Floating - passed pebbles

Montecarlo

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Hi she is floating and looks like she passed a few huge pebbles overnight. still eating though. pebbles were from days ago before i changed to sand. what is best? tea bath, fasting? v worried
 
pic of sick monte
only had her about a week. was rescued and I have no experience with axoltls :confused:
 

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Feed her earthworms see if more pass. If you feel her and can feel pebbles I would fridge, other than that I wouldn't fridge just yet.

As for the floating if she can reach and stay at the bottom it's fine. Some axolotls like to float. If it's her bum just floating she needs to poop or release gas.

She looks a little under weight what do you feed her and how often?
 
hi i feed her twice a day. i started with frozen blood worms and sinking pellets for first few days but since last 2 days only on 2 small worms a day. she prefers the earth worms. i am not sure how much to feed her but she seems to have a good appetite. happy to feed her more but was concerned i might give her too much.

she (or he?) came to me as is, small and lost 3 limbs so she only has 1 good limb. i think it is the pebbles as this floating only started today although yesterday she was seen to be leaning up over things in her tank. she passed the pebbles overnight. temp in under 20 degrees Celsius. she has now gone back to the bottom but not looking happy.
 
BTW i used coarse Sydney sand I bought from the hardware store. i washed it many times before putting it in the tank. i test pH and around 8. no ammonia or nitrates. filter is small and i use a spray bar that hits the tank wall. not sure if this is giving her enough oxygen but stops turbulence in the tank.
 
How long have you had her and did the pebbles come from your tank or previous tank? If they're small and rounded they normally pass on their own but if she hasn't pooped for a few days I would fridge.

A good weight is her body being same size as her head in width, if it's not feed more and more often until she reaches a healthy weight.
 
HI i have had her about a week. i used pebbles when i first got her but added lots of sand a few days later. still a few pebbles in her cave hide-hole so i think she probably got them there. saw 3-4 pebbles passed this morning which must have been done overnight because they weren't there last night. I am going to move her into a larger tank tomorrow and remove all pebbles to make sure it cant happen again.
 
Sounds like a good idea!

Also if you use sand - hand feed her or use a jar/bowl so she doesn't suck up sand.
 
hi yes i do hand feed her so am surprised about the pebbles. she just ate another worm. is there anything else I can do?
 
Not really, just feed her to get her weight out she should poop the rest out fine if she's been doing so already.

Just make sure you don't add anything smaller than her head as she most likely will swallow them. I still catch my axolotl randomly sucking up sand..
 
many thanks. i moved her into a 5ft tank with sand only last night. no more floating today and eating well.
 
With all the moving tanks, I have to ask, is the tank cycled? Do you monitor ammonia/nitrite/nitrate? If not you really need to do so, it's a very important aspect of keeping an Axolotl.
 
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