I have been crazy-busy, so I haven't had a chance to stop in and comment. Thank you everyone for your input.
After further investigation, I've determined that it was not one of my plants as I initially thought; it is (hopefully a single) four-pronged leaf of Exo-Terra Duckweed:
I never had this in my tank, so this is something that the Doctor gobbled up while still at the pet store -
over two months ago.
Judge if you must, but taking the Doctor to a vet is just not an option. I am a poor student approaching the end of year two of a two-year program, and my wife & I are expecting our first child in May. The Doctor was a Christmas present that I wasn't at all expecting or ready for; I wasn't planning on getting an axolotl until this fall when I was working again and could afford to do things right. That said, I've done things right as much as possible anyways - despite its impact to our budget - but a veterinarian visit just can't be done.
As for the 'leaf,' it continues to come out on its own - slowly
- and it is almost out, assuming (hoping
) again that it is only a single four-prong leaf and its associated 'stick.' If there's more than one 'leaf' in there, I'm not sure what we will do
but if it's alone, then it should be out in the very near future.
I am so truly, deeply astounded by the resilience of these amazing creatures and so very saddened by this unfortunate situation, but I am hopeful that the Doctor will make it through it all so we can begin helping him recover and get big and fat like me.
I will have more photos and more to say later; for now, suffice to say that I believe Exo-Terra Duckweed is
not axolotl-safe, and as with pebbles, I now believe that
anything smaller than the axolotl's head - and not
securely attached to something bigger -
will be eaten eventually.