Blood specks on axxies tail??

Hey all

After putting my axxie back in the tank after changing the sand I noticed that he has red specks of what looks like blood near his tail near the end and also up the top of the tail as well. Both on the edge. I also noticed that he seems to have a small 'v' "chunk" missing from his tail about half way from the end. I'm not sure if the missing chunk is new or if its been there for a while and I just havent noticed it.

I've had him for about 6 weeks I'm currently keeping him in a 20L tank with fine sand as substrate, a few plastic plants and others decorations and such.

Any idea where this blood could have come from (i'm assuming its blood, ive seen human blood and its the same colour) and what to do about it and the possible missing chunk??

Other than blood and possible missing chuck he seems fine!

Thanks, Sam =)

A picture would help hugely, see if you can take one.
Is it housed alone? If it is, then the missing chunk can´t be atributed to agression. And if the chunk was missing since the beggining, 6 weeks should have been enough for a decent or total recovery, which means originally it must have been bigger and harder to miss.
Without more information and visual aid, i can only suspect that maybe the missing chunk is caused by a bacterial or fungal infection that´s eating away the tissues. That could explain the bloody specks too. Or perhaps there is a filter which creates a strong suction current...
It´s just a possibility, though, wait till one of the axolotl gurus chimes in hehe.

Check water temperature. Summer has caused a lot of axie illness and death. Elevated water temperatures highly predispose axies to infection from bacteria and fungi. Any temperature above 20 degrees for a few hours to a 1 or 2 days is sufficient to cause illness and stress.

Bacterial infection that release bacterial toxins into the bloodstream can cause scepticaemia. Blood specks are usually quite indicative of a bloodborne infection/toxicity that cause vessel damage. Other causes are clotting or coagulation defects which are less likely.

Best course of action is to fridge your axie during the entire warm months.

I've had blood spots and small nicks on the tail of my axies when they have gone into tail thrashing mode while being moved. The blood spots were near the tip a bit in from the edge.

The blood spots heal over about two weeks and the nicks take longer. If your temperature and water conditions are good just leave well alone. If more spots appear or anything else seems wrong then Darkmaverick's advice is good but I do not think you need to panic yet!

I second what Oceanblue said. Sometimes if one of my axies has a panic in the transfer from tank to container they get these blood spots along the edge of the tail, hopefully that's all it is.