Won't eat off sand

Hi there, I have had my axie a week now. When i bought him he was in a tank with gravel in the shop and the shop staff assured me they spit out any gravel they pick up when they eat. I wish I had read more before I got him as on the first day he seemed to struggle spitting out the stones he picked up when eating his pellets.

I dont think he swallowed any but just to be safe I fed him pellets off a plate at the bottom of the tank until i could get sand. A couple of days after I got him I found 6-7 stones at the bottom of the tank which did not belong to my tank (my gravel was black and these were all different colours, like the shop gravel) and i saw him vomiting stones and his food pellets up. My axl seemed to be a lot more active afterwards and could swim to the top and stay there without struggling since he got the stones up and his belly seems less bloated.

I changed his substrate to fine aquarium sand which he seemed to like but now he doesn't seem to want to swallow his food and doesn't seem as active. He takes the pellets in his mouth but then spits them out again with a little bit of sand. It's as if he doesn't like the sand in his mouth so spits everything out. I am a bit worried as he must be hungry to try to want to eat.

He's not ate for 2 days and vomited up what he had 3 days ago with those stones . Is it just that he needs to get used to the sand? Can anyone suggest anything please?

P.s sorry for the great detail.

Hi

From the sound of it, its not that he doesn't want to eat off sand, its that he doesn't want to eat.

I would put him in the fridge for a few days and let him try and get rid of all the gravel in his system that will be putting him of his food.

Mel

Thanks for the reply I am new to this but want the best for my axl quite attached to the little fella already. Is it acceptable to cool his tank using the floating ice bottle method instead? Not sure other household members would let me put him in the fridge?

He would be better in the fridge as this will help him pass stones.
This will also slow down his metabolism so he wont get too skinny while not eating.

You could just keep an eye on him in the big tank and try him with some earthworm. They do tend to like wriggling foods.

Mel

I will see if I can get a mini fridge to put him in. Thanks again for your help

Hi there, sorry to hear about your poor axie, I also had probs with gravel and it took weeks and weeks for my axie to poop it all out and the fridging def helped him!!!

Anyway as an idea as the weather is cold at the moment you could put him outdoors in a container as long as its sealed and in the shade with a cloth over to keep it dark but make sure you keep an eye on the temp. I have 2 axies with fungus at the moment an wanted to fridge them together but as I have put them into a big container it is easier to put them in my conservatory as its cold out there so they are at a temp of 18 at the moment.

Good luck :happy:

I did wonder about that actually its another option, thanks.

I am really hoping he's not got a blockage as the stones came out the top end. Coming to think about it I don't remember ever seeing any poop. What does it look like? ( if you don't mind me asking?!).

The poo depends on what they've been eating.
On pellets it will probably be a beigy grey brown torpedo type thing.
Although these are dusty and easily broken up if thy're disturbed, so that could be why you've not noticed any.

Mel

I have seen some small bitty stuff floating about but thought it may have been food that had escaped the net when cleaning left overs out. That's a bit of a relief.

try to get him on earthworms, this way he'll get used to the wriggling, and then associate wriggling with food, and will be easier to feed. Also earthworms are just the best food for them.
wormsdirect is the best place to get worms in the UK. [IMO]