Constipated?? Help!

I got home from work just now and looked in at Gunther and he is very swollen between his back legs, looks like he's halfway through pooping but... straining. His whole body seems bent and tensed up, his gills look a little darker than usual too, and his back legs are pressed up against his body. he's still moving around but he's not happy!
He lives in a sand substrate with one other male, who is absolutely fine - there's nothing he could have eaten except maybe too much sand? Should I fridge him? I have a thermometer in there as i type to check the temp.

he looks really uncomfortable - any help would be appreciated!!!

Classic constipation pose and if I remember rightly your sand is more course to very course sand with particles that are between 0.5 and 2mm averaging 1mm and yes ingesting too much of that if bound together with poop could very likely cause this especially since the last pic I saw of this little guy was of him with a blue side

Poor little guy does not look comfy at all. The fridge is the only place for him right now and unless you have access to a vet who knows the ins and outs of Axies all you can really do is wait and hope it passes I hope he poops soon and makes a speedy recovery. Hopefully the obstruction being made up of multiple quite small particles rather than one larger one will mean he can get it out all on his own.






Particulate Material classifications if anyone is interested
Size class & size in millimeters (1inch = 25.4mm)

Boulders ~ 250-1000

Gravel
a. Cobbles ~ 65-250
b. Pebbles ~ 4-65
c. Granules ~ 2-4 (Typical aquarium gravel)

Sand
a. Very course sand ~ 1-2
b. Coarse sand ~ 0.5-1
c. Medium sand ~ 0.25-0.5
d. Fine sand ~ 0.125-0.25
e. Very fine sand ~ 0.0625-0.125

Muds
a. Course silt ~ 0.031-0.0625
b. Medium silt ~ 0.0156-0.031
c. Fine silt ~ 0.0078-0.156
d. Very fine silt ~ 0.0039-0.0078
e. Clay ~ below 0.0039
f. Dust particles ~ These can be as small as 0.05 microns (0.0005 mm)

Thanks for the information MereB - this has never happened before so it really worried me, but when i got back from the gym 2 hours later he was fine again! No swollen bits, straight tail, swimming normally - I was so relieved! I gave him some food and he nearly took my hand off!
About the sand - this has been brought up before and though I admit in the photo it does look quite course, I assure you I shopped around loads before finding a sand fine enough - only the occasional particle looks anywhere near 1mm (I'm tempted to take some to work and measure it with a micrometer to prove it), here's a photo just to clarify. It could definitely not be called gravel. I don't mean to go on, I just don't want people thinking he's in a less-than-adequate substrate!
You said 'classic constipation pose'. How common is this then? Does it just happen from time to time like with people? Or do you really think I have to change my substrate??

I'm glad he's feeling better :happy: It's worrisome when they aren't themselves and are visible distressed. you must be so relieved that he's better now.

The classic constipation pose - swollen cloaca obviously, bent up tail to various degrees and the clincher the legs held up and back along the body. Most axies that are constipated will look exactly like your little guy :happy: That's all I meant. How common it is really depends on what context you want to look at it in. In tanks with gravel it is more common than in individuals who are kept on finer substrate, bare bottomed tanks or on VERY large pebbles for obvious reasons. If you remove those kept on gravel from the statistics then I don't think it is all that common really but it does happen from time to time just like it does with us humans.

For what it's worth I never called your substrate gravel it is indeed by definition SAND and I believe the data I posted clarified that point. I also recall that I was one of only a few on the blue belly post that defended your choice of substrate saying that 1mm and smaller was perfectly fine :happy: and yes it does look courser on the pics than it really is but it STILL doesn't look big enough to be gravel. I myself have an axie on course sand averaging 1mm and under and he passes it just fine not that he swallows much, yes I inspect his poop but he does eat a little and mine too because it's shiny looks much larger in photos especially since the axie on it is not full grown yet.

I guess some of it will depend on what they are eating. I have fed my adults whitebait a few times and as gross as it sounds their poop comes out fish shaped and the head is clearly visible but worms and pellets just come back out as a hydrogenous lump
Some sands also have a greater tenancy to clump together than others so there are plenty of factors aside from grain size that could influence how an axie processes the sand they ingest.

I guess the only way to know what was blocking your axie up is to find what he expelled and have a very good look at it. If it has a lot of your substrate in it and it happens fairly regularly yu might want to change it but as I sad before since it's a lot of small particles stuck together it's more likely that he will be able to pass what he ingests even if it does take a little more effort every now and then.

That's a relief. Luckily this is the first time I've noticed anything like this and he's been on that substrate for several months.
Sometimes I do find little sandy clumps in the tank which might cause a problem but obviously I remove them. But I'm glad the substrate is ok - I rather like the blue!

