Question: Broken gill

HI guys, I'm new to the forum anyway I bought an axolotl last week from this ****ty fish shop up in town. Its black i'll post some photos, but they wont be close enough to see the broken gill, witch brings me to my point I was inspecting Hendrix the axolotl and from the back I could see that he has a broken gill like its been snapped in half and it looks white where the injury is but it dosn't look like cotton wool fungus it looks more like its calcified and there is no weeping or bleeding it looks dry has been eating well. Tank params are fine. Do you think i should be doing salt baths, tea baths, or do you guys think i should just leave it. Ps I know that the injury is at least 3 weeks old because the shop only had them in for 2 weeks and I've had him a week and he was in a isolated tank in the shop and he is in isolation at the moment. Any comments or advice are very welcome.
Ps are axolotls relativly lazy or is it just mine? lol oh yeah and the rest of his gills are in shabby condition but no signs of fungus, just seems like he has a few missing strands just don't no if I should be worried or not. Also he seems to only eat live worms when I feed him pellets he spits them out the next day. Maybe he just fussy!

Well now after further inspection I believe that Hendrix does in fact have some type of fungus. It has turned white and fluffy, so I will be starting salt water baths asap. I have a couple of questions though, number 1. Should I be rubbing the fungus off his gill when I am salt water bathing him or should I leave it come off by its self?
Number 2. Should I be lowering his tank temperature? at the moment its at 18c.
If I do need to lower his tank temp at what rate should I lower it

Try to softly remove the fungus. If it doesn't come of in a few days after salt baths per day or very second day it should actually become softer and more easily removed I found this with my axolotl make sure you don't leave your axolotl in the salt bath for too long. 18 should be an okay temperature but you can fridge him. This could also Asist in helping him recover

Thank you for the prompt advice. I will try leaving the fungus like you say, and then after a few days I'll try and remove it, and I would fridge him, but my fridge has broken seals and so it frosts in parts of the fridge, no stable temp lol. So for now I'll just try the salt baths. Thanks for the advice. Is non iodized rock sea salt OK to use? Just wondering what is the most common cause of fungus? because if this forum is anything to go by seems like heaps of peoples axolotls get it. I used to own axolotls and they never got fungus but this new one I have just seem to come with it from the shop.
Once they get the fungus do they tend to keep getting back once in a while?or are you rid of it for good as long as keep great tank parameters and clean tank? PS glom looks cool and like my hendrix

If your axolotl has any kind of injury it can often promote the growth of fungus. I am not sure if it comes back. I would assume if the axalotl was kept in a tank with regular water changes and was healthy then I'd assume the chances of a fungal infection would be low :\ however I am no expert. Salt baths are a good idea. Do not leave him in for over 10 mins The process can be pretty harsh on the skin. I salt bathed mine twice and his skin started peeling, so now he's on tea baths too! So if your axolotl experiences irritation you could also give him tea baths with normal black tea with no additives, it's soothing to the skin

Yes that type of salt should be suitable. heres a link to the instructions on how to mix a safe salt solution. Caudata Culture Articles - Salt Solutions in Treating Salamanders

It's a good idea not to fridge him if you cant control or predict the temperature as it should not get lower than 5 degrees.

is your axie still eating?

heres a link concerning tea baths. it's around the middle of the page
Caudata Culture Articles - Illness Part 2

Yes he is still eating, its strange though because he won't eat much. He just likes 1 medium sized earth worm a day. If I try and feed him more he just wont eat it. But if I offer him just one a day he will eat it.

ps Thanks for help and links

Just wanted to update you all today. I did the first salt bath. I dechlorinated the water then got it to temp , ph out of my tap is good lol lucky me. Then put the salt in the water, after I melted down in boiled water and let cool. So then I got Hendrix out of his tank put him in the water he squirmed a bit at first. When I put him in and about after 15 seconds he settled down is this normal ?
Then after about seven minutes of him been in the bath I started to worry so I took him out. I put him back in his tank . When I put him in he just sat there for a while and then he put his head underneath the filter, he only does that when he is really stressed so am I doing all of this right or is there something else? Also does anyone know how many days its safe to do the salt baths in a row?

