Axolotl with a distended stomach

[axoloty-lotl]

Hello everyone,

Just going to jump right in. Our school was given an adorable Axolotl as a parting gift from one of our parents, and we’ve been following all the information they passed on regarding how to care for him (they’ve named him Little Guy and the kids adore him).

It’s been a week, and we noticed this morning that his stomach/abdominal region was almost distended? Certainly larger than it was yesterday. We’ve done our own research, and we suspect that he might have swallowed one of the pebbles in his tank, though we can’t quite imagine how, as they are quite large. Just as a precaution, we’re going to clear the bottom of the tank.

Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of options for taking him to a vet or even getting help if it’s something serious, so we are reaching out in whatever way we can. If anyone has advice on how to even figure out what’s going on, we would welcome it. As teachers, there’s only so much we’re allowed to do, but we would like to do everything we can to help him out.

Thank you in advance! Any help is welcome.

(The first image is from when we first got him, and the others are from today).

 

[axolotl nerd]

i’m gonna go ahead and say he likely swallowed a pebble from the bottom of the tank. the best option (from what i’ve read) is to wait to see if he passes it on his own or to fridge him. fridging acts as a pain numbing agent and also causes them to dispel their gut content because their metabolism slows and things can rot in their intestines
good luck! hope he gets better!

 

[Pigalit]

It could very well be the rocks. Axolotls mouth get bigger than you expect and can very well inhale and swallow those. You should only have rocks as big as your fist in tanks with axolotls. Those pebbles can cause compaction and even death if too many are swallowed. It was the right idea to remove them. They are better in bare bottom or fine sand!

 

[axoloty-lotl]

Thank you both so much for your reply! We fridged him briefly yesterday, but were too afraid to leave him overnight without supervision. We removed all the gravel and replaced it with large rocks, and hopefully he’ll show some sign of improvement. If not, we’ll try fridging him again.

 

[GulfCoastAxolotls]

Hello everyone,

Just going to jump right in. Our school was given an adorable Axolotl as a parting gift from one of our parents, and we’ve been following all the information they passed on regarding how to care for him (they’ve named him Little Guy and the kids adore him).

It’s been a week, and we noticed this morning that his stomach/abdominal region was almost distended? Certainly larger than it was yesterday. We’ve done our own research, and we suspect that he might have swallowed one of the pebbles in his tank, though we can’t quite imagine how, as they are quite large. Just as a precaution, we’re going to clear the bottom of the tank.

Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of options for taking him to a vet or even getting help if it’s something serious, so we are reaching out in whatever way we can. If anyone has advice on how to even figure out what’s going on, we would welcome it. As teachers, there’s only so much we’re allowed to do, but we would like to do everything we can to help him out.

Thank you in advance! Any help is welcome.

(The first image is from when we first got him, and the others are from today).

View attachment 88206View attachment 88207View attachment 88208

Unfortunately, if he did swallow one of those rocks pictured, its not likely to pass on its own. That is far too large to travel through their system. Feeding a high fat diet (like repashy grub pie) can help lubricate his system and may assist in it passing, but I'm not optimistic with that size of stone compared to his little body.

As far as fridging goes, this is an immediate go-to for a lot of people and it is done incorrectly 90% of the time. Temperature swings are very stressful and should not be done quickly (ie, fridging them for a few hours and then taking them out). That kind of lowering and raising of temp over just a couple hours can cause more harm than good.

 

[axolotl nerd]

id suggest an exotic vet at this point