Sick Junior Axolotls - Need some advice

Hi, I have 2 axies about 4 months old, it seems like they may have gotten a bit aggressive with each other. Steve French looks like its missing a leg, an arm, which look like they are regenerating fine, but he has a little bit of white possibly fungus on his gills. He still eats regularly and is active as usual. Bubbles has like a black circle at the end of his right arm with a white substance (most likely fungus) sort of hanging off the end, his gills are also pointing forward. He has not been eating and doesnt seem very active. Should I give them salt baths? do i need to fridge them? i have all the equipment my only concern is shifting them from the tank to the fridge wont that shock them? Or do i put them in the fridge around the same temperature as the tank and then allow it to cool down to the right temperature?

I'll try to get some pictures up just need a camera capable of taking the right shot. I hope you can help me out as I want to make sure that my little buddies are healthy and happy, any help would be much appreciated. Thank you :happy:

Hi Tinicholls95!

Accidental damage among tankmates isn't uncommon but I would be thinking about separating them as it can soon get pretty nasty if limbs are going missing. We'd need a photo to be sure about the fungus, but is the white stuff cottony? Does it appear to come off when they move?

Personally I wouldn't fridge them as they might not need treatment and going in the fridge is actually quite stressful for them, so hold fire for a second. I'd either separate them with a tank separator to prevent further damage or be thinking about separating them into different tanks. I know you want your buddies together but I'd be concerned about them hurting each other again.

Your next step would be to ascertain whether they do in fact have fungus. If you are sure they do, then each fungus-infected axolotl will need salt baths. If not, I would recommend using tea baths and a dechlorinator that uses aloe vera such as Stress Coat + to keep their skins clean and healthy while the wounds heal (don't use tea baths until you're sure it's not fungus though, as the tea will prevent any salt from getting to the fungus. It's a good idea to use tea baths once the fungus has gone however, as it'll soothe their skins).

They're probably not eating because being poorly does stress them out a little. Keep trying with a nutritious and tempting food like earthworms, as this will help them get better quicker. Hope this helps!

Hi, thanks for the great answer. To be honest it doesn't really look that much like cotton. I don't see any white floating around the tank, and it doesnt appear to be coming off while he moves. I was wondering if maybe the fight happened due to under feeding them. The woman i bought them off told me a third of a cube of bloodworms would be fine. Being an owner of an albino clawed frog before this was a bit odd because mine ate a whole cube to himself for his entire lifespan. We did what she said anyways but they seemed to be coming up and biting the water as if they were hungry so we would feed them more. Do you think this could have caused it and should i be feeding them more?

A picture would help, it's easy to see if an axolotl is under or overfed, usually they look pudgy and my juvies tummies scrape the bottom after a good feeding. If their bodies are skinnier than their heads they should be fed more.

Blood worms are good for youngins, earth worms cut into small bite sized chunks are good as well, they're considered the best kind of food for axies, but a varied diet of things like blood worms, brine shrimp, black worms, and/or pellets with the earthworms is the best for growing lotls and adults.

At 3 inches my two could eat a half a cube between them, now they're eating a quarter to a half an earthworm a day at 5-6 inches.

Ya my guys bodies are skinnier then their heads. Can they eat ghost shrimp or minnows?

And i'll try to get pictures ASAP. Also i just fed them and they both ate

Ghost shrimp, brine shrimp, and glass shrimp are all decent snacks for an axolotl. Minnows, however, have a high fat content and should only be fed as treats or if your axolotl is very skinny.

Ghost shrimp are great fun for axies to chase! Minnows are related to carp so are not the best feeder fish, but guppies are good. I have a guppy breeding tank to supply me with small fishies for axies to munch on.

But yes, I would say feed them more - it's better to give them more than they can eat and remove uneaten stuff than to have them going after each other!

Should the little white on his gills be anything to worry about? It kind of just looks like his colour gets lighter there.

I cant se any fungus on the arm or gills. That white "sleeve" on the end of the stump just looks like a limb regenerating. I wouldnt bother salt bathing or fridging, just keep the tank clean and cool. The missing limbs may be down to hunger, if you increase their food the chances of aggression may diminish. You can also increase the water volume so they are less likely to bump into each other and add hides/visual barriers. Yound axolotls are prone to biting each other, if you are concerned about it just seperate them. Removing the gravel would be advisable as it is an impaction risk, it also is harder to remove uneaten food from gravel than a sand or bare glass.

Yea we didn't bother to fridge or salt bath them. What we did do is change the water and leave a part of the tank without gravel to reduce the uneaten food. We've been feeding them more and they seem a lot happier, I'm not too worried about them now just want to change to sand soon. Any advice on washing sand cause me and my girlfriend didn't have a good first experience with that lol.

But thanks for the reply, now i know for sure that they'll be alright.

You can buy prewashed sand, if not , put it in a bucket with a hose at the bottom and leave it run for a couple of hours, keep stiring it so the smaller particles get washed away.

I'm glad the advice helped, and Nai Live's advice on preventing tank fights is spot on. Mine have a total of 7 hides between them and the tank is around 85% filled to give them lots of room. I also feed them by poking their worms into a turkey baster and then dangling it in front of them individually - usually this stops them falling out over dropped food. This, and feeding them two large dendrobaenas a day, has stopped fighting except for the odd nip, which never results in serious damage.

I've never heard of that method of cleaning sand but it does sound more thorough! I used to use hot water and sieve the sand, letting smaller particles get washed away. When you add the sand to your tank, it may still make your water cloudy for a little while, but the filter will clear it no problem.

Hope your bubby is looking better!