rescued a axolotl

[shelly]

hey

on saturday i was in a reptile shop (after going to the barking reptile fair) and was looking at the axolotls and spotted a starved one. its body is less than half the width of its head and its full of stones. it may be an albino as there is no colour apart from red gills (less than a cm) and black toes (missing most feet and part of a couple of legs) i thought it had no eyes as no colour but they shine in certain lights.

been feeding it bloodworm and last night and today it poo'd out 5 stones and seems a little bit rounder in the tummy.

it has a very thin tail and almost no muscle, you can see the back bone ridge and hollows around the hips.

just going to keep feeding it and hope it gets stronger

oh and i didnt pay for it. they gave it to me when i said how ill it looked and offered to take it home to nurse it.

[click]

Hi shelley,

In New Zealand our S.P.C.A deals with all animal life and the mistreatment of, I assume the R.S.P.C.A is the same.

Have you recommended to them that they visit this site or johns axolotl site ?

Our last addition was malnourished and has fattened up with 2 months of 2 small feeds a day she is now on one feed every 2 days and is doing well.

Good on you, All creatures great and small and all that. It is a very lucky axie to have found you.

Keep it up and good luck.

[shelly]

thanks ian

i didnt call the rspca. i have a feeling that it may have been a new adition to the shop in a shipment of other axolotls. it wasnt there a couple of weeks ago and was bigger than all the others. it would have taken months to get into the state it was so i dont think it was them being cruel just not paying attention.

im putting in 2 lots of blood worm a day and this afternoon she had a worm (for a while i thought the worm would win)

im just glad i have the room to take her on.

[shelly]

she has passed 10 stones now. whats the most anyone can remember an axi passing?

[Jennewt]

Kapo said she had an axie that continued to pass occasional pieces of gravel for months after removal from it. It could take a while...

[shelly]

12 and counting

[John Clare]

Don't hold your breath for the RSPCA to do anything for axolotls. They have a mixed reputation as an organisation - it's not all Rolf Harris and righteous punishment of puppy abusers. Axolotls have the distinct disadvantage of not being "cute" to most dog and cat lovers and they aren't exactly affectionate, nor are they impressively sized like an iguana or something.

[shelly]

thats my feelings. i was thinking though that i would ring them and offer to foster/look after any thing like axi's. for now though im just happy to have rescued this one who is as yet nameless.

[kapo]

Between four axolotls I had quite a collection over an 18 month period (I stopped counting after a while and just threw them in my flower pots as they appeared).

[Julia]

You put axolotl in the plant pots!.... Kapo I am a little perturbed ( well more than usual!)

[MelanieK]

Originally Posted by bellabelloo

You put axolotl in the plant pots!.... Kapo I am a little perturbed ( well more than usual!)

I do think it was stones that went into the pots!

[Julia]

Yep, I was having one of my dimmer moments! I thought she was planting dead axolotl in pots! Sorry.

[Kaysie]

You can plant them? Do they sprout new axolotls? Heehee

[kapo]

Yeah sorry, I did mean gravel, not dead axolotls . None of ours have died yet!

[shelly]

well she is doing a little better and hasnt passed any more stones. kept down a bit of liver the other night so just going to feed her more and hope her limbs and feet regrow.

[shelly]

another 2 stones. that makes 14

blimey thats a lot of stones!

[shelly]

im really hoping those two were the last but time will tell. poor thing

[shelly]

passed another stone. makes 15!