Axy may have eaten gravel

My Axie is only young (3 or 4 inches long nose to tail tip) and I am worried that he may have swallowed some gravel, is there anything I can do or is it likely that he may be done-for?? Apple x

First, get rid of the gravel.

Second, keep an eye on it. Keep it cool, and watch to see if it poops. If it's still eating and pooing normally, it should be okay.

Hi Apple,

Do as kaysie suggested. However if you don't observe any improvement or if there is deterioration of condition, you can consider fridging your axie.

Monitor for other signs of illness and stress? Curled tail tip, forward facing gills, inappetance, odd behaviour, floating etc?

Fridging your axie will destress it, boost its immune system and render harmful pathogens (both bacterial and fungal) less viable. It also facilitates the passage of impacted material.

- Set your fridge to about 5 degree celsius.
- Put your axie in a container large enough to allow it to stretch its limbs and tail comfortably.
- Fill with fresh dechlorinated water enough to submerge it but not allowing it to float.
- Cover with a lid. You can use a perforated lid or netting to prevent it jumping out.
- Use a tea towel to cover it to keep the environment dark.
- Perform 100% water changes daily with clean dechlorinated water.
- You can pre prepare bottles of water in the fridge.
- Continue to offer a variety of nutritious food daily. Try live wriggly food like blackworms, bloodworms, earthworms. You can also try the usual pellet, offer treats of shrimp and fish etc. Otherwise you can also blend everything in a food processor and then roll the resultant mash into a pea sized ball to try offer your axie. Remove uneaten food within 20 min.

I would try fridging your axolotl for 2 weeks and continually monitor for improvement. Please update on the progress every couple of days.

Cheers

I was just wondering,

If fridging slows an axolotls metabolism and decreases the need/desire for food, why offer it food on a daily basis?

Also if impaction is the reason for the fridging, wouldn't feeding it whilst in the fridge prior to the passing of the impaction be counter productive?

ianclick said:

I was just wondering,

If fridging slows an axolotls metabolism and decreases the need/desire for food, why offer it food on a daily basis?

Also if impaction is the reason for the fridging, wouldn't feeding it whilst in the fridge prior to the passing of the impaction be counter productive?

Click to expand...

well like any animal, they may not eat everyday, but as a rule of thumb should offer them food, they may not eat, but not offering food can actually cause them to lose interest in food.. which is not something you want...

Hi Click,

A lot of people think that once an axie's (or any animal's) metabolism slows down, every system slows down, this is actually not true.

For example, in colder environments, our peripheral blood circulation (skin) slows down hence we get the palor. What happens is the blood actually gets preferentially shunted towards the vital organs such as the brain, the liver, the heart, the kidneys etc. This increase in circulation to these organs actually allows them to work better, concentraing and focusing on regeneration and repair.

In an impacted and fridged axie, it is definitely true they will have decreased appetite. However, continual feeding has many advantages. Firstly, the enterocytes or intestinal cells gain their nutrition for repair and growth directly from ingested food. Secondly, feeding will stimulate regular peristaltic movements along the gastrointestinal tract and prevent a condition called paralytic ileus. In all, feeding will ensure healthy functioning of the intestinal tract. Feeding will obviously also provide nutrition for immunity, energy and prevent the axie reaching terminal starvation point.

The reason why we offer food daily is because we would not know when the axie 'feels' like eating. It is more of a "just in case' measure. I do tend to recommend mash food while fridged because they are much easier to digest.

Because the act of eating and even attempting to eat will stimulate the gut's peristaltic movement, it will facilitate the passage of impactions. Furthermore, the gut lining will become more 'moist' from activating mucus producing cells called goblet cells. The increased lubrication along the gut will further help the axie pass out the offending material.

Cheers.

The same thing happened to my 3 inch axie a few weeks ago. He seemed very uncomfortable but still ate like he didn't have a rock the size of his head in his stomach. So one night I fed him and the next day the rock was out of him. I guess the food just helped things move along. And boy am i glad. If you've tried everything else try just feeding him.

Hi Ray,

Thanks for the clarification. It makes very good sense

Cheers

Thank you all so much for your advice! I will do everything you have suggested and let you know how he gets on.... I hope he's ok! x