Illness/Sickness: Injured toe?

LitolAxolotl

LitolAxolotl

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I looked in my axolotl's tank today and noticed he has a pretty sizable cut on his toe. It's one of the middle front ones. The webbing is cut on either side of that toe, and on the back of the toe it looks like it's cut down to the bone. First, I have no idea how he got hurt in the first place. He's the only animal in the tank and his rocks and hide are smooth. The only thing I can think of is that he could have gotten a toe stuck in his filter? Also: How should I help him heal? I've considered changing his water every day/every other day to keep it from getting infected, and I've heard of salt or untreated water baths for treating fungus (which he doesn't have yet), but is there anything else I can do?
 
Update: I don't have all of the water testing kits, but I have one for ammonia and nitrate. Nitrate is probably ~30ppm (it's darker than a 20 but lighter than a 40). His ammonia is kind of high. It's 0.25 ppm. His tank is currently 69.3F/20.6C.
 
Dear LitolAxolotl,

I'm sorry your baby isn't well.

Luckily, this is a fairly straightforward call. If you're concerned at all about parameters, then you can put him in a large container (big enough for him to turn around in - a brand-new, unused washing up bowl or similar is perfect). Fill it with dechlorinated, aged water and keep him somewhere dark where he won't be exposed to stress or contaminants (a cupboard in the tank stand is perfect). You will need to water change this daily with dechlorinated water and remove any poops.

To ensure his foot heals cleanly, I recommend adding tea to this tank. Brew one cup of plain, unflavoured tea (just regular tea) with hot water (no milk or sugar) in a dark-coloured mug (I recommend this to spare your best china from tannins). Let it go cold. Add the cold, dark tea to the axxie's tub (your hospital tank) and replace it after every water change.

The tea tightens the pores of the axxie's skin and prevents bacterial infection. It can help to prevent fungus and seems to calm them down. It has no reported side effects.

Good luck! I hope this helps! If you don't want to use a hospital tub (although I do recommend it simply because it's a 'sterile' environment with no ammonia at all) you can also add the tea to their regular tank. Continue to feed what you'd normally feed in either scenario and keep him cool and calm.
 
Thank you so much! I'm going to see about getting a hospital tank set up after class today!
 
Your test result of around 30ppm NitrAte would usually suggest your tank is cycled, can you re test ammonia? As its most likely at 0ppm, its hard to distinguish the colours on the chart at that level.

Your temperature is on the high side, cooler water promotes healing. 16-18 degrees Celsius is the ideal temperature for tank water.

If your tank is cycled then there is no need to transfer your Axolotl to another container.

Tea baths should only be done with black tea as it is black tea contains the tannins which are anti-fungal and anti-bacterial.

If this injury is minor and there is no fungus appearing then quarantine and tea baths are not really needed.

Can you take some clear pictures?
 
Here's the clearest photo I can get of his foot. It looks a little worse from the back but I couldn't get a good angle that way. Poor little guy hasn't been standing on ot or swimming with it very much. The picture went sideways for some reason? But his tank is bare right now because I don't want that toe getting stuck anywhere.
 

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Yes, you can see the cut on his foot in the picture. It looks quite clean at the moment, and I'd expect that the skin will probably come off, then regrow.
I'd suggest that you follow the advice that Chris has given, keep us posted on progress and let us know if there is any sign of infection or fungus. Hopefully there won't be a problem and your little one will heal nicely. :happy:
 
Doesn't look like any serious damage.

You said your tank is now bare?? Have you removed all items from your tank?
If you have, then this could potentially crash your cycle, as surfaces in your tank are what beneficial bacteria attach themselves to. So removing them would be removing colonies of bacteria which make up your Nitrogen Cycle.
 
Alright. Definitely putting the rocks back. Thank you. He has rounded rocks (bigger than his head) covering half of the floor of the tank. I'll space them out so he can't get his leg caught between two of them. His hide is a PVC elbow that I sanded down myself to get rid of any edges, so I doubt he cut himself on that. Update on his foot: almost all of the skin is gone now, with just a few sad little strings hanging on. He's walking and swimming with it now. The more I look at it the more I think it didn't completely cut down to the bone (at least in the front), because to me it looks like pale flesh. I'm not sure though. I feed him every other day, so I'll find out tonight how his appetite is doing. I didn't move him to a hospital tank, but I have a dark cabinet and container ready for him in case of fungus. Thank you all so much! You have helped me to stay calm and not panic too much about my aquatic child.
 
It looks like it's just going to drop off here soon. It's just bone now, and sometimes it goes all sideways. However, he's walking and swimming with it still, and he wasn't swimming around a bunch like he was agitated tonight. Hopefully it isn't hurting him as much. I am going to transfer him to a hospital tank after all, because I purchased a new filter that hopefully won't be as easy for him to get caught on, and I don't want him to be in there if the cycle crashes. His appetite was good last night and he's pooping, so I think he'll be ok. His skele-toe is just so sad now. I feel so bad for him. Sorry if the pictures are gross and/or grainy.
 

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The toe is healing normally, the dead tissue/bone will drop off and the toe with begin to regenerate.

You should be testing your water parameters so you know what stage your cycle is at especially after tanking items out of your tank and installing a new filter.

What test kit are you using?

Can you post the test results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrAte, and PH?
 
I'm using the API liquid tests for nitrAte and ammonia (I don't have the full kit yet). I didn't test today because I just moved him into a hospital tank, but I will test tomorrow and post the results. This weekend I'll try to get my water tested at a pet store as well.
 
Even with the ammonia and nitrAte tests you can still figure out if your tank is cycled. You'll be looking for 20+ppm nitrAte and 0 ammonia. I'd get testing and monitor so you know your tank is cycled. If it is, your Axolotl can stay in there no problem
 
Gosh, those colors are hard to read sometimes. The ammonia looks lighter than a 0.25 ppm, but it isn't pure yellow. The nitrAte is 20 ppm. I just added the new filter last night, so I'm going to give it at least until I test it tomorrow to see if the cycle stays fine.
 
Seems cycled.. Have you removed your old filter when adding the new one? Or kept them both in? Removing the established filter would remove the largest colony of beneficial bacteria, which would likely crash your cycle
 
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