One Dead Gill?

[PeachyNietzsche]

Hi! I've had my axolotl for about 9 months now, pretty healthy lil dude, eats a bunch, no other health problems whatsoever, cold tank (68° on hottest days, usually between 65°-62° most other times) in the dark with just about no stress cuz he's in the basement for the most part. Besides that, I noticed a few months ago that one of his gills was bent a bit and was a lighter shade than the rest, as if it didn't have proper blood flow. I assumed he must've got it sucked into the filter at some point (as he used to hang out in front of it a lot before I moved something in front of it) but he had no other injuries so I didn't pay much mind. The gill seemed to grow a bit longer than the others, and still maintained the lighter appearance- when he's active or eating and his other gills become bright red from the blood flow, this one turns purple-ish. It seems like the little frills on it have begun to wither, but all the others are perfectly healthy. I had assumed, in her infinite regenerative abilities, that she would've been able to heal the gill herself after a while, but it doesn't seem to be getting better. It doesn't seem to be getting worse, either, if that makes a difference.

Sorry for the bad pics- the first two were from today and she kept squiggling about every time I went to take a pic. The last pic is from when I first noticed the gill.

 

[KumquatSquats]

it is possible that the gill was injured in a way that did not stimulate the regenerative response, is there an aquatic vet near you? you should send them those pictures and see what they think the best course of action would be, if its not rotting it might be fine left alone but if it is decaying then necrosis is a worry. the vet might want to amputate it to allow for a healthy new gill to grow