Given an axolotl :-) want to bring it up to full health please

So ok. A friend contacted me and said he had a fish with legs and a mane lol. He said he felt it was in bad condition and wanted to give it to someone who had time and appreciated cool animals. I gladly took on the task. Now I have read loads online and I have gone with gravel. Put it in a big old tank, bought it a friend and plants the full sh-bang. Please don't. I have been told sand can clog up their lungs and I have seen loads of videos where tithe axies just spit out the gravel as do mine. But if anything happened I would change the sediment in future so please don't judge me The main reason I am on here is I am un-ware of how the animal was previously treat and she came in only a inch deep of water :-( Her gills look small and I have bought another of similar size (they have got along fine after just one snap from her) and his gills are long and healthy looking and she looks a little thing compared to him. I want to look after them both but more so what would you do if you receive this gorgeous animal and didn't know how it was previously kept?

I'll put a picture on seems I can only put one on?????????? I'll put one of her so her gills can be seen and attempt to put another on later

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Awww lovely. So cute. I have two that I've had for a year. I prefer bare bottom tank because no rotting stuff can get stuck and because axies suck up their food and anything else nearby by accident. Mine are in 14 degrees with mature sponge filters so they are very cool and their ammonia excretions are got rid of. Their tank is in a shady spot and they have a large hide and some Java moss. Happy to say they have been superbly healthy (so far!). Your axies looks very healthy to me and I would keep them as mine are if I had it. The gills get bigger in low oxygen conditions so you may well see changes to both axies gills as they adjust to your tank conditions. And I feed earthworms because they seem to do very well on them.
I'm sure yours will both do well as you are taking the time to research what they need.

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Thank for replying to my first ever thead thanks you have reassured me. I feel tight giving them bare bottom but may switch to sand :-/ it was advice from paws for thoughts lol This is my other one he is called Aristotle she is called Lottie do you feed it the earth worms full, chopped, in the tank or out of it? Do you feed your any thing else please?

Just whole earthworms. Dropped into the tank. They sometimes come to the top to take them from my hand.

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The Java fern you have there is good because you can tie it to a rock or bogwood and move it around like furniture when you hoover the tank. All the furniture in my tank gets moved to hoover under. I'm more thorough with the tank than my house!!

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And your wild is a lovely colour!

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Cheers dude maybe I could see a picture of yours

Kieranward said:

I have been told sand can clog up their lungs and I have seen loads of videos where tithe axies just spit out the gravel as do mine.

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Axolotls don't use their "lungs" while eating.

"Feeding in the water involves the creation of a negative pressure in the mouth cavity by movements of the head and throat, and the pressure differential between the mouth cavity and the water in front of the mouth results in a flow of water and prey into the mouth known as suction feeding"

Source: Functional design of the feeding mechanism
in lower vertebrates: unidirectional and
bidirectional flow systems in the
tiger salamander

Having gravel of that size will definitely be able to lodge in a throat or more commonly, cause a digestive impaction. It's a pretty big risk that is easily avoidable and lacks any reasonable benefit to the axolotl.

I will pay attention to your comment I would feel **** if anything was to happen. The bloke at the pet shop said it's very rare that they choke but maybe only one in every few thousand this may happen to. I still may use sand but they seem able to cope :-/ it may not have been the lungs but the pet shop bloke said sand can clog them up inside, maybe in their digestive system. I will keep an eye on them and promise to keep reading and finding out about these fascinating creatures so provide them with a comfortable environment.

Get rid of the gravel. Seriously - it is likely to kill your axie. If you don't believe me try reading some of the impaction stories in the 'sick axolotl' section.
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Look at these these pics:



Axies should be fed worms, with occasional portion of pellets, river shrimp, feeder fish (guppies), blood worms, or waxworms/maggots and a once-in-a-while variation.

Compared with some pet shop and rescue axolotls this one does not look too bad. The gills may not grow back to be as big as the other one but they are OK.

I'd just feed it steadily and watch it recover in good water conditions.

I have deep sand bases in all new tanks I set up. I don't believe sand causes lung or gut problems and if thick enough plants grow well and it goes anaerobic and denitrifies the tank.

Maybe I can clear up a few things here.

Gravel=never please remove it, bare bottom will be great, but gravel will likely make him worst. I see way to many cases where lotls die from impaction, or one brings a lotl home to spen the first month regurgitating the gravel(handful of it) in the fridge, hoping that none have tried to pass through the other end, its painful and can kill.

Why people say that sand can do the same iscaused by babies getting fed on the sand. Well and by babies I mean small juveniles who swallowing a bit of sand can be dangerous because they arent big enough to handle a bit of sand.

