Leg falling off.. i think

[FrH]

I have 2 wild type axolotls and have noticed for a few weeks now that one has been occasionally biting at the other. this has never resulted in any injury and i didn't much of it as Lionel (the poor victim) has never seemed fussed by it.
anyways, Lionel's front left leg is now grey/white and sort of dislocated, though it looks like it may be falling off. i can only asssume that he was bitten as i'm not sure what else it could possibly be. i know that their limbs can replace themselves, but i'm just wondering if i need to do anything to help him, or if he's likely to be in any pain i wondered if there are any tricks to help him feel better? i really don't like the thought of him being sad or uncomfortable.

ooh also both axolotls are very well fed so that could not be the reason for the biting.
also last night (before i knew anything was wrong with Lionel) i had a dream that one of them died and i'm really afraid!! please help!
sorry the picture is terrible quality but hopefully you get an idea

 

[xxianxx]

Are the axolotls similar sized ? If they are biting (adults) it is generally accidental as they mistake each other as food. You can reduce the chance of this happening by tong feeding them seperatly, or dropping food at opposite ends of the tank. Very rarely do you hear of an axolotl consistently targeting a similar sized tank mate, the general method for dealing with this kind of bully is to isolate it or my method with an 8" bully was to put it with a group of 10" + ones, it calmed down and ceased to target tank mates. The wound looks bad, I would think that the arm may well fall off but there is no fungus so that's good, you can help prevent fungus with almond leaves in the tank, check out the fungus sticky in the axolotl general discussion section.

 

[kjnorman]

The image is blurry, but yes, I think the leg is falling off.

I would do as suggested with the almond leaves (you can order them on ebay), but also keep a close eye on water quality, and check frequently for redness or white fuzz that could indicated fungus or bacterial infection, and read up on salt baths, etc. in the stickies so you know what to do if it starts to look infected.

If you can easily do so, it may be helpful to separate Lionel from his attacker, to avoid aggravating the injury. I would do so by relocating the healthy axolotl, as being moved around is stressful and you don't want to stress Lionel more than you have to.

Might also be prudent to call around and just see if there are vets nearby who treat axolotls, so that you know where they are if you need them.

In terms of whether or not he is in any pain, there just isn't a good way to know, and the best way to help him is to keep the water clean and watch out for infection - the fast he heals the better. I would imagine, though, that since losing toes and gills is something the axolotl has evolved with in the wild, that they are pretty well adapted to dealing with it.

When I worked at a vet, we often advised people that if the animal is acting fairly normally (hard to tell sometimes for an axolotl as 'acting normal' and 'doing nothing' can be the same thing) and eating normally, that is a sign they are probably feeling okay.

 

[FrH]

thank you! yeah they are the same size so it is probably just the other one getting confused. i will just keep an eye out for any signs of infection then. so far his appetite hasn't changed and he seems no different, other than the obvious restrictions in movement.
thanks again!!

 

[Lianne]

Isn't it better to amputate its leg? I did that (got that advice from a dutch axolotl forum) when one of my previous axies had been mistaken for food and got his leg badly chomped... He didn't even move when I took his arm off (I used scissors) so I guess the tissue was all dead.

 

[auntiejude]

You've got know what you're doing to amputate a leg - it's not usually a good idea for an amateur to attempt it unless they have some kind of training - you run the risk of damaging a blood vessel, causing pain or introducing infection it it's not done properly.

Personally, if it were hanging by a sliver of skin I might consider using a scalpel to remove it, but anything more than that would be too risky.

The leg will probably fall off of it's own accord. The important thing to keep an eye out for is infection and fungus.

And dreams are just dreams - if I took my axies to the vet every time I had a bad dream about them I would be in serious debt.

 

[kjnorman]

I'm in agreement with auntejude here - amputation can go so wrong in even the best of circumstances, and I would only do it if there were an obvioudly dead limb trailing from a flap of skin or something like that.

 

[Lianne]

Yeah that's true, I suppose I was lucky since it didn't bleed or anything. I just didn't think the leg would fall off on it's own, or I'd have waited it out.

 

[FrH]

ok i'm now slightly concerned. the leg fell off as you said it would and it looks fine, but it now seems that Lionel's other front leg may be damaged as he is holding it by his side and not using it as usual. it also looks as though it could be a little red but it's hard to tell through glass and i'm skeptical about moving him and stressing him out. what do i do?

 

[xxianxx]

Some short term stress is preferable to having a fungal attack. Read the fungus sticky and use almond leaves as a preventative treatment.