Question: Wound or Natural?

Please help me understand what this is so that I can make adjustments to his environment if need be! He is my little buddy and I want to make sure he has the best home! He has a white sand substrate and two HOB aquaclears, a 30 and a 50. I attached two pictures of his belly and one of the overall tank if anyone can point something out. My best guess is that he scraped it one time when he was bumped and freaked out and swam around or that it is just something he has had all this time and I havent noticed. Thank you anyone who helps!

Oh my gosh that's the fattest axolotl I've seen! What are you feeding it and how often?
And I think he is actually a she
I haven't seen anything like that, so I'll guess it's a wound. Check all the ornaments in the tank for sharp bits. I see there are fish in the tank, it may have been the fish that nibbled away at the skin?
How big is your tank? You may want to look into an upgrade, especially with the size of her :grin:

I feed it Canadian nightcrawlers, maybe one or two max a day. Whenever the little buddy is hungry he/she chills at the front of the tank on the right and waits haha. May I ask why you say it's a she? I dont believe it could have been the fish since it's the underside but I won't rule it out, my best guess is ornaments but I dont think any of it is sharp. It's a 15gallon tank I've had this one in since it was about 3 inches and I'm already in the process of upgrading to a 33 long.

Doesn't look too bad, up the water changes and maintain water quality and take note of how it develops. Btw are those white clouds?

Okay will do, water quality is frequently tested and stays at 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and 10-20 nitrates typically. Its external though right? Doesn't seem like anything internal. And yes those are white clouds, a school of 6. They never mess with or bite the axolotl and he/she never tries eating them. Think the little buddy is just too lazy to try to snack on them.

Indeed, i have found that as well water temp compatible and peaceful, pretty sure we can rule them out , plus they are good snacks.

Water specs are perfect from them numbers as well.

To me it seems like something external indeed. I would follow it for a week and if it seems to get worse maybe get some mild meds that might aid preventing secondary infections

Btw , do you have some more pictures of the axie? Would love to see some more of the chubster

Haha thank you! They are peaceful and enjoy same temps and everything. Also no defensive spines so if they were eaten it would be okay, but i hope they dont get eaten its fun to see a full tank. Alright though I will do, what kind of mild meds would you recommend? I have never had to treat an axolotl for anything so I am inexperienced here. Does the same medication for fish apply to axolotls like API General Cure or Erythromycin or is it a whole other category?

Here are some more pictures of my little buddy!

Turtledrew15 said:

I feed it Canadian nightcrawlers, maybe one or two max a day. Whenever the little buddy is hungry he/she chills at the front of the tank on the right and waits haha. May I ask why you say it's a she? I dont believe it could have been the fish since it's the underside but I won't rule it out, my best guess is ornaments but I dont think any of it is sharp. It's a 15gallon tank I've had this one in since it was about 3 inches and I'm already in the process of upgrading to a 33 long.

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Females are shorter and fatter, and don't have a big bump under the tail. So, looks like a girl to me! I thought mine was a male but recently I'm thinking it may be female :bowl:

Turtledrew15 said:

Haha thank you! They are peaceful and enjoy same temps and everything. Also no defensive spines so if they were eaten it would be okay, but i hope they dont get eaten its fun to see a full tank. Alright though I will do, what kind of mild meds would you recommend? I have never had to treat an axolotl for anything so I am inexperienced here. Does the same medication for fish apply to axolotls like API General Cure or Erythromycin or is it a whole other category?

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In my personal opinion,

General cure and E.M from API should be safe.Some meds are but always do a research before using them.

Melafix is also anti septic and have mild local anti bacterial properties. But it is NOT a cure. Once again I would never use Melafix as cure, EVER. For that I would go with something like Api E.M or Furan etc.

However I have used melafix with fishes and axie which had some fin damage,for healing with some ok result, was it the daily water changes also a factor? for sure.

I have used Melafix with axies without ill effects in the past. Always in prescribed doses / times and always follow the first dose very close aka observations in case something unusual happens so i could react and get it out of the water colon if needed.

After all you can be allergic to vitamin b and then die

I have used eSHa 2000 without any ill effects on my axie ( had to treat the tank for other inhabitants infact while my axie was in it).

Give it a week, if its getting worse and theres no improvement then i would medicate just to be on the safe side.

Unless there is a lot of camera distortion in that third picture, I'd say your axolotl is a dwarf. Her midsection is really small, that's why she looks so fat.

Regarding the redness, definitely a wound. Personally, I'd take her to the vet.

I'm pretty sure it is distortion. I was taking a picture with my phone from a weird angle trying to get a shot real quick for this thread haha. And If I dont see any signs of reduction or healing I'll definitely see about a vet appointment thanks for the idea! I'm not too sure if I would want to medicate myself, too worried of messing up.

Make sure the vet is familiar with axolotls, or has someone they can refer you too