HELP! Attacked Juvi Axi - no limbs working

Hello Guys,

Please help, about 2 months ago i put my juvi axi in with my adult ones.

I have come home 2day to find that she has been severely attacked by the other 2.

the have attacked all 4 limbs and ripped on of her front ones off and one of her back ones dont move. therefore she is now struggling to swim/ move. I have now put her in her old tank.

could someone please advise on what i should do with her next as i don't want her heath to deteriorate.

i will try and post a pic up.

Please help.

chloe

Keep it cool and well fed. Keep an eye out for fungus or infection. In the quarantine tank, make sure it has lots of places to hide, and can get to the surface to gulp air if it wants to.

Upon reading other peoples posts about missing limbs , most of them suggest putting them in the fridge! should i do this one with mine and do i just put tank water in?

regards

You could put it in the fridge. It wouldn't cause any harm.

Please the the pics i have uploaded, her legs are all red (they are normally white) and one is hanging off. anymore ideas please help. x

Poor thing! Yeah, stick it in the fridge. This will help her destress. You'll have to change the water in the fridge container regularly. This MUST be done with water that is the same temperature and is dechlorinated, if you need to dechlorinate your water. Keep trying food. It probably won't eat, but still try. Cool, clean, and well fed.

hello,

i have put her in the fridge now, how long do u think i should keep her in for?

Thats an awful shame, however I do have an understanding of how you feel. As Kaysie has already pointed out keep the axolotl in the fridge and keep her quiet and as dark as you can. Placing a thick towel around the container you have her in will help with this.
You will need to be very observant over the next few days/weeks. As long as you keep her water good and clean you shouldn't have any problems.
If you spot any fungus this will need to be treated with salt baths. Fungus looks like cotton wool, its quite easy to see.
There is a good chance she will refuse food while you are keeping her in the fridge.
The leg that is hanging off may very well rot away and drop off. This will need to be removed from the water quickly so it doesnt foul the water.
It may take quite a few weeks for her to recover fully.

I will post information on salt bath treatment should you need it.

Saltbath treatment is:
2=3 teaspoons of uniodised table salt/sea salt or aquarium/tonic salt per litre of dechlorinated water.

Make sure to dissolve the salt. If using the aquarium/chunky salt, crush it so it dissolves easier.
Then add your axolotl to the bath - s/he may find it a little irritating at first. Cover with lid. Ensure it stays in minimum of 10 minutes, but no longer than 15minutes.
Saltbaths need to be done twice a day during the week (or 3 times per day if able).

If fridging the axolotl make sure to put the saltbath in the fridge so it's the same temperature as it's fridging container to avoid fluctuating temperatures which can be just as stressful to the axie.

Empty the saltbath after each use and make up a fresh one each time.

You could also try picking the fungus off with tweezers if you feel confident enough to do so without harming your axolotl, a steady hand is needed though.
Continue with the saltbaths for around 4-5 days after all the fungus has dissapeared.

I hope she recovers well for you....Good luck!

I would give her a week in the fridge. I kept mine in the fridge whilst recovering from an attack from another axie but her injuries were nowhere as severe as yours.
Keep us posted, she may need longer in the fridge.

thank you for your help green eyes. one more thing about keeping her in the fridge- should i change the water every day? thAnks

Yes change 100% of the water daily.

Good luch with your little one. Poor baby!

Change the water every day completely. The easiest way to do this is to fill a bottle or suitable container with fresh dechlorinated water or you could do as I did and take a bottle of water from the axolotl tank and place this in the fridge. That way when you come to change the water the temperature of the clean water will be the same as the temperature in the axolotls container.

If the fungus doesn't clear up and continues to spread, you might have to consider amputation. Some people have done this in the past to stop the spread of infection. The longer she battles with the fungal infection, the greater the chances of her immune system lowering, which will pave the way for opportunistic parasites.

Jay.

at the moment , she has no fugus as this only happened less the 24hrs ago. should i start saltbathing her daily to try and stop her getting fugus??

please excuse me for all the questions , as nothing like this as ever happened before and i am riddled with guilt.

chloe

I'm definitely not an expert, but I'm pretty sure salt baths can't be used as a preventative - only do them if fungus appears. Otherwise they can cause more harm than good.

Good luck, I'm sure she will recover fine with you taking such good care of her :happy:

UPDATE - i have just gone home to check on her , she is still alive which is a plus, but her movement is almost nill , but i am assuming this is becuase shes in the fridge.

as for the fugus , i will have to keep a close eye one it as she is so pale , and i belive the fugus is white? - please correct me if this it wrong.

chloe

She won't move much in the fridge. And she will be pale. That's normal.

Fungus usually appears as fuzzy patches.

Oh, poor darling! the advice above is good, and the fridge is the best place for her. She won't move or eat much,though,but it will keep her calm and hopefully healing. Keep offering food daily, even if she/he doesn't eat.And make sure your fridge temperature is between 5-10C. Good luck

Neke said:

I'm definitely not an expert, but I'm pretty sure salt baths can't be used as a preventative - only do them if fungus appears. Otherwise they can cause more harm than good.

Good luck, I'm sure she will recover fine with you taking such good care of her :happy:

Click to expand...

Neke's right. Salt baths can be stressful in themselves. They should only be done when and if your littlie needs them.

If there is any chance of finding a vet that will treat this patient, it would be helpful to amputate the dead parts of the limbs. However, if a vet is not possible, then what you are doing is the best you can do. I have seen an axolotl recover from injury to all 4 limbs, but not as severe as this one.
http://www.herpvetconnection.com/uk.shtml