Illness/Sickness: HELP! Axolotl seriously injured. need advice fast

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Mr Bear

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Hello everyone. I've owned axolotls for more than a year now, and currently have a major problem. my female albino was attacked really severely by her tank mates. the flesh is hanging off her front legs, and her back legs have gone slimey and flaky. there's also a large chunk missing from the end of her tail. I've Separated and fridged her, and I'm just wondering what to do next. I'm guessing that amputation is my only real option. I've read a few other forum threads and it sounds like waiting for her legs to drop off or heal themselves isn't an option. so I was just after some advice on amputation and the best way to do it. this happened between 12am and 3am this morning by the way. so it's been about 12 hours. I would really appreciate a reply asap. think I might be running on a deadline. no pun intended
 
Before you proceed further, can yo take us some photo's so we can see the damage please?
 
no problem. hopefully these photos attach properly, and that you can see the damage
 

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Mr Bear said:
Hello everyone. I've owned axolotls for more than a year now, and currently have a major problem. my female albino was attacked really severely by her tank mates. the flesh is hanging off her front legs, and her back legs have gone slimey and flaky. there's also a large chunk missing from the end of her tail. I've Separated and fridged her, and I'm just wondering what to do next. I'm guessing that amputation is my only real option. I've read a few other forum threads and it sounds like waiting for her legs to drop off or heal themselves isn't an option. so I was just after some advice on amputation and the best way to do it. this happened between 12am and 3am this morning by the way. so it's been about 12 hours. I would really appreciate a reply asap. think I might be running on a deadline. no pun intended
Click to expand...

slimey and flaky could be the start of the healing process so i would wait and keep an eye out for infections and fungus as axolotls are extraordinary when it comes to healing and if the limbs will not heal their body should shed them and i bet the little girls stressed and cutting/amputating would stress her out more so just keep her on her own and 100% water changes also a water conditioner with aloe vera in it will help her heal
 
Most important thing is not to panic. Don't just go amputating either. I've seen axolotls way more damaged than that back bounce fine. You need to keep it in cool clean water. You don't really have to do this but you can do a quick salt bath. Like I said you don't have to unless you see fungus. Most important though is keep the water quality good and not to stress it out. The legs that are severely damaged should fall off pretty quick.
 
Same thing happened to our axolotl. We fridged her for almost two weeks and returned her to the tank with a tank divider that we'll keep in place until she's fully recovered. She's doing great without the need for amputation.
 
Another issue to address is that your axolotl seems quite thin. What kinds of food are you feeding? How often?

Underfeeding can contribute to 'attacks', as the animal is hungry and sees a tank mate as potential food.
 
ok, amputation can wait then. really wasn't looking forward to that. I'm currently giving her tea baths, and doing 100% water changes every day. She does actually seem a bit better. definitely a little more lively. As to how thin she is, I really don't know why. I feed all three of my axies every other day. she just doesn't seem to eat. she will eat a little bit, but never as much as the other two. since she's been isolated, i have been feeding her blood worms and carp pellets. she hasn't touched them, but I'm hoping this is because she's in the fridge and her metabolism is low
 
also, she has been this emancipated in the past, and we managed to put her weight back on during isolation. it just seems to be when shes in the big tank that she stops eating again. funnily enough it always seems to coincide with going away. tried wax worms, due to high fat content, as well as other things, but she would not go for them. her favourites seem to be carp pellets
 
You may want to try her on worms straight from the garden. I also feed mine every other day but only use worms and they are all plump little critters. :D
 
satyrlike said:
You may want to try her on worms straight from the garden. I also feed mine every other day but only use worms and they are all plump little critters. :D
Click to expand...

Unless there is a chance of fertilizer or other contaminants in the soil.

Sent from my YP-GI1 using Tapatalk 2
 
I can never find any earthworms in the garden :p. but I'll try her on those if I can find some
 
she's swimming more now, although she obviously can't use her arms. still not sure what to do about them. I don't want to amputate if it isn't necessary, but both forearms are basically bones. there's only a little flesh on each, and they just hang whenever she moves, which isn't often
 
They will probably drop off by them selves, I appreciate it is not nice to see, but wait and see for a little bit longer. Keep the water nice and cool and clean in the mean time. It may be worth lowering the water so she can get to the top if necessary. I would offer food twice daily, if she goes for the pellets then use them. Earthworms are best, cut to size if they are too big. If it helps at all, I find earthworms tend to lurk under pots, slabs, grow bags etc. I now put flattened cardboard out on the veg patch to entice worms. However, I appreciate they may be digging deep due to the cold.
 
Myes, the cold definitely won't help in luring out worms...
The best time, I find, is not too long after rain. Don't use a shovel, you'll just cut the worms in pieces. Use a rake-type-thing (lack of English gardening terms here).

Just make sure the ground is bio. (aka no chemicals added to the ground)
 
thanks. that definitely helps. she does appear to be fine at the moment. it just looks really bad. I'll wait and see what happens for now. and thanks for the advice on how to find worms. I just never seem to see any, but I'll have a dig around and see what i find
 
just an update.
Lemon is definitely looking more energetic, but there is some weird flaky black stuff on her. I very VERY gently brushed some off her body, and it just came off, but there's quite alot on her legs. I dont know if this is the healing process, or if its an infection.
also, she keeps rolling onto her side, and then staying like that. or onto her back. i come down in the morning and she'll just be laying there, and every time i panic that she's dead. she's definitely not dead, but i've never seen that behaviour before. is this a normal thing to do? or should i be worried?
 
A photo would definitely help to identify the black 'stuff'

Could it be parasites?
The fact that she is rolling on side might indicate that she's trying to rub then off - As for laying on her back - that is not normal behaviour & may require a trip to a vet to properly diagnose.

Please post a pic! I'm sure the knowledgeable ones here will see it & perhaps have a better idea towards dignosis.



<3 >o_o< <3
 
Hopefully you can see these pictures. this is what she currently looks like. all four legs are dead. she cant move any of them. and she is currently not moving at all. i'm 89% sure she's not dead. but she hasn't moved at all since yesterday. any advice/clues as to what might be happening or what i can do would be greatly appreciated. i really dont want her to die
 

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