Illness/Sickness: Bloated or over weight?

[VictoriaAxies]

Hello, my name is Victoria. I have recently noticed that my Mel GFP axolotl (Pulibities) seems a bit overweight. I have been going through some of the threads on here and maybe a bit worried now. there are a few stones in his tank but none of them are small enough for him to get his mouth around them. he is a bit of a pig so I am all so worried that he may be somehow taking food from his tank mate. Can I please get some advice?

 

[tundrabadger]

Would it be possible to get a picture from the top down or from the side where he isn't curving like that? it's a bit difficult to judge

 

[VictoriaAxies]

here you go, I'm sure i am just paranoid but yeah. I had to put him in a tub for a moment because he was hiding.

 

[tundrabadger]

He doesn't look bloated at all...in the top down one he looks like he could put on a little, actually, although that could be a trick of the angle and him having longish gills, I'm trying to go off the width of his belly compared to his head.

 

[VictoriaAxies]

well, I just feed him a little bit ago. and now that you say that I think you may be right. I'm a new owner so I guess I'm a bit paranoid about them.

 

[tundrabadger]

I was similarly concerned when I got my first axie. I think we all are....and probably we stay that way, but after a while you get to know more what's something you need to worry about without asking.



You want his their belly to be about the same width as their head. Mature females have rounder torsos than males, so if you have a female at any point that is something to keep in mind. It's really hard to overfeed an axolotl, generally if they've had enough they just won't eat anymore, and adults don't necessarily eat every day. I don't know about yours, mine are pretty good at telling me if they aren't hungry. Or, indeed, if they are, when I got home from work one of them ( the one out of three who wasn't interested in food yesterday, incidentally) leapt out of her hide and galloped over to the corner nearest where I was standing.

 

[VictoriaAxies]

really? mine don't give me the time of day. then again I have only had them for about a month and a half now. I'm sure they will come to respond to me sooner or later. :happy: