Illness/Sickness: Hurt axolotl; stressed?

Hello, I've had two axolotls for over a year. The female (Pinky) is pretty spunky and healthy, she can handle just about anything, but my male (Pokey) has always been sensitive to even remote changes in his environment.

Two days ago he bumped his head on a piece of wood in his tank when the female startled him, which left a small scratch directly above his left eye. It's swollen but appears to be healing (in my inexperienced opinion) but even before it he'd been acting oddly (he's only taken small nibbles at brine shrimp, which I have stocked until I can get out to the nearest bait shop). It's been about a week since he's eaten a whole cube. I keep them at about 70 degrees at all times. The last three days he's been backing away from brine shrimp, and his left foot has black marks on it. The 'fins' on the tip of his tail have started curling in towards each other, and he's been sitting very still.

I'm not sure if this is normal after taking an injury, or if he was already stressed for some reason or other (they share a 20 gallon, I'm not sure if it's adequate) and the scratch is stressing him out even more.

I'm worried about him. I've attached pictures, and if any more are necessary I'll gladly take them, I just want him to be alright.

A larger pic of their entire setup would give us a hand in assessing the situation. I can tell you that 70 degrees is a bit warm for axies, and they prefer their temps in the 60-65 range. The fin would heal much quicker if the temps were lower. If you can get some earthworms from your yard (as long as your don't use pesticides or fertilizers), you might get a much better response in terms of their appetite. 20 Gallons is ok...I hope you are using a 20 gallon long though.

A small injury isn't a big deal..should heal quickly...post a pic of the whole tank if you can.

I'm embarrassed by how bad my set up has gotten, but it's much better to be frowned at and help them out than save face and hurt them more.

I took out the cover Pokey was using out after he bonked his head on it, so it's very bare, even moreso since I stripped plant cover after I had to switch to sand. I'm planning on buying new shelter for him soon. Yes, the temperature has spiked, last few days it's gone from 65 to apparently 74 here, and I hadn't realized how dramatic the shift was until I went in to take the picture.

I'm a jobless college student, without enough cash to buy a table for their tank (rather than this enclosed shelf I had to put them in) which is the next step before I get a 20 gallon long tank.

I'm very concerned with the heat now, I'm sending out for parts for their fried water chiller tonight.

Is the temperature severe enough for me to need to find them a cool basement at someone else's house while getting the parts? I just assumed it was a metabolism issue, not a matter of comfort, I feel horrible for letting it get this bad.

You can try frozen water bottles to hep reduce the heat, or a fan blowing on top. And that's not an awful tank, just buy some REALLY cheap PVC pipe as a hide until you an afford better. That tanks a bit small for 2 axies, but I suppose like you said you can't do much at the moment. At least least you have sand, which is good. But water bottles might be your best bet.

Thank you, I feel silly for not thinking about water bottles sooner, I have two freezing right now. Same with the PVC pipe, we have some in the garage.

Again, thank you! I'm sure Pokey will be back to his old self again soon, and until then he can brag that he won that dashing cut in a knife fight behind a biker bar.

If you have a major heat wave, as a last resort you can always fridge them until the temperature returns to normal.