Illness/Sickness: Axolotl ate a lot of small gravel, hasn't passed it

I picked up an albino axolotl for a 1st/2nd grade classroom. He was put into a tank with small blue gravel, and he ate several pieces of the gravel (you can see it inside him!). So far, he hasn't passed any gravel (it has been about 16 days since he ate the gravel), but he is eating off and on. Today, he had his back legs all bent, and was curling his whole tail for a few seconds at a time. He also appeared to yawn today...is that normal? Sorry, we are real newbies. Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated. The kids are already very attached to Alvin the axolotl, and we want to make sure we do the right things, and don't rush anything that needs time.

Thank you all so very much!

Sheryl

I forgot to put in my first post that he has swelling and what looks like extra tissue around his cloaca. It reminds me of a rectal prolapse I saw in a python once.

It may be best to place your axolotl in a covered container of clean dechlorinated water into the fridge ( or somewhere cooler than the current tank). Doing this tends to aid your axolotl in passing the gravel. While it is there you will need to do daily water changes , keep a bottle of prepared water in the fridge so that the temperatures are close for the change. Cover the container with a cloth so that the light does not disturb it. In the mean time I would advise you to remove all the gravel from the tank as it is notorious for causing impaction ( the small gravel can block your axolotl up). Hopefully you should find that your axolotl will pass the gravel.

Hi Rose,

roseroar1 said:

I picked up an albino axolotl for a 1st/2nd grade classroom. He was put into a tank with small blue gravel, and he ate several pieces of the gravel (you can see it inside him!). So far, he hasn't passed any gravel (it has been about 16 days since he ate the gravel), but he is eating off and on

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Axolotls will snuffle through substrate looking for food at all hours, and they will often swallow gravel by mistake. Axolotls can retain gravel for quite some time before trying to pass it. The problem with ingesting gravel is that it causes impaction (a blockage in the gut) which can be fatal.

I would strongly recommend you remove the gravel and replace with either sand (children's play sand, pool filter sand or fresh water aquarium sand) or have a bare bottom tank. Bare bottom tank would be best in a school environment I think, much easier to keep clean (axolotls are very grotty little critters who need cleaning up after).

Water quality is most important to an axolotl's health, a lot of wastes can become trapped under the gravel which wreaks havoc with water quality and the only way to clean the gravel is to shift ALL OF IT. Adds a lot to the work load.

roseroar1 said:

Today, he had his back legs all bent, and was curling his whole tail for a few seconds at a time. He also appeared to yawn today...is that normal?

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Sounds like he may be trying to pass a stone and is having trouble.

I would put him in the fridge. The fridge will aid him in passing these stones and will relax him.

Fridge procedure:

• Pop him in a tub of fresh dechlorinated water (ensure tub is long enough so he can stretch to his full length and is completely immersed in water)
• Put a lid on the tub so he does not splash and soak neigbouring objects (or worse jump out!)
• Cover tub with a teatowel so the fridge light coming on and off does not disturb him
• Keep dechlorinated water in the fridge
• While in the fridge, he will need his water changed 100% each day with the fridged water, this ensures he does not suffer temperature shocks.

Yawning on occasion is normal lol - it's called "the tunnel of doom" - sometimes you feel as if you can see right down into their stomach

Havelock said:

Yawning on occasion is normal lol - it's called "the tunnel of doom" - sometimes you feel as if you can see right down into their stomach

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If the yawns come close together (many in a minute) then it's a sure sign of a very sick axolotl that likely is on death's door. Normal yawns are usually one off events you don't see again for quite some time.

Regarding possible prolapse, I would say follow the advice you have been given and the problem could correct itself.

Thank you all for your suggestions and help!

The gravel was taken out about 2 hours after he was put into the tank. Both the teacher and I have been mentally kicking ourselves for not taking it out before we put him in. We are both total newbies about axolotls (she's great with animals, especially dogs and cats, and I'm pretty good with critters, especially snakes, lizards, fish and birds).

He has only yawned once, as far as we know. It just happened when we were both looking at him, and it was just kind of weird, lol.

We had been reading other posts on this forum, and thought it would help the axolotl if we cooled down his tank temperature, by floating bottles of frozen water in the tank. His tank stays at around 71 degrees (it's a few degrees cooler in the morning). Would that help him at all?

Again, thank you all for your advice!

Hi roseroar,

Keeping your axie's tank cool would generally reduce stress and hence prevent diseases and ill health. However, watch that you also don't cause too sudden or drastic temperature fluctuations as these are stressful as well.

In cases of emergencies, whereby your axie is sick (and you have yet to determine the cause) or when it has an impaction, you can fridge your axolotl. (not freezer)

The cold fridge temperature would destress your axolotl and render the conditions less hospitable for harmful pathogens like fungus and bacteria to proliferate. It is like a recovery ward of sorts!

Cheers

John said:

If the yawns come close together (many in a minute) then it's a sure sign of a very sick axolotl that likely is on death's door. Normal yawns are usually one off events you don't see again for quite some time.

Regarding possible prolapse, I would say follow the advice you have been given and the problem could correct itself.

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I saw my axi yawn and try eat gravel on the first day I got him (I got 2 but only one tried the gravel), i have removed the gravel (I thought it would be too big to eat, but clearly not). I hope all is well! If I do fel the need to put my axi in the fridge, how long would you do that for? I don't wanna cool it down too much and do him further harm!