Axelina has lost her whole leg!!!

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sherrisixxx

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Help! I just noticed Axelina has lost her front leg! All of it, from the elbow!! I think she must have got stuck somewhere and its been ripped off. She also shares her tank with 2 other axies, but I don´t think they would have been able to bite the whole leg off. And they are not aggressive anyway.

Am so worried, what can I do to help Axelina? I already separated her from the others, and am lowering the temperature in the tank. She is not bleeding anymore.

Please help! What´s the best thing to do to help her quickly, and prevent fungus or other complications?

Many thanks in advance
 
I think maybe you should put your axie in the fridge to help relax it.
 
Keeping her separated is the best thing to do, and this may be sufficient for her to heal on her own. Be sure her water stays very clean at all times.

I think it's most likely that one of the other axies did bite the leg off. You might want to consider adding additional hiding places and plants to the tank before putting her back (after she heals up).
 
sherrisixxx said:
Help! I just noticed Axelina has lost her front leg! All of it, from the elbow!! I think she must have got stuck somewhere and its been ripped off. She also shares her tank with 2 other axies, but I don´t think they would have been able to bite the whole leg off. And they are not aggressive anyway.

Am so worried, what can I do to help Axelina? I already separated her from the others, and am lowering the temperature in the tank. She is not bleeding anymore.

Please help! What´s the best thing to do to help her quickly, and prevent fungus or other complications?

Many thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Hi sherrisixxx,

I might be more inclined to think it was a tank mate that did the job, axies are not aggressive but have poor sight so her leg might have looked like a tasty worm to them.

Separating her was a good move on your part, lowering the temperature was as well. As long as the wound looks clean don't worry about fridging or giving salt baths unless she looks stressed and develops fungus.

As long as you keep her in cool clean water she shouldn't develop fungus.

I hope this helps
Eve
 
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Thanks millions for your kind, very helpful replies. Sounds like I have done the right thing. I have managed to get the tank temperature to 16C centigrates, is this ok, or should I try to lower it even further? I have also offered her food, but she is not interested.
 
16C is fine. Keep offering food as usual. She's been through a lot, and is probably a little too stressed to eat. But she should eat soon.
 
Oh my god! She also has a horn missing! From the other side of her body, not from the same side as the leg is missing. She also has some skin missing from 2 of her toes on the same side as the missing horn.

Could this be an illness? My other 2 axies are fine. What should I do know? Any thoughts?

Millions of thanks in advance
 
You are sure she had all her gills (horns) at the time you separated her? Are you sure there are no other symptoms, like redness or fungus on any body part? If body parts are disappearing while she is in isolation, it does sound more like a disease problem.
 
Am not sure whether the horn (gill) was already missing yesterday. To be honest I didn´t check, cos I was so shocked about her missing leg. I checked her all over today in daylight, and she doesn´t seem to have fungus or similar.Will check her again tomorrow.. She is sooo important to me, I love her!
 
Here is a few pics of my darling girl.Sorry I don´t have a digital camera, so they are taken with my phone.
 

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Axelina has now started eating a bit for the last 2 days. She takes food if I hand feed her, but not if I put food in front of her. ( She would have to take a step to get to the food, but she doesn't really want to move, but prefers to sleep in her hiding place). I think her eating is good news :) . However should I try to encourage her to move a bit too? Her missing leg has now got white on top of the cut. Its not fungus, tho, as its not cottobwool like. Could this be her starting to heal hearself?

Thanks in advance for your kind replies
 
HI All!
Sorry to hear about Axelina!
I just had the same thing happen to our little Gill. He got his whole forearm bitten off by tank mates. There had never been any indication of trouble up to this point. Then he went swimming by one night and looked wobbly and there was his left front leg up to elbow - gone! It was a jagged wound at first, and I noticed his gills on that side just lay against him flat.
Since then I kept an eye on him. He just hid for a day, still ate, but hid right away. Now the wound isn't jagged, the sore is closed up, and he even moves the stump around. The gills have also begun to move naturally again, too.
My question is...how long can it take to regenerate?
I think by their behaviour we can tell if they are doing ok or not. Since he's beginning to act more normally I am not as worried, and am feeding in three separate areas of the tank.
I have noticed that his tank mate is now over twice the size of him, so clearly they are developing at way different rates.
Good luck with the healing
 
pixiegriff said:
HI All!
Sorry to hear about Axelina!
I just had the same thing happen to our little Gill. He got his whole forearm bitten off by tank mates. There had never been any indication of trouble up to this point. Then he went swimming by one night and looked wobbly and there was his left front leg up to elbow - gone! It was a jagged wound at first, and I noticed his gills on that side just lay against him flat.
Since then I kept an eye on him. He just hid for a day, still ate, but hid right away. Now the wound isn't jagged, the sore is closed up, and he even moves the stump around. The gills have also begun to move naturally again, too.
My question is...how long can it take to regenerate?
I think by their behaviour we can tell if they are doing ok or not. Since he's beginning to act more normally I am not as worried, and am feeding in three separate areas of the tank.
I have noticed that his tank mate is now over twice the size of him, so clearly they are developing at way different rates.
Good luck with the healing
Click to expand...

Hello,

as far as I can tell healing depends mostly on the health and age of an axie. Younger axolotls will heal a bit faster than older ones. Obviously healthy ones regenerate faster. It can take a few weeks, a few months or a few years for them to re-grow something.
Hope this answers your question,
Eve
 
madeve said:
Hello,

as far as I can tell healing depends mostly on the health and age of an axie. Younger axolotls will heal a bit faster than older ones. Obviously healthy ones regenerate faster. It can take a few weeks, a few months or a few years for them to re-grow something.
Hope this answers your question,
Eve
Click to expand...

Thanks a bunch! He' acting as if he's not even missing anything now! His gills are smaller than they were, I would imagine stress from the incident. But he's active and eating and batting his new stump around like it's whole...so tough little dude!
 
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