Fish shaped poop!? nice lol. I bet they love whitebait though!

he was looking a little uncomfortable again this evening, so he's in a tub in the sun-lounge - it gets nice and cold in there at night - the fridge is too cold for him

How is the patient doing today?

well I kept him in the bucket for 3 days, I was going to wait until he pooped something, but there was only the smallest thing in there. But his posture was better, and with the lack of a stable temperature (i had to move the bucket to the kitchen during the day since the sun lounge is like a green house if we get any sun), I thought it would be less stressful back home. The problem now is that he won't eat . I assumed in the bucket it was because it was colder, but now he'll make a pathetic snap at food, then give up and slowly move his mouth/chin slightly almost like he's breathing. I'll put him back in the bucket tonight- and try to find a way to up the fridge temperature since that would be better. I'll be researching the site today for any similar stories. He's still a good size - not wasting away just yet but I'm still worried.

And to make things worse, his tank mate has got fungus on his gill! So it's salt baths too! Argh! (I'll be changing the water tonight too)

Oh no not one with fungus as well how to make your life complicated and super busy all in one go

Hope you can get rid of the fungus quickly.

Poor little guy Our back room is much the same. It get's very cold very quickly but once the sun hits it each morning the mercury climbs very quickly.

Hopefully you can get the fridge a little warmer. 5 degrees is the minimum I believe.
Poor little guy, I was hoping he would be back to his usual self
Still hoping he passes the blockage soon for you.

well the good news is that after one salt bath last night, the fungus on Oberon looks better already. The bad news is that my fridge is at 3 degrees C. I've changed the setting from 1 to 5 in the fridge just in case but I think that'll only make it colder. I was considering putting Gunther outside somehow - the warmest it'll get is 13 degrees, but I don't like the idea of that! I guess he'll be going back in the bucket tonight!

Oh - but I did manage to get about a quarter cube of bloodworms down him last night, and about half a cube this morning! So I'm hopeful

Hi Siona,
I hope that your axie is feeling better now. :happy:

A thought occurs to me; Your substrate is fine (pun intended) as far as size goes but it looks rather angular to me. I just have to wonder if that's got anything to do with the seeming tendency toward impaction that you are witnessing?

I would think that rounder, less angular sand of a similar size would be less likely to pack tightly together whereas sharp, flat-sided sand would be more likely to cause blockages. I could well be wrong, just an idea that occurred to me.

Best wishes to you and your axies. :happy:

That's a good thought (well, not good but you know what I mean). I am looking for some white sand to mix with it anyway so I can actually see the wildtype against it when the light is off. I'll see what I can find this weekend.

This morning I put a tub of water in the top shelf of the fridge rather than the bottom in the faint hope that it will be slightly warmer there. I'll check when I get in tonight what the temp is and if it's higher than 3 degrees I think I'll just put him in there until something comes out of him! He doesn't look as uncomfortable now, but he's still not really eating (he got maybe one bloodworm this morning before giving up). I'll check all the water parameters tonight too.

Thanks for the advice!

One bit of good news - no more fungus on the other one! woop!

hii, my axie doesent look as crook as yours but i still think he might be constipated, i woke up one morning to find a brown thing, about the size of my gravel floating at the top of the water, i feed him fish pallets and he wil only eat every second day, and if he tries to eat two days in he will just nibble at the food, i am really worried about him because i have only had him 2 and a half weeks, he has already had bacterial infection that i had to put on medication. i have gravel in the bottom of my tank which i know is a no no but i was wondering how long you put them in the fridge and do you feed them or not??

you won't need to feed him for a few days in the fridge, see what comes out the other end first... and lose the gravel!

sonya023 said:

hii, my axie doesent look as crook as yours but i still think he might be constipated, i woke up one morning to find a brown thing, about the size of my gravel floating at the top of the water, i feed him fish pallets and he wil only eat every second day, and if he tries to eat two days in he will just nibble at the food, i am really worried about him because i have only had him 2 and a half weeks, he has already had bacterial infection that i had to put on medication. i have gravel in the bottom of my tank which i know is a no no but i was wondering how long you put them in the fridge and do you feed them or not??

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Sonya, the answers to your questions are all here if you look for them (rather than expect people to repeat everything every time someone asks).

I would suggest that you get the gravel out of the tank first of all. You say that you know it's a "no no" yet it's still there? Your question is like you leaving a baby in a room full of broken glass then asking which plasters to use before you put the baby back.

If you care for your axie then the gravel has to go. There's no point us trying to help until then.