Fatal Argument?

[sara]

A friend of mine had a breeding pair of Axolotls which had been together in the same 90 litre tank for well over a year. There were no other tank inhabitants. Last week he found that his female had been disembowled. The male was alive but most of his gills had been damaged. These animals were very closely monitored, There had been no sign of trouble as recently as 5 o'clock the previous evening. I had seen them myself 3 days before the event and they showed no signs of picking at each other then. I would really like to hear what other people think could have triggered this. Is it common for adults to fight to the death like that? Could it have been courtship behaviour gone wrong?

 

[john]

Not trying to be dismissive, but please tell me how one axolotl can disembowl another. It's a mystery to me. Aside from biting limbs, gills and the tail, I think it's a physical impossibility for one axolotl of similar size to "disembowl" another.

John

 

[raoul]

Sounds like a cat attack . Is that a possiblity any open doors or windows ?

 

[sara]

Actually John, your reaction was exactly what mine was when I heard this. That is why I posted this as a question. I DON'T know how one axolotl would disembowel another. The cat attack theory is a good one, and that was my first question to my freind, who says it's not possible. Given the setup he had I'm inclined to agree. As you say, it's a mystery. The injury consisted of a 1 1/2 inch cut through the belly in which the organs were spilling out. Again, the male had significant gill damage which is fairly typical of axolotl aggression. I'm going to assume from your replies that this is not a common occurence. Any additional theories much appreciated. Thanks

 

[cloth_kitten]

Are there any sharp objects in the tank?Maybe after a little nip they swam around wildly (as they do) and caught itself on something in the tank..(just an idea).

 

[nate]

John's right, axolotls simply don't have the physical tools to disembowel each other the way you describe it. Does your friend have a cat, reagrdless of whether or not he thinks a cat did it?

 

[sara]

I really appreciate all the responses. I think cloth kitten may be on to something. I thought it was an extremely strange scenario but I don't know enough about axolotl behavior to be certain it was impossible. I'm also somewhat relieved as I have been asked to adopt the surviving male. Thankyou all.

 

[cloth_kitten]

Hi Sara,
As you know I have 10 cats and I believe that rarely would a cat just "cut" its victim and leave it in the tank,it would more likely maul it and play with it around the floor.None of my 10 pay any interest in my axys at all (but I think I'm just lucky there),are there any hard plastic plants or ornaments in their tank?