a bit of an experiment (gastroliths)

[axolotl nerd]

alright- this is going to be a bit long winded so settle in
i have a female axolotl, mudkip, who’s about 1.3 years old.
i made the risky decision to put her on pebbles.
keep in mind, they are very small. i’ve read both that they can cause impaction (the bad) *and* that they are intentionally digested to clean the gut (the good). to find out which of these is most accurate, i have devised a plan. i’m going to keep her on the pebbles for a while, find out if shes passing them, and make my final decision from there. if she becomes impacted i feel comfortable treating her myself as these pebbles are extremely small and i feel with pass fairly easily with basic fridging (if that’s even needed). if she begins swelling up or not passing waste, i will tub her immediately and remove the pebbles.
picture of my lovely girl and her tank (now with pebbles on the fine sand)


i am interested to see how my experiment turns out, and to determine once and for all wether or not small pebbles can be beneficial to an axolotls gut health.
pebbles were added last night and already she has passed waste, which has come out without pebbles. she doesn’t spend a lot of time hunting for food in the substrate, so it’s entirely possible she may not ingest any at all. either way, i think this experiment will be helpful in deciding for or against certain substrates.

 

[axolotl nerd]

more pictures

 

[axolotl nerd]

update -

mudkip seems to be doing wonderfully on the pebbles. i have come to the conclusion that axolotls are likely gastroliths (in my opinion) and will be keeping my adult axolotls on 1mm pebbles.
ive come to this conclusion based on the increased frequency and complete waste mudkip has been producing. dissecting through it, she has been passing the pebbles with ease (don’t worry, i use gloves for this part haha)
her gills are also seeming to grow. im unsure if this is related, but i thought i’d mention it.