Illness/Sickness: Odd tail bend

[mercurydustin]

hello I recently got 4 20 week old axolotls they seem healty eating well swimming nice in general they appear to be in great health , one my melanoid has a crook in his/her tail they are eating great im watching him eat up last of the bloodworm rght now yesterday was earthworms and he eat that fine and hes definitely not constipated messy little bugger I read it may be a sign of stress I have them in a 25 gal tank very lightly filtered from the middle far from where they like to play and there is no visable movement on any of the plants the tempature has been in the low 60's they have plenty of plants to hide and a few logs ect and they all come and stare at me when I watch them they are definitely not afraid of me already the figured out the weird creature that's holding them captive also is the one that drops in the yummy worms but should I be worried ? about the tail having a slight curve to one side is there anything I can do to help him or is he ok albit slightly odd I don't mind odd im odd so it works hes always the first to come look at me

 

[Skudo09]

Could you post a photo? What are your water parameters - ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH?

May I suggest using some punctuations in your posts? It makes it much easier to read

 

[mercurydustin]

the ph is 6.4 . the ammonia should be low as they have only been in the tank a few hours I got them 2 days ago and had them spend the first night in a smaller temporary tank so I could watch them easier and figure out their preference for decorations. sorry about the lack punctuation I forget its importance ill post a picture in the morning ill have to borrow my moms camera to get a clear enough shot, shouldn't be to hard he is always first to come over to see what I'm doing

 

[Skudo09]

Did you cycle your tank before adding the axolotls? They may take some time to adjust to their new surroundings as you have not had them in the tank for long. They may calm down after a while once they settle in. The axolotl with the bend in the tail may just be settling a little slower than the others. Do you have readings for nitrite and nitrate?

 

[mercurydustin]

I don't have a nitrate test kit yet but I have been watching them all day and noticed that his tail is looking normal most of the time he curls it to the side when he plans to take off a large part of his tail is transparent odd because he is almost all black only his tummy is clear but it makes it look funny unless u look from above the tank, yes I had my large tank set up with plants and a filter for a few weeks now its almost tadpole season ill be going to the reptile expo in Toronto tomorrow so ill be able to get a test kit there, my wild is eating now and he turns his tail to the opisite side while attacking the worm bits. the golden launches up when grabing a bite I've never seen such different eating styles before all my toads and frogs and lizards all use the same approach and reactions within their species, i will keep a close eye on them and test the nitrate and ammonia levels with a real test kit i hate the strips they never are 100%

 

[Skudo09]

Ok, definitely purchase a liquid test kit (I agree, the test strips tend to be inaccurate). It is very important to have a test kit and to be testing regularly. In that case I assume the tank has not been cycled. You will need to test daily and conduct water changes daily to ensure the ammonia and nitrite do not get too high during the cycling process. This is important as there will be spikes of ammonia and nitrite whilst the tank cycles and builds up the colonies of good bacteria. Once cycled, you will then be able to cut back on the water changes to about once a week (more often if once a week does not keep the nitrate in a safe level) to keep the nitrate down. A cycled tank will have readings of zero ammonia and zero nitrite and a reading of nitrate. Nitrate can still pose concern in high levels though so it is best to keep it below 40ppm max. To keep nitrate down, conduct water changes.