Axelina doing corkscrew swimming. Why?

Hi all, I hope somebody can help Axelina. Some background first: Axelina is my disabled axie, who nearly died in November 2006 from a very serious bacterial infection in her nervous system. When she was ill, she could't move, but was just lying on her left side. A month of antibiotic injections made her better, and from then on she has been able to walk nearly normally, apart from she still leans to her left side a bit. She can't swim, but practises nearly every day, and is basically a happy axie with a good appetite. However, recently she has started to do a lot of 'cork screw swimming'. By this I mean she spins around herself like mad, and then lands on her head or back or whatever and doesn't move for a while. This really worries me, as I don't know what's the matter. Her tankwater is perfectly fine, and my other axies are fine. I just hope Axelina is not in pain? Is it possible she is just getting frustrated about not being able to swim? As this often happens after she has been trying to swim unsuccesfully? Also, she was sharing with my other female axie Blackie, so I have now moved Blackie, so Axelina can be on her own without stress.

I don't know what to think, but am obviously worried about my little darling Axelina. Has anybody got any ideas what could be wrong?

I don't know, but if she had a nervous system infection, leans to one side, and can't swim. It sounds like there was some amount of neuropathy. If she still leans, it makes me wonder if she has balance issues. I wonder if you physically turn her upside-down, does she immediately correct herself or is there a lag? I'd imagine corkscrew swimming could result from balance issues too (although torn tails can do it, too). This is entirely speculation, but it could be that she just gets dizzy/confused easily and it takes some time to figure out which way is up. If she's still eating and seems heathly, I wouldn't worry about it.

Millions of thanks for your reply Pete. It was very helpful. And in reply to your question: Yes,Axelina has balance issues. If she ends up on her back, (which regularly happens when she is trying to learn to swim again) it takes her some time to correct herself, it doesn't happen naturally. I was thinking this may be very frustrating for her, and she gets so angry that she panics by 'corkscrew' spinning. But I think you may be right,it does take her time to figure which way is up and she gets confused.
Do you think there is anything that can be done to improve her balance?

Thanks so much again for your very helpful reply.

I don't think it's possible for axolotls to have a complex emotion like frustration. I'd imagine your animal isn't too bothered.

Sorry Benjamin but I can't see a reason why it wouldn't suffer from this emotion...its a living creature.

I don't really know anything about the mechanisms that underlie an axolotl's sense of balance. So I can't offer any advice on improving it. If it is neurological, perhaps in time she can regenerate the correct connections or figure some way to work around it. But I have to add that my balance suggestion is just a guess. I think you could test it by seeing how it responds to disorientation relative to your other axolotls. However, maybe someone else has had a similar problem, and has a better idea.

Also, if is a balance issue, she may not be frustrated by her predicament at all. She might not even be aware that she's upside-down. It wouldn't likely stress about being upside-down if it didn't realize it was a problem. Best of luck.

I would think that if she's eating, a normal weight and not showing any of the normal signs of stress ie curled tail, gills forward, fungal infections, that you can feel secure that she is not in pain or distressed. It does sound like a neurological issue which is probably not likely to be painful if she's otherwise well. She may have problems both sensing her position in the water (eg upside down) and correcting it (known as motor ability). Probably a low-stress environment is that little bit more important for her than your average axie. But I don't think there's anything else you could do to help her; some improvement is probably possible yet. If it was me, I'd probably try and talk to someone who works in lab research with axies at a university if I was worried, as they might be able to give you a more accurate idea of if she may improve from here.

Thank you millions for your replies. Made me feel better, as apart from her balance/corkscrew spinning, Axelina is a healthy axie,bit over-weight, loves eating,curious,communicative etc. So I quess thats its true she can't be too much in pain. Its just painful for me to watch her struggle. Axelina seems to be less stressed now that I have moved Blackie away from her tank, and is walking around peacefully exploring and sniffing around.

Thanks again for your replies, and if anybody has similar experience with any of their axies, please let me know.

I'll keep you posted on her progress, she is a strong girl

Not sure this is going to be any input, but mine used to spine around its self sort of like chasing its tail after a salt bath , only did it once of twice tho

Hi Casper, sometimes axies do corkscrew spinning if they are really spooked or scared about something,I think that may have been the case with your axie,cosits only happened a few times and its not frequent.

And then Axelina update: She is a lot happier since I took Blackie (other axie) away from her tank. She seems stress-free and even her balance when trying to swim is slightly improved. Seems like her problem is both stress-related and her balance problem.I'm cheering her when she nearly manages to swim,and she really seems to enjoy the attention and keeps coming to look at me and then do her 'nearly swimming show' again