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Question: Fat?

MartinBr

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I was wondering if my axolotls are fat, or if they should look this way. Their bellies seem very black when i look at them (not on the picture). Could this be from if they are eating the sand? The sand was the finest one i could find, would it be any problem for the axolotls to pass them? I see them sometimes eating the sand but they usually spits it out. Is it bad for them to eat sand even if they pass it?
 

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Crysta

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they can get abit of sand in their system, but usually pass it fine, next time one poops, check it for how much sand is in there, to see if it's a problem.

the one in the picture does look quite on the chubby side.

how often+much are you feeding them?
 

MartinBr

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I feed them about 1 cube of frozen bloodworms each every day. They are about 16 and 17cm, i think mac myers or shannon told me to feed them everyday at this size.
 

Crysta

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yeah. It doesn't seem like it's too much.

If you keep them in a bare bottom tank for alittle bit, you could be able to see regurgitated/passed sand, may be a good way of assessing how much they could have swallowed.
 

dragonlady

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Hi Martin,

The axolotl in the pic looks okay to me from the view you provided. btw at their current sizes, I wouldn't be concerned about the sand consumption - it will pass through without issue. If anything, just make sure you don't have any wayward gravel mixed in (especially if you didn't sift it before cleaning it).

Look down on them from above, if their bodies are wider than their heads, then maybe you should cut back a little.

If their bodies are the same width as their heads, you're just fine.

If their heads are ever wider than their bodies, then you want to increase the amount fed.

Hope you are still working on getting those live worms. ;)
 

MartinBr

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Thanks for the answers :) Was just afraid that they got filled with sand :p Getting the worms today ;)
 

dazkeirle

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Looks good to me,

Providing they're still active, can swim, fit in their hid etc. I'm sure that there is a too fat, bit like people really.

One of my favourite axies is Gomez (see Ted's post), he is a slightly larger than axie (no offence meant), but is really active and healthy.
 

Joy

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Hi, I agree with the others. I don't think it's the sand. I assume you don't have any gravel? Because when I got my axie from my neighbors, they had gravel on the bottom and my axie was FAT. I have to include a pic here of before and after... Anyway, I took out the gravel and she vomited up 28 pieces of gravel in a few days and all the sudden was skinny!....shoot, I can't find an attachment link here, only a URL link :(
 

Joy

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Sorted...now I can post my before and after fatty pix!
 

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jclee

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WOW! That was a tremendous amount of gravel in her belly. Poor thing. I've noticed that gravel ingestion tends to produce an odd shape -- not the same cyllindrical distribution of weight that you get with fat, but a kind of fullness in the gut. Maybe someone who has noticed this, too, and can describe it better than I should write up a stickie that would help new owners ID when their axies were full of gravel/rocks.

MartinBr -- I like Crysta's idea of temporarily putting the axolotl in a bare-bottomed tank, just to see what all's in it. I get curious. :p
 
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