Strange gill growth, damage caused, all my fault.

For a while my axolotl has what looks like a piece of bloodworm stuck in his gills. Yesterday I thought I would try and remove it as he hasn't been moving the right gills properly and I didn't want it to get infected. So I tried to tweak it out with a cotton bud but I couldn't get it. So stupidly I thought I would try and gently tease it out with some tweezers. I was so worried it was going to become infected. But as I tried and thought I had got it, my axolotl just started gushing with blood from the gill.Petrified, I kept swapping him from clean water to clean water until it stopped. Which it did.

It stopped, so I gave his tank a massive scrub, put him back in and he was fine. Quiet, but fine. Then it happened again this morning. I looked over the tank to make sure he was okay and he went to snap at me like I had food. After this, he starts bleeding, but this time, instead of gushing, it was like a tap. Its now bleeding this moment, and he keeps twisting his head and trying to scratch it. Was going to fridge in clean water. No loss of appetite but when I did feed him, he threw up. It bleeds from this strange attachment which isn't actually attached to any gills as far as I can see. It comes straight from his head.

He has been with another axolotl recently who has been bullying him, so I have split them for good now. Don't know if this has anything to do with it? The last picture shows one gill not as red as the other two, and its directly underneath this that there is the weird attachment.

Please don't think I am an awful pet owner. I really am not, I have 4 healthy happy axolotls. I just feel so stupid and irresponsible for what I have done. I really was worried this 'bloodworm' was going to become infected. If I lose him I don't know what I will do. His my whole world and I love him to pieces, just like all my other animals. Please don't think I'm awful.

One of mine has something similar on his gills, as yet it has never caused any problem.

With regards to the bleeding, bare in mind the gills are full of flood vessels. If they get injured the do bleed a lot. A while ago one of mine was snapped at by his tank mate and a couple of filaments where removed....it bled a lot and I was worried for a bit. Over a couple of days it would restart, but it did settle down and heal.
I would leave it alone, maybe remove him into a bare container to avoid it being knocked.I am sure he will be fine. Do keep us posted on how he is doing.

Nicky we all know how much you love and look after your axies, would not have given you my 2 babies otherwise!!

As Julia has said try not to stress too much I am sure it will heal in time, just keep him in clean and cool water and sure all will be fine! xx

Hello,

Thank you so much for both your replies. You must think I am terrible.

I just panic every time I see the amount of blood that is lost. He keeps leaning to one side and scratching his gills. Is this normal?

I've been keeping him in the fridge to keep him cool and calm with clean dechlorinated water. Should I take him out the fridge? Or will it benefit him?

Also, just as piece of mind in case something does happen, do you know where I can find my nearest vet that has experience in axolotls?

P.S He was having trouble with that gill side in moving it before this happened?

Hi, my axolotl is now spitting out debris, I can only explain it as broken up poop he is spitting out. What does this mean?

Anyone??? Sorry I am just panicking a bit. Had some very good advice from someone else, but want to know what others think?

I'm afraid I don't have experience with this particular situation, but have you thought about giving him a few salt baths to help the healing? It will help close up the wound if nothing else.

If he's spitting out poop, that means he's been eating it. Which means he's either too hungry or stressed out about something.

I would keep him in the fridge for a while and one or two salt baths a day for the wound. It will also prevent infection, just don't leave him in too long. The salt may do a little damage to his gills, but just follow the instructions carefully and you should be fine. Good luck, and keep us posted on how he's doing.

Salt baths are used generally to treat fungus problems. I would advise against using it for this. .
Would you be able to post a picture of your axolotl from above and from the side?
What have you been feeding it lately too?

Hi,

Thank you both for you replies. He hasn't bled anymore so I am pretty confident that the wound has closed up and healed now. Fingers crossed.

Waking up this morning he seems a bit chirper. His legs have gone down now, but last night I took this picture. I also took a video of what he was doing, but I am not sure how to upload videos on here without using youtube. Basically he was sitting in the position in the picture you can see, and twitching both his feet every couple of seconds. Although many people say this is normal axolotl behaviour, he has never ever done this since I have had him.

Before he started bleeding I was feeding him bloodworm. It was a different brand from usual, and I got it from a place where I got one of my axolotls from. There care of axolotls wasn't great but I thought the food might be okay. Someone suggested to me that it might of been stored wrong and gone off? He also had a few pellets too. Hasn't eaten worms in a long while, I always offer, but he never takes them, or takes them and then spits them out.

His legs were splayed to the point of where his feet actually poked out the water. It was a very panicking sight for me as I have never seen it before.



Thanks again for the replies.