Quick question: gill loss

My poor axie just lost one of his gill fronds in a plant accident. He was in shock for a bit, but is moving around, however hes not eating.
Since its been ripped off, is there any chance of infection happening?
Or is it usually fine to heal by itself?

Im just wondering if I should pop him in the fridge for a while or anything.
Also will it grow back to its original state? Or always b a bit stumpy from now on?
He has gorgeous, fluffy fronds and I'd be sad if that one didnt grow back.

Hi,

If the axolotl's water is kept clean and cool, the wounds should heal well on their own.

If the axolotl is in shock, it may be a few days before he will eat anything. I would cover half the tank with a towel or sheet, so he has somewhere cool, dark, and stress free to retreat to, if he should so choose.

Keep an eye on the injury for any possible infection such as fungus. The injury will likely be the first place fungus will attack, and if fungus does occur, then yes, move axie into the fridge.

Regeneration is not always perfect. The gill may grow back to its original standard, but on the other hand it may not, and the filaments (gill feathers) may look a little different to the others. The axolotl will still be one handsome devil. The gill may even branch out into two gills, making for one truly special axolotl.

Could you clarify what you mean by 'plant accident'?

Axolotls have very sensitive skin. If you have any ornaments (including plants) with sharp edges, these should be removed. When using artificial plants, I recommend 'silk plants', as these are soft and safe for axolotls to scrape and blunder past, on their clumsy wanderings.

One of my fake plants looks like heaps of shoots of grass. He likes to hold onto the top of it and just float normally but I found him pretty much sitting in the middle of it. It was feeding time so I tried to encourage him to get out of the plant but instead he shuffled in deeper and all the strands were surrounding different parts of him. I tried to help move some away from him so he could come out but by the time he slid out, his gill was gone I was being gentle so he possibly may have lost it before I tried to get him out but I dont think so.

Could you post a photo of the axolotl's head?

Last time I tried it didnt work, whats the easiest way to post a photo? I can try but I dont have an especially good camera. He has 3 fronds on each side, and its the smallest, bottom one that has come off. It just stops suddenly, halfway up the frond. I'll try and get a photo now

Abrahm has very kindly put together this tutorial on posting pictures:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=55492

If you could provide a photo of the fake grass thing as well, that would be great.

I just noticed, looking at earlie pictures of him, that his gill has always been that short >.<
I am an idiot.
I thought it was the same size as the one on the other side, and I saw some old food (Im guessing) that looked like it could have been the other half of the frond, floating in the container.

Either its always been that short or he lost it somehow a few weeks ago and is doing fine.
Argh, man, sorry for the waste of time.
It was also too dark to get a photo of the grass thing, but I guess its not really needed. Gah.
So sorry

:lol: No worries, and you're not an idiot.

In payment for my services, I want to see photos of the axolotl in the gallery! (But no hurry)

Lol I planned to wait until my tank decoration had been completed and a additional two axies had been added to the family, but I suppose I could upload some now, since you went to the effort to help me