Tiny toe tuft -- fungal infection, preparing salt bath, a few questions.

[jclee]

One of axolotls -- about 6 inches long at this point -- has fungus on a couple of toes where a sibling bit the tips off.

(Details of enclosure on this thread: http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...69457-psyched-about-my-new-tank-progress.html)

I've read up on salt baths here: Caudata Culture Articles - Salt Solutions in Treating Salamanders

I'm all set to go; I've got freshwater aquarium salt, and I've taken James out of the tank that he shares with his two other siblings. I will mix up the solution as soon as I've finished typing this thread. My question is: is fridging a necessary pairing to salt baths? The infection seems pretty minor. There is one tiny little tuft each, on one toe each of two different feet that are affected. Tank temp is currently 70*F. None of the others seem to have injuries or fungal infections. I've been trying to drop pellets in three or four different sections of the tank to cut back on competition, but their leucistic sibling, Jaws, can be a bit aggressive (thus the name -- he cannibalized a sibling who was not much smaller than he was before his hind legs even came in).

Would it be ok to return James to his tank after his salt baths? If further aggression is the main/only concern, I could always take him out and feed him separately until his toes have healed up.

*Another question: I've read than competitive aggression like this mellows as they grow; I never saw their parents nipping at each other, so I don't know at what size they're supposed to begin to mellow out. How much longer will I have to be super-vigilant about feeding time?

Edit: While soaking the first melanoid, I decided to fish out his melanoid sibling to make sure I hadn't missed any toe infections. Sure enough, upon closer inspection, there is one toe growing fungus. Meanwhile, Jaws has all toes intact but when I look very closely two of them do look red. There is a large wood fixture that I've recently added, so I will remove it until I feel certain that I know what is causing this.

 

[dragonlady]

Hi,

I don't think you need to fridge in this case as the infections sound minor. One treatment should be sufficient to clear this up, but just keep an eye on everyone.

Do you know his toes were nipped off for sure since you have another with a similar injury? They are at the approximate size where they should be mellowing out. If I remember correctly, your tank is still a work in progress, right? So, once you add some more visual barriers, everybody should chill. Maybe you can switch up the feeding a bit too, to prevent accidental nippings. I have 3 about that same size and find that if I hand feed the more aggressive (1 of the 3 is a hog! lol) one first, I don't have issues. I encourage them to separate if feeding pellets too. I just use my hand to separate the aggressor - gently nudging him/her in a different direction (I am on the short side too 5'3", so I understand the "wet to the shoulder" part ) or you could use forceps.

As far as when you can stop being super vigilant at feeding time...don't know, I still am with all of mine! It's just the over-protective mom in me.

Good luck and hope this helps!

 

[jclee]

That helps a lot, Shannon. The two melanoids with fungus are definitely missing some toes. Not all of them grew fungus, though. The solution I used was very mild (I was a little nervous, since it was my first time), so I might have to bathe them again at a stronger solution. I will look back in on everyone tomorrow.

Your feeding routine sounds great, but I think that my short arms and lack of forceps might lead me to pop Jaws into a separate bin full of tank water for his own private feedings until he seems to have grown out of this phase. (Definitely let me know if yours grow out of it before mine do.) I've tried to put separate portions of food into the shower caddies, and a few more on the ground, but Jaws often wolfs down one portion and then starts moving in on the other servings before the melanoids even start to come out of hiding.

I'm not sure if/how much the wood I had added to the tank contributed. It was a softer wood that I had originally vetoed, but then after staring at it for a while, I gave it a go. (It must have been meant for terrestrial enclosures; I had to add a few rocks to the base to sink it.) When I took it out a moment ago, it smelled funky, so it was probably harboring bacteria. This might explain why some of the missing toes look older, and regrown without having become infected, but the most recently nipped toes (I assume) are getting fungus. (I did a sizable water change after removing the wood.)

If anyone else has estimates/experience on exactly how big axolotls are when they grow out of their nippiness, I'd love to hear them.

 

[dragonlady]

Oh, sorry - didn't really give you an answer about the nippiness. I have found that settling them in with a regular schedule of feeding, they know when to expect the food and there's less desire to get nippy. At around 6", the nippiness should be calming down considerably. The closer they get to adulthood, the "lazier" they become.

I think your "Jaws" is like my "Mextli" where he's just hit a growth spurt and just wants food! Jaws will probably continue to be like this until his growth spurt passes. Mextli would do the same thing with wolfing down his share and then go for the others' portions too. Is Jaws a wild type by chance? My most aggressive eaters are all wildtype. Another of mine, "Imotep" was the same way until he and his two tankmates (leucistics) were moved into a 55. Now, he's pretty mellow until I go to vacuum - he attacks my fingers sometimes.

So putting him in another tank during feeding is probably a good idea if you can't get them separated. There's always the jar method too - have you considered trying that? I dedicated a jar to "Cool" and once he was trained, all of his got put in the jar. By the time, he wiggled in and out of the jar, the others had had time to eat. I do suggest the forceps for handfeeding though if you get a chance to pick up a pair. Mine are 10" and I time it so that I drop the worm just as I see the axolotl take interest so he/she doesn't accidentally grab the forceps. Just some random thoughts! I do believe that you will be fine once he gets past this growth spurt.

 

[jclee]

Jaws is a leucistic. Actually, I remembered reading a little about cannibalism when I was first rearing them, and I recalled Axolotls - Rearing from Egg to Adult had a section explaining that larvae that cannibalize one another might grow up to be morphologically different. I can't really see the difference with Jaws, but I wonder if there might also be behavioral differences that have led him to become more aggressive than the others. (James and Charlie never ate any of their siblings, as near as I can see; I know that Jaws ate a few.)

Feeding them in the shower caddies was actually pretty close to jar-feeding, since they have to swim up and into the opening to get at the food. Apparently, this did not slow Jaws down enough, so I'll just do the separate feedings until they've grown another inch, and then I'll see if they can play nicely.

Thank you, again, for all your help. Hopefully, the fungus will clear up in a day or two and I won't have to post any more questions any time soon.