Partial dismemberment, need help!

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I have two full grown axolotls. One is a 6.5 year old male, the other is a 3.5 year old female. The female has bite the male's left forelimb VERY badly today or last night. Much of the meat is missing and skeletonized limb is sticking out. It makes me uncomfortable thinking about it. I've never had this happen before and I don't know what to do. I've had juvenile ones completely remove body parts and survive and regrow them. I've never had just skeletonized limbs before, or on a old one. The wounded male has looked a little paler this passed week though.

Right now I moved the suspected aggressive one to another tank of aged partially aged water. Each has an airstone.

What do we do? Sorry the picture sucks! DSCN1775.jpg
 
I'm worried about infection and how it could heal. Should I cut the bones off and let the stub heal? Should I put him in a fridge? A salt bath? I've used Jungle Brand Fungus Clear (active ingredients: nitrofurazone, furazolidone, and potassium dichromate) in the past but is it necessary now? It could burn the wound! I covered the aquarium with a towel so the lights in my house going on and off don't add to his stress.
 
Just leave it in cold clean water. My 3 year old leg was turned to mush, eventually it fell off and is growing back. It will probably take a little longer to regrow just because it is older. So don't worry about it unless you notice fungus.
 
As said, because axolotls are fantastic healers little to no treatment is necessary in general. Keep his water cool and clean and keep an eye out for any sore tissue or fungus. If they occur, salts baths are your aid :happy:
 
As said above definitely keep an eye out for fungus etc, i would suggest a smaller container in a drawer that doesn't get used or similar, just to make sure it stays cool and dark :)
 
Thanks for the reassuring words. He has lived through a lot I think he can heal. One time, when he was white, he looked like he had leprosy and somehow survived, although he's now white. I still don't know how or why that happened.

The skeletonization looks so GROSS though. Does that effect the healing process, to have bones but nothing on them? How does it heal?
 
I could be wrong, but I think by have the bones your axolotl would not have to use energy regrowing bones and can use the energy to regrow the flesh and skin. Like everyone has said, keep an eye out for fungus.
 
End of day three after the wound.

He keeps spitting the worms out. I'm thinking of trying to force feed him I'm worried because I've never tried it before. Why does he spit them out? I usually feed them Canadian nightcrawlers from Wal-Mart. I'm thinking of trying to get something smaller for him to eat. I'm worried he'll become weak.

I also can't tell if that stuff near his wound is fungus or shreds of meat!

Are there any risks to putting Jungle Brand Fungus Clear (active ingredients: nitrofurazone, furazolidone, and potassium dichromate to stop the fungus? Its worked a bunch of times when he was younger and not hurt. Does it have some sort of detrimental effect on his health, even though it cures the fungus? Does it have a cost?

My room is about 68 degrees. I could move him to the garage where its probably around 60 degrees (farenheit). Should I fridge him? How long does it take for fungus to kill an axolotl?
 
Poor baby. Like everyone else has said, axies are amazing healers and by keeping the water clean and cool, you're doing a good job :).

Could you cut the worm into smaller pieces and try feeding him? I had to do that for my axolotl when she was smaller and couldn't handle a bigger worm (I feed them the same thing, nightcrawlers from Walmart XD)

Is there anyway to tell if the stuff by the wound is more cotton wool like? That would be fungus.

The Jungle Brand Fungus Clear, it looks like it might be safe (Axolotls - Health & Diseases talks about a medication called Nitrofura-G which has potassium dichromate and Furazolidine and has been used in low doses with no ill effects.) But with amphibians, medicating can be tricky (touchy buggers). Most people use salt baths to clear up fungal infections instead.
 
I would bet its meat. My axolotl wouldn't eat either. It's just stressed. Give a little time. If it doesn't eat after two weeks then maybe think about trying to force feed. Axolotls can go for a long time without food.
 
Its been about a week now since the incident. My wounded axolotl has been eating every day now and that makes me feel better. I think he can survive this. He does, however, have a friggen BONE sticking out of his body. The other bones dropped off, will this one drop off too or will flesh grow over it? I can't imagine a bone sticking out of an animal for the rest of its life. The bone has some blackish-greenish-blueish **** on it. I think thats' just the Fungus Clear on it. I know nothing of medicine, but should an open wound be covered with something? Or is the Fungus Clear enough to prevent infection?

Anyone have experience with this? DSCN1795.jpg
 
I wouldn't use any chemicals, especially anything that contains malachite green (which contains copper). This can be quite toxic to amphibians.

These types of wounds generally heal up without much intervention. The leg will regenerate. Whether or not the bone drops off, or flesh grows over it depends on how damaged the bone is.
 
My wounded axolotl is still alive and meat is regenerating over the bone, but not all of it yet. He is still very skinny and his toes look black and small. Does this mean they are deteriorating? If I can I'll post a picture later. I've pretty much stopped with the chemicals and I put a tank divider in the 30 gallon. Sometimes, they line up nose-to-nose and look at each other! Its sad but I don't know what to do, she friggen BIT HIS ARM OFF!
 
The black toes are a sign of sexual maturity. Axolotls don't usually mean to hurt their tank mates. Don't worry too much they probably aren't missing each other.
 
Black toes are a normal sign on an axolotl of sexual maturity. Not a reliable indicator for really young ones, but not something to be worried about. As to separating them, keep it like that- contact through the glass is better than loosing another limb. In a few months (once he's got all his limbs back), perhaps try reintroducing them. For me, I found that it was a matter of giving the snappy one time to de-sensitize really helped.
Keep your head up- you're doing really well so far!
 
Here they are, after the seperation. Look how much... plumper one looks than the other. Is something wrong with the skinny one?
 

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Hmm... Mr. Skinny definitely looks like a boy! As to the more hefty one, the body shape to me is suggesting "girly", but could you get a larger pic of her back end? Also a pic of both from above?
I ask because females tend to be quite a bit heavier in their body set than males :)
 
So far, he seems to be healing, but there are problems. He is growing a new arm, in what used to be his armpit. The old bone is still attached. This picture is a week old or so, but my axolotl's... bottom is turning black and there are black splotches all over his body. There is a thin layer of black crud on the bottom of the aquarium. He is floating upside down and his having an increasingly difficult time eating. Three years ago, his entire body was black. He started life as a wild type axolotl then he changed one day, I thought he was dying back then and that's probably why I joined the forum in 2009. Now I have removed him from the 30 gallon aquarium into a shallow tub of water and I leave a worm on the bottom of it, hoping to minimize any effort needed to eat. When I get a better picture of his bottom, I'll post it.

What is the black stuff?
Why is he floating?
Why is his eating labored?
If he survived the original attack and is regrowing an arm, why is he looking sickly all of the sudden?

His tankmate has never looked healthier.
 

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