Should I be worried?

Well, as I'm sure you guys know if you've read anything from me before, I worry a lot about my pet. But this time I think it might be something bad, or at least, very odd...

There are actually two things, one related to the other. I mentioned the one problem in another thread, but I was worried my guy had eaten a stone, or something. I said that it seemed like he bulged in one spot, but I realize now that's not quite accurate - he is actually kind've concave in one spot of his body, as in, dinted. It's on his left side, posterior to his front legs, somewhat around where the "ribs" would be (if he had them). His side goes along, then caves in a bit, then bulges back out and continues normally. His other side doesn't look like this. It is most noticeable immediately after he has eaten, and then slowly becomes less noticeable and more normal looking. I've tried to take pictures before, but it's really tricky to get him in a good position for it, so, if my description really is insufficient I'll see what I can do.

My second concern is about something incredibly stupid I did. I noticed after feeding him a bit more than normal (I'm still trying to figure out how much he can eat, or should eat, I don't want to starve or overfeed him), he seemed to gag. Like, his gills would flap and his body would convulse a bit, and he'd stand in spot and keep opening and closing his mouth, occassionally "yawning." This seemed, well, bad. It looked like he was trying to throw up but he never did. He would eventually stop and then go on his merry way, but it was still very disconcerting.

And, well, here's where my amazingly foolish bumbling comes in. I was worried he had a stone or something inside him, and I'd read on here that you can feel it, if you touch them lightly. I'd tried before but he'd squirmed out of my very light grip. I was worried this time, so I was a bit more, well, aggressive, I suppose. I never pressed too hard, I was very careful about that, but I may have held him for too long or in a bad position, and he freaked out and swam quickly all about the tank until he came to rest in his hiding spot. I decided to leave him alone for the night (this was last night). Today, he looked very stressed, his gills were curled way forward. I was worried so I tried feeding him, and he ate, but then did the gagging thing again. I thought, ok, enough's enough I'm calling a vet. Yeah, well, none have heard of axolotls (although one about two hours away knows about salamanders and amphibians, so hopefully she'll work.)

Anyways, like an idiot I tried feeling his side again, he was positioned in just such a way that what seemed the most likely bulge to be a rock inside him was clearly accessible. He didn't like that, freaked out again, and now he's hiding. So, ok, I'm just going to leave him alone, and I'll never try touching him again. But have I ruined his home? Is he going to be too stressed in there to live happily? Or will he eventually get over this?

Finally, all the stress wasn't completely in vain. I got a good feel of him and there really doesn't feel like there's anything hard or none-amphibian inside him. So what the hell is going on? I'm really quite worried because I've never seen any other axolotls that are, well, dinted.

Sigh. I'm really sorry to keep coming to you guys with my worries, but I just feel like I'm screwing this up, and he would have been better with someone else...

Pics would help....and what kind of diet is he on?

Carnivore pellets. There's nutritional information on the back, and from the readings on the caudate culture and axolotl sanctuary pages, they seem pretty decent (50% protein and 10% oil, with various vitamin supliments). I give around 4 a day. I'm going to diversify his diet somewhat once I get my tank fully cycled.

I'll try to get some pictures, but like I said, it can be tricky. Especially now that he's all stressed out and hiding.

How large is he?

Hello bob, My baby also has this 'dent' in his body, Axolotl do have contours all down there body I just assumed it was more pronounced due to his small size. and your 'throwing up' issue, as I understand your description it sounds like he is just still swallowing, but I may be getting the wrong end of the stick from your description

I suspect you have little to worry about. Axolotl will gag sometimes when they eat, it does look horrible but it seems to me it is just their way of moving their food a little further in. A picture will be useful in giving us a better idea of what may be happening regarding the dent/ bulge. Do you have reason to suspect a stone has been eaten ?
I would leave your axolotl alone for a few days, I suspect you trying to feel the lump may have been rather stressful, offer food as normal.

First off, thanks for your replies, you guys really are great.

Shizeric: He is about 4-5 inches, and around 4-5 months old, so still quite young. I feed him around 4 or 5 pellets a night, because at first I thought he looked a bit thin, but now what with the gagging I'm worried he might be overfed. His tank is a fairly constant 19/20 degrees, so he probably needs more food due to that (I'm working to keep it around that temperature, especially with summer approaching, and I'll never let it get over 22 degrees. But a chiller is, unfortunately, out of the question.)

tom: That is very reassuring. I will try to get some pictures up of what he looks like, but as I mentioned it is rather difficult, especially now that he's all frightened and stressed (I feel like such a dolt)

bellabelloo: He looked pretty much exactly like this since I bought him from the pet store. So, if he had eaten a stone it would have been from there. However, the workers there were surprisingly well-informed about axies, especially conerning substrate. Also I hand feed him, so he tends to look up for food. He is, however, on a river rock substrate right now, so who knows? This was always intended as a temporary thing, though (in fact, I was planning on switching to sand yesterday, but with all the stress going on I thought I should probably hold off for a couple days.)
And he will calm down and relax in time, won't he? I'm feeling pretty guilty for disturbing his home like that :\

Could you provide a picture of your axolotl, looking at your profile picture I would love to see more of him.
He will forgive you..you are the mighty provider of food .

Heh, I was actually planning on holding off on sharing pictures until I'd switched my substrate, because I had a pretty good idea of what the responses would be!

But ok, I'll share some (most of these were taken while trying to get a good picture of his weird dent thing, but as I mentioned, it's really hard to get it to show up on camera, whereas in person it's pretty noticeable.) Oh, and keep in mind he's not actually a true axolotl but an A. andersoni, so he looks a little different.



This is the side that has the weird dint, but it's pretty hard to see in this picture (also the white is just natural colouration, it actually looks pretty cool I think!)



And this is probably really the only picture that shows anything that could be wrong. Notice there's a bulge on his right side, whereas the dint is on his left (and jeeze, this picture really makes his substrate look bad. Trust me, I'm changing it soon, probably tomorrow!)



And this is just him being cute. So very, very cute.



He's really cool, I like him a lot, which is probably why I'm so worried all the time.

Well, he's eating normally and when I gave him three pellets instead of four he didn't gag. So maybe I was just overfeeding him? He's starting to come out of hiding a bit more now and his gills have uncurled, but the weird dint is still there. If I ever manage to get a decent picture, I'll try to show you. Could this just be something he'll outgrow? Maybe he's not fully developed yet, or something, I dunno.

Hey, Looking at those stones I would say impaction may be an option here, you should change it as soon as you can hopefully he has not swallowed any!

He is beautiful by the way I hope he is fine

Some of those rocks could easily have been swallowed..give it some time and if he continues to improve, then no need to worry. However, if his condition worsens, you should seek veterinary help. And switch those ROCKS!

I had my suspicions.... His profile didn't seem quite right.

And indeed the responses are what you expected,

It may be worth pm'ing Michael Shrom, he has this species and may be able to give you good advice.