My Little Girl's in the Fridge!

Hi again everyone!

I got my first axies several weeks ago, and absolutely love them... they are amazing and adorable. Their previous owner had them in a setup with gravel, and I left them on that for a day or two after I got them, but I caught my little golden albino, Chi, eating the gravel, so I switched to sand immediately.

Since then I've been finding lots of small pebbles in the tank and taking them out, and all three are eating normally. But Chi's stomach still appeared really abnormally heavy, and she's been spending a lot of time floating with her back legs up. She didn't seem too stressed otherwise, and she's still eating, and swimming and everything. But since her stomach hasn't gotten any better I put her in the fridge.

The temperature in there is about 8 degrees C on the warmest fridge setting... is that too cold? Also do I keep feeding her during her stay in the fridge like normally (between one and two times a week?) or do I wait and see whether or not she passes any of the gravel first?

Thanks for all the help everyone!

Hi Redd,

8C is fine, axolotls can tolerate temperatures down to 5C. As far as feeding, axolotls are unlikely to eat when in the fridge as the cold slows their metabolism so they need to eat less. You might find your axolotl will regurgitate food as well at those kinds of temperatures. I have found at about 8C my axolotl will eat a tiny bit of food but anything lower than that, he won't eat. You can try feeding yours and see what happens I would say to offer less food about once a week but don't be too concerned if your axolotl refuses food.

Anyway, it is a good idea that you are fridging your axolotl as this can help them pass gravel better. In case you aren't already aware, you will need to do 100% daily water changes whilst your axie is in the fridge and make sure to cover the container to block out the light.

Update

So Chi's been in the fridge for the past few days with daily 100% waterchanges. I feed her some shrimp yesterday, and so far she's held it down. I found a little bit of axie poo, but no pebbles or gravel yet. Her belly is still abnormally huge, too.

She's so pale that you can kind of see into her stomach... I shone a little flashlight on it and you can definitely see a pebble about the size of a dime (between 1.5 and 2cm). Is there anything else I can do to help get it out? How long is it safe for her to live in the fridge?

Thank you guys for all your help

No, it's just time and patience. She may not poo the pebble out, but being in the fridge and keeping the water low if her back legs are still rising up, will help alleviate any stress. Ours pooed out gravel and pebbles over a period of almost two years.

Axies do tend to pale when in they're in the fridge = less blood flow needed as their metabolism slows down and the cool water also provides them with enough oxygen.

Ours have stayed several weeks in the fridge at various times. Some members have kept their axolotls in the fridge for months during the whole summer as they've been unable to maintain cool tank temperatures during extreme heatwaves.