Lumpy stomach

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suitable4frank

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I got this little guy today and I was so reluctant due to his lumpy stomach, but I got him anyway because he was irresistible.
Kind of automatically regretted my decision as it's starting to really worry me.
This little guy is about 3 inches long, has some nibbled gills and WAS kept on stones on the place I got him from. (I know, youre not meant to, but the breeder said it was personal preference)
So, has this little guy got a stomach full of stones? Or has he just eaten too much. (they fed him on sinking catfish pellets)
And if it is stones, any advice???
 

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suitable4frank said:
I got this little guy today and I was so reluctant due to his lumpy stomach, but I got him anyway because he was irresistible.
Kind of automatically regretted my decision as it's starting to really worry me.
This little guy is about 3 inches long, has some nibbled gills and WAS kept on stones on the place I got him from. (I know, youre not meant to, but the breeder said it was personal preference)
So, has this little guy got a stomach full of stones? Or has he just eaten too much. (they fed him on sinking catfish pellets)
And if it is stones, any advice???
Click to expand...

poor little thing, it does look like its 99% full of stones. The dark part is its stomach and by the looks of it its intestines are full of stones and thats the mass at the bottom
try putting in the fridge for several days and see if they pass

try gently feeling its stomach ad see if you feel any stones
 
I've never fridged a lotl before and I dont really want to unless it's 100% necessary. Also, he's only been with me a day and he's already stressed out enough.
He's very shy but eating blood worm fine, will he pass them naturally???
Sorry, kind of want a few people's opinions.
 
(would really love it if I got several opinions on this, even if you tell me off for getting him, I'd just like some help)
 
Looks like stones to me. He doesn't have to be fridged if you don't want to, but you need to get him somewhere very cool. Put him in a tub in an unheated porch, garage or basement. Feed him bloodworms or earthworms if he'll eat, change the water in the tub daily. If he can pass the stones all well and good, but if he can't you'll either have to get a vet to operate or euthanise him.
 
I don't consider myself an expert, which is why I didn't answer before, but I would do the "wait and see" approach. If he is eating and pooping, eventually the gravel will pass. If he stops pooping, then I'd consider fridging.

I'm hoping it is gravel, since I would think that anything else that could cause that sort of appearance would be much more serious.

I've read posts where axolotls were still passing an occasional piece of gravel many months after being in a gravel free environment, so it might be quite a while before it clears his system.

Are you an experienced axolotl keeper? If not, I suggest reading all of the various guides in this site. There is a lot of good info. :happy:
 
Can I put him in a much smaller tank (20L) and keep him somewhere like a shed (note it's been snowing recently here in Norfolk), changing the water every day??
He's eating perfectly, giving him bloodworm instead of catfish pellets and hes loving them.
He isn't pooping at all though.
Not sure what the definition of gravel is, but they were stones about 0.5 - 1cm big. The breeder I got him from told me it was what she's always kept them on and it's perfectly fine (obviously not).
I have 2 other lotls but theyve been kept on sand their entire life so I've not had to deal with this before.
Do you think I should wait until Friday to see if he's pooped at all and if he hasnt put him in this smaller tank, or put him in there straight away?
 
suitable4frank said:
Can I put him in a much smaller tank (20L) and keep him somewhere like a shed (note it's been snowing recently here in Norfolk), changing the water every day??
Click to expand...

you dont even need a tank, just use a large plastic tub and it will be fine in it.
they dont poo every day, it takes time sto pass through its system so can be a few days at atime it will poo
 
I definitely suggest not palpating (feeling around/touching) his stomach? I'm assuming you're not a vet and stressing him out by squishing his stomach is terrible advice. It's probably the stones making his stomach lumpy and I personally agree with Auntie Jude 100%. but really by squishing his stomach to feel for the stones you could cause them to do way more damage.
 
allied123 said:
I definitely suggest not palpating (feeling around/touching) his stomach? I'm assuming you're not a vet and stressing him out by squishing his stomach is terrible advice. It's probably the stones making his stomach lumpy and I personally agree with Auntie Jude 100%. but really by squishing his stomach to feel for the stones you could cause them to do way more damage.
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I havent felt his stomach at all, don't worry. I can see them clearly enough.

Is he in a bad place seen as they were actually stones and not gravel? Like, is he doomed? I would have thought he would be floating and acting strangely but he's absolutely fine, this is what has got me really confused.

He moves around perfectly fine (if you look past him dragging his poor stomach along the floor), if anything he's more than adventurous and has really taken to his new tank. He's eating lots and lots, plays in my bubble curtain and is acting strangely normal for a little one thats been moved 24 hours ago
 
He won't be able to float with a belly full of stones.

Any idea how big the stones were? They look pretty big, but it's just a small axie.

I wouldn't say he's 'doomed', it all depends on whether he can pass the stones or not. Your shed will be fine for him, whatever container you have is fine.
 
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The stones were about 0.5 - 1cm big.
He still hasnt pooped and I've had him since sunday morning.
 
These are pictures of what he's looking like today, I've cooled my tank so it's now at 12C and if he hasnt passed anything by thursday he's being put out in the shed.

He's still got such a healthy appetite though, he's just eaten a block of bloodworm and his first earthworm. That's the reason I'm delaying it a little bit: he just seems so... normal?
 

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suitable4frank said:
These are pictures of what he's looking like today, I've cooled my tank so it's now at 12C and if he hasnt passed anything by thursday he's being put out in the shed.

He's still got such a healthy appetite though, he's just eaten a block of bloodworm and his first earthworm. That's the reason I'm delaying it a little bit: he just seems so... normal?
Click to expand...


I would personally have it on a bare surface and get rid of the sand, you dont want it eating anything else it should not be eating. sand + stones could make things worse.
 
I don't feed him straight off of the sand, he eats out of a bowl, so I havent seen him eat any sand.

When I take him out I will remove it, as I don't want to cause him even more stress moving everything around
 
first poop (yay!!!) but with no stones at all.

didnt really think that was possible seen as he's full of stones, not sure how it got out
 
Well, as long as food is going in one end and out the other, he can get nutrition and grow. Hopefully, they will pass eventually.
 
2 poops and 5 stones later he looks like he's almost empty!! Haven't even fridged him yet. I feel like a proud mother :D

Looks like he still has a few left in him though, should I still fridge him or let him do this by himself?
 
suitable4frank said:
2 poops and 5 stones later he looks like he's almost empty!! Haven't even fridged him yet. I feel like a proud mother :D

Looks like he still has a few left in him though, should I still fridge him or let him do this by himself?
Click to expand...

post a pic of the stones
 
and him!! we love seeing cute healthy babies :) especially after they've been through something like this and are so much better :)
 
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