Question: Small hole right through tail

[aliceskr]

Hello - my beautiful grey speckled axie, Spaxington, seems perfectly healthy, but over last six months has grown a strange crusty white lump about 7mm long on his tail. Wondered if it was fungus but all the fungus-related threads fretted about gill-infection and didn't seem to mention tails. Also it did not grow fast and did not seem to bother him. Appetite and activity fine.

The good news is that the white lump has suddenly dropped off. The bad news is that it has left behind a perfectly clean and tiny hole!! All the way through the tail, bigger on one side where the main lump was, smaller on the opposite side. You can see right through it. The wound looks spotlessly clean and tidy. Spaxington seems unconcerned. Should I be?

Spaxington is a widower who lives contentedly alone except for intermittent pond snails which I bring in for feeding purposes. His water is contunually filtered and oxygenated, and 80% changed monthly. Mostly he eats earthworms or wee bits of white fish or the aforementioned pond snails.

Any advice gratefully received ...

 

[auntiejude]

If your axie doesn't seem worried neither should you - he'll heal fine given time.
Do you have any pictures? The lump and the damage left behind - that may help determine the cause. The lump sounds like a wart, or maybe an overgrowth of tissue, but a pic would be good.

 

[Petersgirl]

You could try a tea bath just to keep infection out if you like, but a hole through the tail is a new one on me! I have to say Auntiejude's suggestion that it may be a wart definitely seems feasible - after all, it's dropped off, leaving a clean hole, just like human warts do. It might be the axolotl version of a comedo - a sort of blackhead - but equally it could be a wart.

Here's the recipe for a tea bath:

• Tea bath for axolotls
  Contributed by Daniel Weiner, August 2007.
  
  I mainly use teabaths for minor skin problems. It may also be used with fungal problems but on that account I prefer salt baths. Tea has a slightly antifungal and antibacterial effect (resulting from tannins) and additionally it closes the pores in the skin a little bit (mainly resulting from tannin and caffeine). The skin tightens and gets some kind of protective layer, making it harder for fungi and bacteria to intrude the body. On the other hand it makes it harder for salt or medicine to reach pathogens which are already inside the body - that is the reason I do not use it on fungal infections, although a tea bath is sometimes recommended as a cure for fungal infections by some people.
  The medication is as follows: I take one bag of black tea without any additional aroma (it is important to use black tea because this kind of tea is fermented and so it has tannins) for every 10 litres of water (preferably used in a quarantine tank). This tea gets dashed with boiling water in a seperate bowl - I leave it there for at least 10 to 15 minutes so the tannins are resolved into the water. The tea has to cool down and is finally added to the quarantine water. After a week I make a bigger change of water (60% at least), the rest of the tea is removed over time by normal water changes. If you have to make more regular water changes (f.i. in a small bowl or tank) the tea concentration can be refilled. As far as I know there are no negative effects even for long term treatment.
  A similar effect (although not as strong) may have the addition of dried oak or beech leafs now and then as a precaution.
  
  ​
• It doesn't sound like you have anything to worry about but I always think a tea bath is a good precaution where damage to the skin or open wounds are involved.

 

[aliceskr]

Thanks for this re-assurance re the hole in my axy's tail. I tried for an hour today to get a decent pic but to no avail. Have hopefully attached two pics to this, one showing hole. Will try teabath to be on safe side, Many thanks.

 

[Petersgirl]

My goodness! What an unusual colour! I do believe your baby is piebald.

The hole on the tail looks tiny and the wound looks very clean. A tea bath to be safe is a good extra-careful caution. I think it will heal quite quickly.

Just watch out for any cottony fuzz or changes to the wound. I don't think it'll be an issue, especially with a tea bath to prevent it, but good to be aware

Good luck!

 

[auntiejude]

Yes, looks clean and tidy to me. Tea bath and worms - the cure-all for injured axies! He should heal fine, or he may always have a little hole. One of mine has a nick in her tail that never healed properly, I've come to the conlcusion that it just adds character.

Please let us know how he gets on, it's nice to follow up on these stories.

 

[layna]

Hey, did you reduce the water level to get a good pic?
Axies water level should be a couple of inches more than they are long so they can swim around if they want to also the more water you have in there, the better the water quality will be as its more diluted