Oil-dipped worms as laxative?

I believe my axie is constipated from eating sand. I saw her do it a couple times about 3 wks ago, like she was hunting and thought she saw something but all she got was sand.. I've hand fed her since I got her as a baby, but every once in a blue moon, a worm will get dropped, and I let her "hunt" it on her own (which she's not that good at, really, but seems to enjoy.). I don't like it, though, because she always takes in so much sand, but she's never gotten constipated before and she's NEVER just eaten sand before.. Anyway, she's pooped only one tiny little turd in 2 weeks and she's floating almost all the time, now, the last couple days,. Not to the top of tank, just about 4-5 inches off the bottom. She can come down and she still has a big appetite like always..begging, begging whenever she catches sight of me. She seems to feel okay otherwise, but this floating isn't normal for her.. She's got a fat tummy so I can't tell if she's fatter than "normal". I had tried to cut down on her food a little, which I think is why she started to "hunt" and eat sand. I know about the fridging but someone told me they read you could coat a worm in olive or vegetable oil, feed them half a worm twice a day, and, if they haven't been constipated too long, which she hasn't been, that should work and would be less stressful than fridging. I had to take her out of her tank and do the whole rubbermaid container shortly after I got her, just as she started to settle down and warm up to me. (Gill issues, tank had to be torn down and totally cleaned. To this day, I still don't know what happened, but it was something in the tank.) She was so stressed over that, she reverted back to being terrified of me again, of anyone and everyone. It took almost 4 months for her to get over that and trust me again. THat was over a year ago, and I don't want to put her or me through that again if there's something else we could try first. Does anyone have experience or knowledge of this oily worm as a laxative treatment?I've done an internet search and just saw one place where someone else heard of it for a newt, suggested by a vet, but turned out constipation wasn't the problem so she never did try it. Any thoughts as to whether it would be okay....safe..... to try? Your thoughts will be much appreciated. Like everyone else here, I love my axie and can't stand to see her unwell. Even though she doesn't act sick YET, I really believe something is starting and I'm afraid to wait much longer before I try to help her. Thank you..........

I've read the one with the oil but I don't really know anything about it unfortunately. You'll probably find fridging to be easier, and you don't have to worry about whether it's a safe thing to do or not. If there are any amphibian vets near you (or a university/zoo) you could call them and ask for advice. I don't think a little bit of oil would be too bad, but I really don't know.
I understand you not wanting to stress your axie out, it's hard when they are scared of you. If you end up fridging you will need to change the water every day. To make this less stressful have 2 tubs aside. Keep both in the fridge with dechlorinated water (so they maintain the same temp) and just swap the axolotl between the containers each day using a big net (usually less stressful than hands). Empty the used water and refill for the next day.

THank you so much for responding. It's 3:00 a.m.here, I've been up and wandering around, watching her float here and there, beg for worms, float some more...., wondering what to do. I decided, too, that the frig is better, probably faster, too. SO, I got my little container out, washed it well and put it in her tank. I'm hoping she'll go in there on her own, I think she will when she's tired of staring at it, wondering what the new thing is. That might take a few hours, but once she gets past that, she's usually pretty curious and brave, so I expect she'll go in and check it out. Hopefully, I can get the cover on and get her out and in the frig without stressing her too much. Getting her out of the tank was the worst part last time. I didn't have a net big enough for her.....I do now, haven't used it yet,but I have one, and I had NO idea she'd be so slippery, so it took several attempts before I was able to hang onto her. It was just a nightmare for both of us! I'll do better this time, I don't think I could much worse. Assuming she isn't too terribly packed, about how long do you think it'll be before I see poo or sand or both in the container, and how many days of nothing coming out of her before I can put her back in the tank?

Lilla is in the frig. It went well, better than I thought, thank goodness!, I dropped a couple live worms into the container, which was in her tank, and she went in shortly after. I draped a towel over the front of the tank so she couldn't see me approach and quickly covered the tub before she could get out, which she tried to do when she saw the cover coming down. I had everything set up, so she was in the frig a few minutes later. Can I get her out now, please?? Kidding...sorta. I guess I just wait for her to get rid of what's ailing her, yes?....do daily water changes until then....I hope it doesn't take long.

My vet told me to feed wax worms dipped in olive oil for a newt he thought was constipated.

Yours must have been the post I found when I did an internet search. You never ended up doing that, though, did you? I think it would be good to try. I thought I was maybe running out of time as far as how long she'd been plugged up and how soon she'd be getting very sick so thought I better buck up and get her in the frig. I hope she doesn't hate me when she comes out! Thanks for your reply. Maybe someone will try the oily worm cure sometime and share the outcome It would be excellent info to have..

I'd keep the axie fridged until you see they have passed some poop and are no longer floating, it can take a couple of days. As long as you're changing the water it's okay. Don't worry if they don't eat as the cold will slow their metabolism.

The temp was 40F, I raised to 45F. Is there an optimum temp?

krenae said:

Yours must have been the post I found when I did an internet search. You never ended up doing that, though, did you? I think it would be good to try. I thought I was maybe running out of time as far as how long she'd been plugged up and how soon she'd be getting very sick so thought I better buck up and get her in the frig. I hope she doesn't hate me when she comes out! Thanks for your reply. Maybe someone will try the oily worm cure sometime and share the outcome It would be excellent info to have..

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I did try it. She had an infection and finally responded to an antibiotic shot, but the worms /olive oil did not hurt her.

Thank you for sharing that information!