Axolotl floating?

[Shelilla]

Okay so for one this isn't my axolotl it's my brother's, but just in case this is a flag for concern I wanted to make sure by asking here.
The axie is still pretty young, maybe about half the size of a fully grown one or a little bigger, it's nice and fat too. Yesterday I noticed two things with it; first, it couldn't walk around without its back end floating it nearly upside down. Thankfully the tank has a lot of things that it can go under to keep itself from floating, it just seemed almost a bit frustrated to me that it couldn't walk where it wanted to. I asked my brother and he said it is normally like that, which concerned me a bit, but I don't know if that is after or before it eats. It's fed a block of frozen bloodworms I think, every day which the pet store said to use. The tank is fine for cold, seeing as its cold here in Canada and it lives in the basement in his room. The water also looks very clear. Is this a normal occurrence for juveniles? Should we massage its belly? Change it's food? I will have to check when I get back to see if it's still floating before it's fed.

Also: it has a lump at the base of its tail. If it was a Leopard Gecko, I would clearly recognize it as a male, but it could be poop or something? I didn't get a close look. Does that mean it's a male?

 

[AxolotlChris]

Floating is usually caused by needing to defecate, or trapped air. Just keep an eye on it.

Blood worms are not the best source of food, the most nutritional is compost worms, I think in Canada you would call them nightcrawlers. Caudata Culture Articles - Worms

Lump at the base of the tail is the Cloaca, usually a larger Cloaca shows the Axolotl is male.
Axolotls - Biology

 

[Wysper]

If it's still small, half the size of a fully grown axolotl, then the "bump" could be a prolapsed cloaca. This could be indicated by the floating as well, the poor thing could be impacted.

What kind of tank décor is present? Gravel, small rocks, sand?

Can you provide pictures for a better suggestion?

And I agree, blood worms are not the best source of food. Nightcrawlers, red worms, or axolotl pellets would be better suited an provide more nutritional value.

 

[Shelilla]

I will have to take a picture when I get home. The most recent one I have of it was from about a month ago when he first got it...

The bottom has sand on it, not enough so it covers the whole bottom of the tank though. Are nightcrawlers the same as earthworms? Or are they like king worms compared to meal worms? By the way, is it possible to feed them mealworms? I also heard that pellets can cause constipation too because they are hard?

When I get home I'll take a picture of the tank and the axie. If it's not floating then it might not be anything to worry about....I hope

 

[artistea]

Soprattutto non deve mangiare tutti i giorni
Meglio un giorno si e tre no.

 

[Shelilla]

um ok. Ho dovuto tradurre che con google haha ​​... non ero sicuro se era buono o l'alimentazione di una ogni giorno anfibio.

 

[Shelilla]

Here is a pic of the tank. I couldn't get one of the axie because it wouldn't come out of its castle, but I think it might still be floating.

 

[Shelilla]

Good news: the axie is looking better and can swim and sit at the bottom without floating almost vertically! It's a bit concerning how much the lump lessened though, and that it lasted this long. Would changing its diet help?

 

[AxolotlChris]

Seems that he may have just needed to defecate, or had trapped air which could have contributed to the swollen cloaca.

Blood worms are not likely the cause since the stool is not often that hard. It would be best to feed Nightcrawlers (earthworms) or Axolotl pellets, these hold the best nutrition. Pellets will not cause constipation. Mealworms are not an ideal food, and you would have to remove the head in case it was to bite internally.

 

[Wysper]

I have also read that they cannot digest the chitin of mealworms, and the build up can cause impaction as well.

The "sand" at the bottom looks a little large though, more like a small gravel. I would be concerned he is eating it as well.

Thankfully it doesn't look like a prolapse any longer, and he probably just had to poop. But you said he has been floating for weeks? And it just stopped?

 

[Shelilla]

As far as I know, it only started the day before, but my brother who sees it more often said it floats a lot (he didn't tell me in detail so it could have happened once or twice to every day.) I'll have to check and see how often this happens to it.
Ah I see, I was just curious since those are what I feed my geckos, but yeah I don't think a delicate-seeming amphibian would be used to digesting those.
I will suggest feeding it that to my brother or dad. I don't know if we will be able to get nightcrawlers for food, because I've only ever seen them at Canadian Tire for bait, and live food requires looking after, even if worms are easy to care for. Pellets sounds like a good idea then. How often should one that size be fed?

Yes, I hope it's not the sand that caused the problem. It's children's play sand so I don't know what's in it. My dad (who can be pretty irresponsible sometimes by not doing research or only a little bit) put it in, which I was against at first (because that is a huge no-no at least for young Leopard Geckos) but thankfully I realized it was safe for them after looking it up. It was still floating a little when I saw it last night but able to walk.
There are also two live moss balls in there, are those safe? Would it try to eat them and get impacted?