Illness/Sickness: Trouble swimming, no appetite, odd shaped head?

Hey all,
I've had my axolotl for about two months, when I got him, he was pretty tiny. He's doubled in size by now, but he's terribly skinny. I have been feeding him sinking newt pellets as per the guy who sold him to me (it was at a snake expo?) and occasionally frozen bloodworms. For about two or three days, he hasn't eaten anything. He's also on the bottom of the tank much more than before. Parameters are good, temperature is good.

He seems to be struggling to swim. It seems he's frontheavy. My guess is that he ate something he shouldn't have, but I didn't have any gravel in his tank. I just moved him from his ten gallon (from when he was much smaller) into a 20 long with sand, but in the ten gallon I had a few large rocks and some small glass marbley things, I'm wondering if it's possible he ate one of those? I did catch him suck one up once but he immediately spit it out. I also think the his head looks kind of weird, maybe where like... an axolotls chin would be? A few pictures of the axolotl and then a picture of the glass pieces in his old tank.

Thanks for any input.

I think he has swallowed one of those and it got stuck in his mouth. (That also might be the reason why he's frontheavy and also why he's skinny because he can't eat). Maybe you can somehow check his mouth if there's anything in there and see if you can carefully remove it.
I would also suggest to get rid of those marble things. They can eat things the size of their head.

It does look like something is going on with his chin. Can you check in his mouth(for one of those glass stones) without harming him or stressing him out? -sorry, you were posting at same time, Morrison...

If you don't see anything, I'd say that looks like an infection that would need a vet's attention.

How would you go about getting something out of it's mouth?
Would I just grab him and try and open his mouth? I'm scared.

if it fitted in it's mouth, it could come out.

to examine him hold him gently and steadily underwater and pry open his mouth very slowly with tweezers/similar try to see if it is in there. if not he'll need a vets attention as it could be infection, as dragonlady has said.

If it is one of those 'dragon's tears' you may be able to pop it out if you can open his mouth wide enough, but don't try to force it hard, if you can't again - to the vets.

You may want to fridge him after that.

Well, my wife was able to get the stone out.
It kinda took a while, and she tried to keep him submerged but she said that she had sticky stuff on her hands afterwards, I'm assuming slime coat.

What should treatment be now?
Fridge him, add some kind of medication to his water as well?

Thanks guys and gals.

Hi
Glad the stone is now out.

I would personally keep him in the tank and just keep an eye on him.
He shouldn't need any treatment or anything.

I would keep him out of the fridge as the low temp will decrease his appetite. Just get him eating and he should be fine!!

Mel

as long as he's being himself, and isn't stressed he doesn't need fridging., I should have mentioned that, sorry.

Just keep an eye on him as melfly said, the best thing you can do is just make sure there's nothing in his tank he can swallow, apart from food.

glad the stone is out what a relief!! I would recommend some earth worms for your axie not many axies refuse those and depending on his size you may need to cut them up, good luck

Glad it came out!
He will be a happy axie now he can eat normally.

Thanks everyone. It was a huge relief to get it out. He's kind of mopey right now, and isn't eating yet, but I imagine having someone hold him and get him to open his mouth didn't really sit well with him, I'm sure in a day or two he'll start eating again.

I haven't tried an earthworm with him yet, I think he's still kinda on the smaller side, but we've got some already for my wife's turtles, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to try.

bless sure he will be back to his oldself in no time at all!! How long is he as you wil be surprised what they can handle my 4 inch babies handled fairly big worms and in a few months have now doubled their size Try some small ones bet he will love it and as I say you can cut them up if they are 2 big, good luck :happy:

thats amazing news! I bet you are glad he didnt swallow it completely! lesson learned I guess!

mrtanuki said:

Thanks everyone. It was a huge relief to get it out. He's kind of mopey right now, and isn't eating yet, but I imagine having someone hold him and get him to open his mouth didn't really sit well with him, I'm sure in a day or two he'll start eating again.

I haven't tried an earthworm with him yet, I think he's still kinda on the smaller side, but we've got some already for my wife's turtles, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to try.

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Yeah go for it, they love a bit of Earthworm.

Just cut it up into tiny pieces and you'll be surprised what a meal even a small worm will make.

I like to mix it with Bloodworms for variety.

I've found since doing that they poop more frequently and the food is better digested which I can only assume is good for their metabolism.

Glad to hear this was a quick fix and a happy ending. Good thing he didn't swallow it completely. Now just remember, nothing smaller then his head from now on. I know all too well what happens in these situations. Just take a look at my link below.