Yeah it appears he's very stressed salt baths can do this. Did any of the fungus come off?I'd let him be for a while if salt baths are to stressing try a tea bath. If you follow the link t will show you how to do it properly, you can leave Jim in it for as long as you like. though it's not quite as effective against fungus but maybe it's a better option if he's that stressed. The only other option is to salt bath him in conjunction with fridging this would reduce stress but if your frige is shotty perhaps it's not the beat idea

was the water the same temperature as his original water? You could try using less salt. Stress is expected as he's a fresh water animal. You can do it for concecutave days in your case maybe try every other day, try reducing the salt amount maybe to a tea spoon of salt per litre anythings better than nothing

also try not boiling it. Try and allowing it to mix in the cold water with sturing because if you boil it it could increase the intensity of the salt because boiling involves the evaporation of water patentially effecting salt concentration.

Don't attempt the salt baths until he calms, try to reduce stress as much as possile. It's a good sign if he keeps eating too. he might not at the moment due to stress but later when he settles let me know

Ok. Just an update. Yes he is still eating and I made sure the water was the same temperature as his tank water. Yesterday when I did the bath, just about to do the second bath, he seems to have relaxed, as he is not hiding and he is eating. I have also lowered the temp of his tank to 16c from 18c so I hope this helps. My heater doesn't go any lower and the temp in my room swings to much not to have the heater on in winter , without a good fridge its the best I can do for temp. Just wondering, has anyone out there successfully got rid of fungus with just salt baths and no fridging? Thanks for the help. I will try not boiling the water the salt goes in and see how that goes. If he apears really stressed again this time I will try lowering the salt concentration, as you have advised. The fungus has not really moved yet but its only been 24 hours. Ok, off to do second salt bath, will do an update when finished. I was reading that you shouldnt mix tea baths with salt baths is this true ?

Re: Broken gill and fungus

I just performed the second salt bath, prepared everything the same as yesterday but after about 5 minutes he started getting restless so I took him out put him back in the tank.
Straight away he went and hid his head under the filter and just kept trying to get further under it ,which he can't. He does have a pvc tube to hide in, but when he is stressed, prefers the filter, l don't know why. I mean the rest of his body is exposed lol. He would be much better hidden in the tube . Anyway, so because he didn't last very long in the salt bath this time, I have decided that I will lower the concentration to 1 teaspoon per litre and see how that goes. Fungus is still present and hasn't seemed to come of yet. I am wondering if tomorrow, when I do the next salt bath if I should try and get the fungus of myself with a cotton bud, or if I should just leave it to break away on its own. I did follow the link it doesn't seem to give very detailed axolotl instructions. Thanks anyway, I feel so terrible doing this but I believe it is necessary to fix him however I am very annoyed at the pet shop that sold me him, I mean I suppose on one hand if I didn't take him he probably just would have died.
But NOW I have him, I love him .Its just I hope that this works, because it is so much work to get all the water prepared every day , it's like doing daily water changes lol but not .
Thoughts anyone?
I just inspected Hendrix again he has relaxed again, but I noticed that the tips of his feet have lost there colour is this normal and is this an indication of anything?

You can rub his fungus to try and remove it if it's heaps stuck it should become looser. Tea baths can lower the effect of salt baths because it closes the pores but if your axies that stressed maybe it's better.

A highish temp can increase fungal growth whas the temp without heater?

I will try removing the fungus tomorrow. I will try reducing salt, but if he keeps seeming really stressed I'll try the tea bath after a few hours of letting him relax, with the light off. I went in the room and he was just chilling out. Then he stood up like he was hungry so I went out in the dark with a torch and got him a juicy worm, which he ate straight away . I am taking this as a good sign.

I have heard of it being used, but that is about all I know...sorry....I am pretty sure it is in another thread. platterpus is the person that was talking about it(from memory)...I don't know how to attach other threads, but I will try and find it for you and bring it back to the top of the forum index. I found it. it is "white stuff on my axie gills"

thanks for the link

If you use the search function toward the top of the page, in the green bar, you will find other posts regarding the use of this.. The search button is very useful.

out of interest how big in that tank?

30 Litres of actuall water un tank but it is just temperary hendrix will be moving into my 200 litre tank when and if he gets all better.

bellabelloo said:

If you use the search function toward the top of the page, in the green bar, you will find other posts regarding the use of this.. The search button is very useful.

Click to expand...

THANK you will try your advise.