Damaged Tail

[AMurry24537]

My axolotl keeps damaging his tail and I have no idea how or why. He is alone in his tank and nothing has sharp edges. This has been going on for the last 3 or 4 months and each time it seema to be getting better, another chunk goes missing. Here's a few pictures I took over the last few months. The one with the big chunk missing was just today. Does anybody body have any ideas on what's going on or how to help him get better??

 

[Calgarycoppers]

Do you have a cover over your filter intake??

 

[axie owner]

does it have a hide if so it might get its tail stuck underneath it. also it might be nipping its own tail. perhaps it has gotten into the habit of nipping its tail. i really don't know. could you show the whole tank in a photo please?

 

[AMurry24537]

Do you have a cover over your filter intake??

It's a sponge filter, so that's the only intake

 

[AMurry24537]

does it have a hide if so it might get its tail stuck underneath it. also it might be nipping its own tail. perhaps it has gotten into the habit of nipping its tail. i really don't know. could you show the whole tank in a photo please?

The possibility of the hide being the problem is quite possible. Sorry, I don't have a good photo at the moment and I'm not home to take one. He has a cave that sits almost in the corner. He has moved it on accident in the past (sometimes he panics if I bump my desk), so I know he can move it, but not easily. I had also wondered if there was a chance he was biting it himself because he tries to eat anything that moves.

The only thing is, I'm not sure how to solve either of these problems. He really likes this hide (hasn't used any of the other ones I've tried) and I have no idea why he would suddenly start biting himself. For that matter, I don't know why he would suddenly start injuring himself on the hide either--he's had it for about 8 months and only started having problems in September.

I really want to know what could cause these changes and how to help him heal faster. Other than that, he's been really good. His appetite is normal. I have noticed in the last week that he's been a bit less active than usual, but I think that's my fault. It's finals week at my school, so I've had the lights on at different times from the usual schedule.

 

[Calgarycoppers]

To help long term - sand the inner edges of the cave

Start using Johns, Holtfreters or Salt in the tank.

The salt can be aquarium or plain pickling salt. Dose is 1 tablespoon per 5-10 gallons.

Johns and holtfreters is different its a concentration thing. I can send Johns information but havent done up Holtfreter yet.

 

[AMurry24537]

Picture of tank update!

This is a 10 gallon tank, which I realize is quite small, but it's a temporary measure while I'm at school. He has a 20 gallon at home. I'm working on finding some good plants for inside the tank (suggestions would be appreciated btw), but for now I have several large and leafy plants set up around the outside of the tank (not pictured) so he feels safe.

The cave I was referring to is pictured here. All of its edges are already smoothed. The thing I'm worried about is the possibility that the end of his tail is slipping underneath the bottom edges of the cave and then when he swims away, maybe getting caught.

Otherwise, if it's any other problem, I'm completely clueless.