Bleeding Growth on Axie..... very worried!

My 7 year old Bob has had some growths on her rear leg for a few years now, nothing too serious, just got slowly bigger, I remember reading it was something that occasionally happened, and that it wasn't something to worry about too much.

Tonight I've noticed one of the growths has gotten considerably larger, and has just in the last few minutes burst or been grazed. It kind of looks like a blood blister. It's now bleeding and I can see little spots of blood on the sand next to her. She's quite agitated which is very unusual for her.

Will it stop bleeding on it's own? I'm going to keep a very close eye on her and if it doesn't start getting better I think she'll end up in a chilled quarantine tank.

Hi Lisapie,

It sounds like you should get Bob to a vet. Can you post a picture of him?

-Eva

Thanks for your reply. I'm in Melbourne, Australia, it's 1 in the morning. I've never been able to find a vet in Aus, let alone Melbourne who knows anything about Axolotls. On a brighter note it looks like it's clotted a bit, but she's still pretty upset.

If she's still not looking any better by the morning I might have to re-consider my options. She's a tough little axie, been through a lot, but she is getting old. Hopefully she can pull through this. I guess we'll just have to ride this one out and see how she does over the next few days.

She's calmed down a bit, or she's just worn out, or slowly dying from blood loss. I don't know. The blood clot doesn't seem to be getting any bigger now, so hopefully she won't knock it and start it bleeding again. I have a feeling I'll be waking up to her in a very bad state. I have clove oil, I'll put her down if things get bad.

It looks like there's a decent blood vessel lodged in it that has burst, slowly ballooning a pocket of blood up under the white part of the growth. This ruptured and then it became more of a blood clot hanging off the side of the white growth.

I'd like to take her out of the tank and put her in a shallow container so she can't swin around quite so much, but I'm scared if I pick her up I'm going to do more damage.

Managed to get a half decent photo.



Any advice I could get at this point would be great, but I think it's just going to be a waiting game for now.

Heres a list of herp vets in Australia. Herp Vets in Australia

It does look like a haematoma but could still be something else like neoplasia. This would require further diagnostic workup. Your vet will be able to debride and lavage the area to rid of any necrotic tissue to aid healing.

It is unusual for axies to have a persistently bleeding wound that doesn't heal over. Blood tests may be in order to check for any underlying clotting or coagulation problems as well.

Ok so she made it through the night. The blood clot has dropped off and it doesn't appear to be bleeding anymore. She's very quiet this morning, keeping an extremely close eye on her.

Thanks for your reply DarkMaverick, I'd love to take her to a vet, but I just don't have the money. I love her to pieces, but as much as I really want to I can't justify spending hundreds of dollars on her. I know that sounds harsh, but I think considering her age, she's had a good run, if she can pull through I'd be over the moon, but if things start looking bad the least I can do is make sure she's confortable and that she doesn't suffer any more than she needs to.