Is she hurt or sick? Please help!!

[oxhhxo]

So a couple of days ago I noticed my 3 yr old leucistic Xochi wasn't using her back leg very well and was floating a little, yesterday I noticed that her tail was now looking sore with a small part of it missing, this morning when I checked on her the tail was looking a little better, less red, but with a small white patch on the end, couldn't tell whether this was new skin from regeneration or may be a fungus, but also her leg is now sore with either raised skin or fungus, please take a look and give opinions and advice, I have removed her from her tank and put her on her own in her travel tank in case it's somrthing that can spread... as of about 4 months ago she now has a new tank mate abround the same age, also female, so am a little concerned she may be getting bitten? there is nothing in the tank she can catch herself on, silk plants, sand terrain, smooth housing, so not sure how else she could of hurt herself if it is an injury, all tank checks seem ideal, water is a little warmer then usual at about 20c but other then that the only change has been finally getting her off of bloodworms and onto earth worms... have attatched a few photos

 

[auntiejude]

The tail looks normal - what you can see is the cartilage poking through the skin.

The foot does look bitten, but it could also have come from getting the foot trapped or scraped. Keep an eye on her, keep the water good and cool, she'll be fine.

 

[oxhhxo]

Thank you for your quick reply her tail definitely is a little different to usual, it is usually a little longer and rounder have attatched another photo and one of her before with her tank mate, she's the one on the right... I'm a bit gutted, I hope she isn't being bitten or I am going to have to seperate them, but they seem to really enjoy each others company

 

[charleybambino]

When watching mine, they snap at passing limbs and tails much as they would an earthworm....not aggression...just instinct......are yours just eating blood worms....as per photo or do they have worms too. If not maybe they're a bit hungry?

I've only once witnessed true aggression, but in my own experience nips happen with multiple groups......don't be too hasty to seperatel them.

 

[oxhhxo]

No that was an old photo, she eats earth worms now, which is what I was thinking was possibly why she was getting bit, her tank mate thinking she is a wiggly worm lol

 

[oxhhxo]

So tail is looking much worse today, foot is a little red and the skin has now come away, but she is using it a lot more now, can you please advise as to what is going on with her tail???

 

[charleybambino]

Looks like fungus...try gentle salt bath.....look up thread for salt quantity, or try to tease off with cotton buds...very gentle brushing action.

 

[oxhhxo]

I'm gonna try the salt baths but don't want to hurt her, have noticed she has little sores on her other feet this evening, but can't see any fungus or anything that could have caused this, however she did just get nipped at by her tank mate as I was removing her again as I put her back in last night thinking it may have just been where she was nipped at, as previously suggested, but now that I know it's fungus definitely isolating her, so far she's the only one showing any symptoms... any idea what causes this fungus as everything in the tank seems fine?

 

[oxhhxo]

Also as she has these sores on her feet are salt baths a good idea? Would this not hurt her and cause her distress?

 

[oxhhxo]

Ok so I decided the benefits outweighed the risks on this one as the fungus seemed to be spreading so quickly...

I have just given her a salt bath as to the instructions on here, she really didn't like it, but wasn't completely distressed, just every few minutes she would have a little nip at her tail, which I'm guessing is where the salt was irritating her, but she wasn't too bad, wasn't completely over the moon about being picked up twice in a short time, being as I usually use a jug to move her around and not handling her so she isn't used to this, but I wanted to make sure I didn't transfer any salt into her isolation tank, anyway, it's looking a little red and sore, but is looking a lot better already, so am feeling optimistic ? gonna do it again in the morning, but here are the results so far.

Sorry for the essay lol

 

[charleybambino]

Fungal spores are in the environment all the time.....but only become a problem when other factors are involved...such as an open wound, poor health, poor water quality, high temperatures etc. if the nipping becomes too frequent then perhaps you will need to seperatel into different tanks or use a divider if possible

 

[oxhhxo]

Thanks for all your help, she's on the mend, been doing regular salt baths, twice a day for 15mins and it has nearly cleared up, gonna keep going till I'm 100% sure it's all gone... I am concidering separating, it will be a shame as other then the last few weeks they've been great together, basically since I put them on the earth worms, I'm convinced that Milco is mistaking her for a worm and hoping it will stop when they get used to the difference, they're currently on 1 large worm each a day, maybe worth raising this to 2 in case they're still hungry, hence the nipping?