New axolotls, no legs

Hi folks,


I just recently bought 2 axolotls from a local I found on the internet, but I didn't realize the condition they would come in. Both of them are 2.5 inches long, so they ought to have legs, but they only have these little stumpy things, so I'm 99% sure the legs were bitten off or something. This is the third day I've had them, and they both seem to be doing well otherwise. Today they ate a cube of blood worms, and are actively swimming around quite often with no signs of bloating or floating/sinking problems. They don't have the curly tail syndrome either, which I hear I should watch out for.



Is there anything I should do to make sure they recover well, besides keeping the water cool and clean? (This is my first time keeping axolotls, but I have kept freshwater fish and dwarf frogs for 10+ years).What are the chances the limbs will grow back successfully?


Thanks!

As long as the water is clean and cool like you said they should grow back just watch out that they aren't attacking each other. If they do you will need to separate. If they are the same size they should be fine
Can you attach some photos? I'd love to see!

Hayleyy said:

As long as the water is clean and cool like you said they should grow back just watch out that they aren't attacking each other. If they do you will need to separate. If they are the same size they should be fine
Can you attach some photos? I'd love to see!

Click to expand...

Thanks, that's great to hear! So far, they seem to be getting along fine, and they aren't snapping at each other.

In the second two pictures, you can see House and Wilson's little stumpy leg beginnings... (Wild type = House, leucistic = Wilson)

I don't have many decorations right now, but I'm planning on moving them to my 40g once I have it planted.

Are there any plants I shouldn't have with axolotls?

They look lovely! I am almost wondering if they just haven’t grown legs at all yet.
As for plants, it depends on the axolotl. Sometimes the axolotls will randomly eat some bits of the plant, but that shouldn’t have long term consequences. I kept Christmas moss, marimo moss balls, Anubias, and hair algae in with Toothless before he morphed and he had no issue with any of those.

RoreyRoreyRorey said:

They look lovely! I am almost wondering if they just haven’t grown legs at all yet.
As for plants, it depends on the axolotl. Sometimes the axolotls will randomly eat some bits of the plant, but that shouldn’t have long term consequences. I kept Christmas moss, marimo moss balls, Anubias, and hair algae in with Toothless before he morphed and he had no issue with any of those.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I'm definitely getting some more marimo. They like to sleep on their marimo a lot.

As a breeder, i always keep hatchlings and juveniles together - i have found that nips only happen when there is a lack of food...

I'm glad the babies are with you now, keep them well fed - see if you can get indian almond leaves to put in the tank, and as long as you keep taking care of them, it normally takes around a month to regenerate a limb. Just realize that they have 4 limbs to regenerate.. so keep them well fed (they might not grow in length that much while this is happening, just be prepared for the possibility)


Keep up the good work!

For the plants you want something that is suitable for cold water and don't need much light. Anubias varieties, java fern and moss, lilaeopsis and hairgrass, congenis and narrow chain sword are the types I usually see recommended. Also marimo moss balls!
I've currently got Anubias, Java fern and hairgrass in my tank and they're going great
Super cute axies!

I was about to post the same question about my axolotls with no legs. Yours look like a couple of axolotls I just purchase 5 days ago. You don't didn't happen to purchase them from a lady on Victoria Drive in Vancouver? This woman had about 20-30 in each bin.

It's good to know that they will hopefully grow back there legs. Either way I love the little guys or gals.

In the pictures, I noticed you have sand in your tanks. I'm new to axolotls but I thought there should be no substrate in the tanks until they are about 5" long or so. There's the risk of ingesting the sand and causing impaction. Can someone clarify when it's fine to uses sand?

Kingfisher said:

I was about to post the same question about my axolotls with no legs. Yours look like a couple of axolotls I just purchase 5 days ago. You don't didn't happen to purchase them from a lady on Victoria Drive in Vancouver? This woman had about 20-30 in each bin.

It's good to know that they will hopefully grow back there legs. Either way I love the little guys or gals.

In the pictures, I noticed you have sand in your tanks. I'm new to axolotls but I thought there should be no substrate in the tanks until they are about 5" long or so. There's the risk of ingesting the sand and causing impaction. Can someone clarify when it's fine to uses sand?

Click to expand...

Sorry for the late reply! I'm not sure where the lady was from as I met her at a Skytrain station.



In terms of the sand, I was told that having fine sand is no problem. My axies are pretty proficient at spitting the sand out, and as far as I can see, the bits that they swallow (because Wilson is see-through) have no problems being passed through their system.

How are the regrowth of the legs so far?

My two guys who had just stumps, has regrown their almost all their legs. "Dim" has grown all 4 legs with one front leg shorter than the other. And "Sum" has 3 legs, 2 back and one front leg with a nub for the other front leg so far. I had them for just other 4 weeks and have doubled in length, from 2" to 4".