Stressed and damaged gill?

[rb6k]

Just checking my axolotl's gil - she has been under a bit of stress and as you can see from the image, is underweight.

A few months back she got in a fight with another axolotl and lost 2 and a half legs, she has grown them back well so far, the back legs look great, the front 2 are still small. I've tried to feed her more to keep her energy up, but her appetite hasn't been all that great over the months I've been doing this and I think she is 'ticking over' eating when she wants to but not enough to become bigger. She is on axolotl pellets mainly, and then blood worm once in a while. I tried to order worms but whenever i get a pack they seem to end up dead within a couple of days.

A few weeks back she laid 120 or so eggs which didn't turn into babies, which sounds unusual from my research, you'd expect them to be fertile if she laid that many. This put her under more stress as you can imagine.

As a result of the stress she has had the occasional fungal issue, I've been bathing her to help that. She doesn't eat during baths, I wonder whether moving her stresses her more and causes her to go off her food a bit more?

Anyway today I was looking at one of her gils and it just looks like it is 'dead' while the others are fine. This one has lost its pink fluffy bits and is just slightly curled and short, could it have been nipped or damaged or something?

Pics attached.

I don't want to make her feel worse by fussing too much, but she is acting a bit unusual, I've just put her back in and now she's floating around the tank at the top (maybe because she used her lungs during transfer and has air in her?) She was a bit of a 'runt' when I got her so I think I worry more about her health. My other axolotl who I posted about on here previously is now huge in comparison and very healthy looking. I want to get her on track too asap.

 

[Sweetie]

Sounds like she is being bullied by her larger tank mate. It may be a good idea to separate them for a while, so she can rest, regain her appetite and recover some strength. Certainly, being periodically nipped will be stressing her. If you don't have another tank, maybe a tub of cool, dechlorinated water, changed daily, and left in a quiet, cool, dimly lit place would be best for her for a few weeks.
Worms would help her put on weight. Is there somewhere you can build a worm farm (doesn't take any space at all) or a garden where you can dig for worms (somewhere you are certain no chemicals have been used)? Worms are the best staple diet for adult axies.

 

[auntiejude]

It's not uncommon for fungus affected gills to atrophy and then regenerate - I wouldn't worry too much.

If you want to avoid salt baths try adding indian almond leaves to the tank - cheapest you can get on ebay will do. Keep her separate until she grows back her legs and gill and gains some size and weight.

Worms are easy to keep in a large tub - see thread here on worm farming. I'm guessing you get night crawlers in a little tub - they need to be kept in the fridge.

(And I'm glad I'm not the only one who uses Really Useful boxes as tanks!)