreased and Ren was eating (he never really stopped) so after approx 3 weeks in the fridge he went back into the tank.

Everything seemed fine but then we came home to find him floating he had ripped the bottom half skin of his leg off (from the bit that's hanging off all the way across his toes).

We put him in the fridge and he's been there for a week. I was giving him daily salt baths and changing his water but he started to grow fungus I think and today his skin started shedding.

Is fungus white, fluffy and comes off if i touch it lightly? Salt baths didn't seem to stop the fungus so should I stop them?
Is the skin shedding really bad news?
What are his chances of recovery this time?

Thanks for any help/answers!
 
A

anna

Guest
Ohh dear. I havnt seen a cut like that on an axolotl before, so I can't offer much advice. I hope Ren makes a recovery!
 
J

joan

Guest
Salt baths should be done up to three times a day. What concentration of salt are you using?
 
J

jody

Guest
I was using 2 teaspoons of salt per litre for 10 minutes once a day, although Ren got a couple of extra minutes the day before his skin peeled off, which i thought might have contributed to it.
I haven't given him a salt bath since Wednesday now. Instead I bought some Melafix and have been using that and he seems a little better. His fungus seems to have decreased and he's eating quite happily in the fridge.
I'll try and post a picture over the weekend.

How do i know when he's ready to go back in his tank? Should I put a separator in the tank for a few days as there would be another axie in there with him?

Thank you
 
J

joan

Guest
When the wound is no longer fungus-y, and looks like it's starting to heal, he can probably go back. Just keep an eye on him.

If you think there is a chance the other axolotl will attack, you could put in the divider, but I don't think it's necessary.
 
A

amber

Guest
It's a nice clean cut.
Yes, it's pretty common for dead/damaged flesh to shed - but it will heal very quickly after that as long as the fungus is kept in check.
My baby Ari (who sadly passed away, unrelated to injury) who lost his tail had healed it over in less than two weeks.
 
J

jody

Guest
Hello

Here is a picture of Ren's leg as it stands today, as promised.
71841.jpg


Also just for good measure I thought I'd post a picture of him in all his glory (I say him but I think he may be a girl - not too sure!)
71842.jpg


The wound looks much better than it was, in so far that there doesn't appear to be any fungus - the melafix appears to be doing the job
happy.gif
.
I think there's just some lose skin, which I have left for nature to take it's course as i thought the dead skin may be protecting the new skin?

I'm looking forward to putting him back in the tank - Stumpy looks very lonely!
Thank you for help on this guys and if you see anything here that needs looking at please let me know - at the moment it's guess work and fingers crossed!
 
A

amber

Guest
Oh that looks super.
Keep up the meds and keeping him cool - it'll grow back well.
It's healing remarkably already.
The fluffy dead skin will drop off of it's own accord, and the new skin starts off fairly clear, and colours up later (like human scar tissue).
 
J

jennifer

Guest
It appears to be recovering nicely. Before you put Ren back the tank, though, I think it's very important to figure out what caused this to happen (twice). Is Ren kept in the same tank with Stumpy? This kind of injury isn't caused by getting grazed against a rock, it is much more likely to be caused by attack from another axolotl. By all means, remove any sharp rocks. But I suspect that you may have to keep the two axies separated permanently. You can buy tank dividers at pet product places.
 
J

jody

Guest
Hello Jennifer (and all)

i'm not really sure what did this both times. Ren and Stumpy were in the same tank together for about 18 months, maybe 2 years without any problems. I've given Stumpy a stern talking to and he did look very apologetic
wink.gif

I have taken out the rocks that were in the tank and I am going to go in search of a divider as well and see how they get on when I put Ren back.

How long is it safe to keep axies in the fridge for? I'm a bit confused as to how i'll know when to put Ren back in the tank....

Thanks for the help and encouraging comments everyone! You've all been very helpful and friendly!
happy.gif
 
J

jennifer

Guest
As long as he is eating and getting his water changed daily, he can stay in the fridge indefinately. No hurry.

If you do put them together again, you might want to completely redecorate the tank - both to screw up Stumpy's ideas about his territory, and also to add more hiding places.
 
J

jody

Guest
Hello

Well a while back everything seemed fine and Ren's leg was healing over.
However recently he's grown some fungus. I'm giving him twice daily salt baths and Meth Blue and he's still eating well.

What i was wondering was should i try and manually remove some of the fungus from his foot?
 
A

alex

Guest
i think its probably best not too, as it might just make it worse.
keep up the salt baths, and cross your fingers.
such a shame, because it was all going so well!


(Message edited by Ed on November 29, 2006)
 
J

jody

Guest
OK thank you for the advice.
That's what's so frustrating - he was doing really well and I feel so sorry for him, he looks so forlorn
uhoh.gif

I shall persevere with the salt baths and Melafix (my error above it's not Meth blue it's Melafix).
Thanks again.
 
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