Injured Forelimb Question

[Tye]

Yesterday I noticed that my female axolotl Bone had some injuries to her legs. She's been in a tank with a her clutchmate, a male named Charm for three years. I got them as 4 inch long juveniles. Right before December he took a chunk out of her tail, in what I assumed was an accident, on account of they have three working brain cells between them and bite anything that moves near their face. She healed up nicely from that, no problems.

However, the other day I noticed that she has an injury to both her forelimbs and one hindlimb. My first assumption was that the male went after her again, but axies aren't exactly known to chase down prey or attack like that. My next thought was that she got caught in something in the tank and panicked and that's what caused the injuries. Not sure what she could have been caught on, all that's in there are silk plants a piece of driftwood with no sharp edges and a hide.

Anyways, she's tubbed now, and in the fridge, we're experiencing a minor heatwave and I can't keep a tub cold enough on the floor. I already purchased her a whole new tank, a 20 gallon long, and full set up. I know that cycling with her in it isn't ideal, but if the male is beating her up, I don't want to put her back in with him. So vigorous daily water changes and water tests it is. She'll be going on a bare bottom until all injuries are healed up. She was on sand before, and I'm pretty sure it's aggravated some of the wounds.

My question is about her front left leg. The right front and back left already look loads better from yesterday night. But the left is definitely bent at an odd angle and it's clearly got a chunk missing out of it. I'm very nervous about the idea of amputating it, but I'm hoping it's not actually bad enough to come to that. She has a great feeding response despite being in the fridge and has passed waste already. She holds the very injured leg close to her body but will paddle with it. I snapped some pictures while she was feeding today and would like some opinions.

 

[Binditheaxolotl]

Sorry this is kinda late, but it doesn’t look terrible. If it hasn’t healed up yet, I would amputate it, or find someone who is comfortable doing so. If she can still paddle with it, it should heal up nicely. I would do some tea baths and stuff to soothe the wound. Also, cycling with an axolotl in the tank isn’t preferable but it is doable. As long as you have Seachem Prime to detoxify ammonia and nitrite, everything should be good. If you have petco where you live, petcos brand imagitarium makes a bio builder or something. I’ll get a picture when I go upstairs.

 

[Tye]

Sorry this is kinda late, but it doesn’t look terrible. If it hasn’t healed up yet, I would amputate it, or find someone who is comfortable doing so. If she can still paddle with it, it should heal up nicely. I would do some tea baths and stuff to soothe the wound. Also, cycling with an axolotl in the tank isn’t preferable but it is doable. As long as you have Seachem Prime to detoxify ammonia and nitrite, everything should be good. If you have petco where you live, petcos brand imagitarium makes a bio builder or something. I’ll get a picture when I go upstairs.

It's healing up very well. Her other front leg and her back leg are back to normal. The more injured one is starting to look very healed. She holds it awkwardly, but is swimming with it, and still has a great feeding response. I might have over reacted but it's always better safe than sorry, and I was looking for second opinions.

I've definitely cycled a tank or two in my time. I have a freshwater test kit, prime, stability, and some other helpful things. There's also driftwood in her tank for the added tannin.
I do daily water changes after the test, and so far so good.