My deformed GFP Axolotl...needs your advice!(With pictures!)

[NitroGlow]

Allow me to introduce you to Nitro, my young GFP Leucistic Axolotl. I originally purchased him from a breeder for dirt cheap because he could not ever move his back legs and I was worried that he would just die and not be properly taken care of in the hands of someone even less experienced, or should I say...less dedicated than I...or that no one would want him because he's got the deformity...so...I took him in! The breeder told me that him not moving his back legs is because of some funky gene that makes it so that they cannot ever move them(Does anyone know what that is??)....Well...As I've had him he's grown bit by bit....(much more slowly than my healthy, non-gfp leucistic Axolotl) but, as time went on he's slowly been able to move his back legs, but only a tiny, tiny bit. He also has a very short body in comparison to my normal leucistic, named Echo...and his back legs are also EXTREMELY small. I was also told that sometimes by the time axolotls reach adulthood...they can make the legs that they weren't able to move, become movable again...but...I don't know how true that is!

At rest, each of his back legs remains in a very odd position. His left leg often sticks straight out from his side, while his right leg is always stuck flush against his tail. He can move the left leg more than the right leg.

One of the things I'm most worried about is the way that his belly looks really bloated and sometimes it is bulging out in weird places....other times it looks like I can see through these bloated bulges that appear filled with air. It is very strange! You can kinda see his misshapen belly in the pics. I'm worried that his deformities and weird bulging body might kill him....One time...even his cloaca had a red bubble bugle....but that seems to have....healed and gone away now. Unfortunately I do not have a picture.

I should also mention that at one point...he looked like he had some sort of bleeding brain aneurism...where the whole middle of his head was deep dark red with blood. I have NO idea what happened but...when it did...he was NOT acting normally. Little by little...this strange looking aneurism type thing finally went away and healed.

It seems like whatever strange thing he's come up with...his body has slowly healed. I'll never give up on him...but I'm worried that it's such a struggle for the poor little guy...does he look healthy now despite being deformed? he eats bloodworms daily! Has no substrate in his aquarium, water changes are done 1-2 weekly because of all the poops...and has a nice big mixed media corner sponge filter! Temperature is at 15Celsius. Amonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate0

What do you think guys? Does he look okay despite being deformed? I also noticed he had this really dark black spot suddenly appear on his head...it's not a bump...but it looks like...a marking? Do juvenile Axolotls suddenly just develop markings?

Thanks so much!

 

[Otterwoman]

For whatever it's worth, he looks otherwise well-fed and healthy.

 

[NitroGlow]

For whatever it's worth, he looks otherwise well-fed and healthy.

Thank you! That actually means a lot! I feed him bloodworms daily, I was starting to feed him earth worms...but something about them seemed to mess with his system and made his cloaca all red...so I stopped feeding them and his cloaca is more normal ish now.


Thankfully right now he seems to be doing fairly good. His body just looks a little weird...but I love him regardless! He's my little glowing baby!

 

[auntiejude]

His body looks to be in proportion to the rest of him, and he looks reasonably good other than the floppy back legs. Bulges in the belly are normal, and may come and go with feeding, and it tends to settle down as they get bigger. The bulge at the cloaca may well have been a prolapse, but they can heal on their own. If your axie had a bleed in his head and it has healed then I wouldn't worry.

I have a collection of 'special' axies - a dwarf and some with no front legs - and they are just as happy as the others. I would suggest keeping an axies with problems like this on a bare bottom, mine developed sore patches on their bellies where they were dragging across sand.

Some 'specail' axies don't live very long - I suspect my dwarf won't live more than a few years because her insides are all squished up and I accept she may suffer organ failure. All you can do is keep him clean and safe. I would also recommend you get some indian almond leaves to add to the tank as a precaution to keep any infections at bay. I would also switch to earthworms, he's plenty big enough and are much better nitrition for him.