I find also when a lotl is eating off sand they are able to sift through the sand and only swallow food, where as a lotl may think the gravel is also food while trying to eat.

I have a bare bottom tank and i love it. Cleaning lotl poop in a tank with sand or gravel would be a nightmare in my opinion.

As far as nursing this lotl, it doesnt seem unhealthy. My biggest concern is to make sure water quality os 100% at all times! And if you cant remove the lotl from the tank and put it in a tuperware container(i have 1.5gallon tubs for each of my lotls for emergencies, dollarstore) and do 100%water changes until the tank is stable. And good food while it is recovering
Your lotl from the pictures dont look unhealthy, just looks like the gills suffered from some water quality issues which may lead to not wanting to eat a lot, but its not sickly skinny.

I feel sand is the way forward after seeing these comments. I think that is was course gravel, very fine not much bigger than sand was probably what the pet shop bloke meant and I have seen on you tube course gravel I see the difference. I wish I has clarified now and feel really worried now. Going to fine either that or use sand for definite.

Thanks for the comments in regard to how Lottie looks. I don't care if her gill come back long as she is healthy and I a keeping an eye on her. She has ate blodd worms for the past week whilst I have researched and today I gave them both some pellets but am not sure they have eaten any. Gonna get earth worms for defo. I do have a filter (low current) and some great hides as it's a big tank. I am not sure how old she is but she is around 6.5 inch and he is around 6 inch. They are both quite active and see social with one another after only a couple days together.

I will make sure to look after these guys it was a privilege and a really surprise to be given one and I loved it so much I got Aristotle. I will follow the advice given, thanks for not going too mental on me about gravel, I understand the general concern, it's valid and taken on board.

Many reptiles - notably bearded dragons, I keep seeing crop up - can't be on sand because it clogs their guts like cement. Some reptile owners transfer that knowledge over to Axolotls.
Axolotls appear to live on mud/silt in their (sadly depleted) natural habitat.

There have been cases where sand is suspected of causing issues, but they appear more infrequent than gravel.

Your axolotls are very pretty.

@Oceanblue - I'll keep that in mind and do some research about setting up an anaerobic substrate when I upgrade my tropical tank. We have high nitrates in our tap water (~40ppm) and while I've seen no ill effects (my piscine companions were bred in water from the same source), it makes me twitchy. Plus it would be nice to have substrate and gravel to use my gravel cleaner with (rather than sucking up curious guppy fry for a ride down the siphon-flume.)

Thank you for all the research you've done, and all the advice you've taken Your babies look very pretty!

I'm just a little worried. Did you say in your last post you would be going with 'coarse gravel, not much bigger than sand' or sand? I don't want to be rude but gravel in any form, particularly coarse, can be really dangerous. Sand can also be swallowed but if you have smooth, fine sand that appears to be a better option than jagged or coral sands (coral sand raises PH, as I discovered to my chagrin). Sand, bare bottom and slate are the go-tos for a lot of axolotl keepers. I personally have slate which I don't silicon down so I can hoover under it, and I can remove it if it flakes, etc.

You have done really well to research these little guys I'm glad you're enjoying them. They're great pets and wonderful companions.

Hi there

Thanks for support not only have they been a treat they have nursed me through a tough time at the mo they are bare bottom I couldn't bare it no longer. I hope they haven't ingested anything before I took it out. Defo going to with fine sand because I do want them to have a softish bottom and someone said the foot prints are so cute there are currently pieces of slate in there now. It looks great, not sure how natural but it fits. I'd think sand and some large flat pebbles or slate for decor. I'll put the plants back in when i get sand

Was wondering....... My spotted axies right hand is a wee bit but visibly smaller than it's left one. The legs are both the same. Could it have been injured maybe or just a throw back?? I'll see if it grows or anything.

I like the forum, wish I could navigate round it easier tho

Natural axolotl habitat is very gunky and muddy (although this is largely due to their homes being depleted and polluted by human activity); here's a video to enjoy showing how they are in the wild:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atewwIbLEk4

Sounds like you have a good mix of substrates there! The footprints are pretty cute and it gives them something to grip with their feet, but I've seen impacted axolotls and I didn't want to risk it, so I chose slate which is so far serving me well apart from a little flaking.

Sometimes when they're bitten the limb that was bitten off or injured grows back with a few 'quirks' - we've had trident gills, extra toes and all sorts on this board! This may explain the foot, but please keep an eye on it in case it is something else.

Yeah, the forum is a bit of a labyrinth at first lol! You will eventually get used to it if you're on it a lot of the time like us fellow crazy axxie people