Axolotl Toes

[EasternRomioi3]

Can anyone help me with my axolotl, Darwin, she has always had little black ends of her toes but now they're much more noticeable. I attached photos, can anyone tell me if she's ok? She's 2 years old and eats regularly and swims around, not lethargic at all. I just fed her a worm tonight, she snatched it immediately. It has been very hot in my area I've been putting cleaned ice packs in to cool her temp but I'm not always home and my parents refuse to do anything other than text me at work with "Darwin's tank is above 70" and I go "please put some ice or an ice pack in." They don't.

Please, any advice would help. She's in a 20 gallon tank, just cleaned her tank on Wednesday. I did get home yesterday and saw her floating up by the filter, it was around 3pm, and I freaked and thought she, you know, but she was just asleep, she woke up and started swimming around. Again, not lethargic at all. Please, are her toes injured? Could she have just smacked them while swimming? Will she just regrow them if they fall off?

 

[Murk]

Hi!
Coloured toe-tips are very normal for adult axolotls, and are often seen as an indication of maturity. It's likely they will continue to become darker at this age.

It could be it's a bit more noticeable because of the temperature. I wouldn't worry about the toes: she seems healthy and happy enough.

If you want to be absolutely sure, it always helps to give a recent measurement of ammonia/nitrites/nitrates values. 70 F is a bit higher than usually recommended, but nothing critical either. It's basically room temperature, right?

 

[EasternRomioi3]

Oh thank you for getting back to me! I appreciate it. So her toes are fine? Just a marker of age? That's good to know.

I could do an ammonia test, I just gotta get the stuff to do it. My area is just now reopening from the pandemic so it's been hard to get stuff for her. Her water is generally at room temperature. I inherited her from my best friend, who moved very far away. Her house didn't have air conditioning, nor does mine, so it does get very warm inside sometimes. We have our awnings up so the inside temp of the house sits at about 73 degrees Fahrenheit.

I got 4 small bottles of water, like half sized ones, that I cleaned, put treated water in, and froze, so I use them to cool her tank. I have a little fan that doesn't bother her, and sometimes I make ice cubes with her treated water and toss a few in. She's never given me a scare beyond me finding her asleep and freaking that she's, well, you know. It is inauspicious to speak of that.

So she looks good? She's my favorite and I worry.

 

[Murk]

Yeah, skin and gills look good - she doesn't look stressed. It's always good to have a test kit for water quality at hand, if only to ease your own worries

If the darkness of the toes spread (or appears on other places of her body) that would be an issue. Currently it looks very normal.

 

[EasternRomioi3]

Ok, thank you. I'll keep an eye on her feet for a bit here. I appreciate you taking the time to help me out.