Eaten Leg

[richard_hazard]

I have two pet axolotl's and they've been together now for about 8 months and during this time they've had a couple of quick nips at each other but nothing serious. However, the other day I returned home to find that one of my axolotl's had taken a chunk out of the others leg above the elbow, right down to the cartilage.

As expected the rest of the limb has died away leaving just the cartilaginous skeleton and a healthy looking stump of flesh near the shoulder.

I know axolotl's can regrow their limbs but I was wondering if they need any form of pain relief? She seems "happy" in herself and is eating, can I do anything to speed up recovery?

Do these guys need seperating? I think that it was accidental, presumably he mistook her leg for food and got a good grip on it.

Any advise would be great, especially on the whole pain relief situation.

Rich

 

[Daniel]

There is no need for pain relief - firstly the nerves are destroyed so there is only a limited transmission of pain signals to the brain and secondly something like this happens in the wild, too, and there are no pain killers available.

What you do have to think about is the wound itself and especially the leftover bone. If there is no skin and bloodflow left, this should be removed (amputated), best to be done by a veterinarian. Otherwise the wound might become infected and it will be hard for the axolotl to regrow the limb.

You should watch the axolotl for any sign of infection and fungus. I would also seperate him in a quarantine tank with clean, cool water until the leg starts to regrow (after removal of the bone).

 

[ianclick]

Hi I'm sure that if you follow Daniels good advice your axie will come right with time.

Good Luck

 

[Saspotato]

Yep. I bought my axolotl with four stumps instead of legs... first I thought a mutation but seeing as they grew back again, I think he must have had them bitten off by his much larger tank companion.

Anyway, they took about three months to grow back but now they are fine and he has (almost) normal legs again! (missing a few toes on the front ones tho!)

So I think as long as you keep your axolotl away from infection, the legs should regrow normally. Good luck

 

[Cheryl2203]

Hi, I had the exact same problem with my two axies. they were fine together for about 3 or 4 months nd then one bit the others leg off! I took him to the vet nd the vet amputated the leg. Its now about 2 months on and his leg is still a bit shorter than the other but is growing back nicely. It looks as though nothing happened.
I think best to get a vet to check him out.
Mine are now separated but stare at each other across the tank divider all the time! Don't know why they don't like each other!
Hope this helps