Baby Axolotl possibly sick and in danger HELP!

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XSapphire20X

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I have had my two axolotls for about 2 months now and they are about 3 months in age. My albino one Polly seems be having an extreme amount of bloating and inside her stomach looks very uncomfortable and disfigured. They are fed thawed blood worms every day to every other day. Their substrate is regular gravel which is the colors blue tan and pink which I was going to be switching to sand after I had read they have a tendency to ingest pebbles. At first I thought they were pebbles in her gut but after a few days she has gotten even more bloated and what I thought were pebbles look like they have gotten even bigger which leads me to believe something is going on internally with her. one side is lumpy, her other side is all red and I am unsure if she has bleeding inside going on as well. She is eating normal, pooping (even pooped lastnight) and doesnt seem to be any less active just really heavily bloated so I am very worried and confused at this point. I stuck her in the fridge last night as well. I can attach photos.

Under Belly

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Side View

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Other Side View

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Being as you can actually see 'bumps' along her abdomen it probably is a case that she has ingested some of the gravel. The fact the areas shown in the pictures seem to be the same colors you described the gravel as suggest this also. I've known axolotls to sometimes look very bloated when impacted then other times they're at the other end of the scale, looking very underweight.Hopefully being as you've acted fast and she's still eating and going to the toilet it won't lead to impaction (if it is gravel) but they look like good sized pebbles in a little lotl. :( Keep her in the fridge for now and hopefully the cold will make her regurgitate them. Take the gravel out of the tank and keep it bare bottomed until you get your sand. This way you can at least know your other one won't be picking things up.
 
Well, if they are pebbles, i can tell you that happened to my axolotl way back when i first got him and didn't know much about substrates, but after being in the fridge for a day or so, he spat out a rock!
 
Thankyou guys I appreciate your help. She seems to still be quite swollen but it looks like the pebbles have moved further towards her base of her tale but she keeps going up to the surface of her bowl and looks like shes taking a breath of air. am not sure what that means. She pooped today which is good though, but still looks very uncomfortable. I feel so bad for her :(
 
Axolotls, particularly young and juvies, do go to the surface and gulp air, it's normal, don't panic! Sometimes they forget to breathe out and bob about for a bit looking perplexed until they remember to breathe/burp/fart and get rid of the bubble ;)
 
So it has been a few days and a few changes have developed. I took her out of the fridge lastnight and completely cleaned and put sand in her tank as substrate as well as these really large gem like things that are bigger than her. After being put in her tank she seems to be full of air and her stomach looks like a pregnant womens belly. I still am concerned if she is bleeding in her belly, I took some new pics so you guys can take a look and determine whats going on with her. She is so swollen that her feet barely touch the ground. Im fearing the worst and feel helpless now :confused:

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both picks are each side of her.
 
did any gravel ever come out when she was in the fridge?

And was the swollen area gone when you took her out of the fridge?
 
Looking at your second pic - I'm thinking it might be time to visit a vet just in case there is something more serious than impaction going on.

Check out the sticky thread here to find your closest vet, good luck and keep us up to date on progress :)
 
not that I wouldnt do anything to keep her healthy but what would a vet be able to do with her when shes so small? if it is not impaction any ideas on what else it could be? also, no pebbles came out but the swelling had gone down and she is pooping normal but now she looks like a balloon, shes really bloated. Her stomach just looks weird inside.
 
The vet may be able to give antibiotics of some sort or prescribe some other medication
 
If there is internal bleeding, swelling etc, a vet is far more qualified to determine the cause and prescribe proper treatment, drainage, medicine whatever might be needed that all .....
 
Oh ok, thankyou for the help! I understand a vet is more qualified I was just getting a better idea on what could be causing this. These are my first pair of Axolotls so I am a bit paranoid and want to make sure I am doing everything I can to give them a healthy life :happy:
 
After days of hoping and praying she would get better, this morning I woke up to a bunch of pebbles in the corner of my tank! She finally passed them and I couldnt be more relieved. Her belly still looks a tad swollen, but its most likely cause its irritated from all the pebbles she was hoarding. I want to thank everyone for their help and support :ufo:I will attach a photo of what came out of her.

xbjy10.jpg
 
Poor thing. What a relief it must be to get that stuff out!
 
Already changed the tank a few days ago, and all the gravel she passed is what you see in my hand in the photo :happy:
 
I know I felt so bad for her, but I am just so happy she was able to get it out. She ate some blood worms last night and I think that is what sped up the process because this morning they were all out. Her swelling has now gone down quite a bit which I am happy to see that she is doing well after that ordeal.
 
:eek: wow!
So much better out than in!

Yet more proof for those who still believe gravel is ok for axolotls :eek:
(Hard to believe but idiots on Instagram argue that gravel is fine.... SO NOT!)

I hope now that it's out, your axie returns to full happy health soon :D



<3 >o_o< <3
 
So glad that she was able to remove the pellets poor thing!
 
Sorry I didn't reply sooner, hectic times in our house.

I am so pleased that your little one passed the pebbles, and you didn't need the vet, now you know for sure what was going on and I'm sure he/she feels 1000% better without them in their tummy.

Don't forget to post more pics so we can see how your Axie grows up, sure is a cutie :happy:
 
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