Impaction, maybe?

[wolfheart2112]

Hi all! So I noticed today that Axel's stomach seems to have gotten quite large , and inside it looks slightly black? About 5 or so days ago I purchased some aquarium sand that was very fine,and the colour is black. It created bubbles in the sand and he must've thought they were food because I believed he swallowed some. The sand is from Stoney River if anyone was wondering. His belly was black then too but after 2 days it was back to hia normal green/pink belly and the sand had settled too. However, his stomach is all black again, this time Axel has some stringy poop hanging off him. It's white and just hanging off him. I did however go ahead and feed him and he was his normal, gorgeful self. Just wondering what I should do.

P.S, also bought new aquarium sand from the store today to go in my 30gallon tank. It is made by Caribsea but called SuperNaturals. It is also black and very fine. I'll post some pictures of Axel and the sand bag.

 

[wolfheart2112]

Here are the pictures of Axel and the bag of sand. Just let me know

 

[NeekaLovesYou]

The fact he only looks swollen on the one side suggests to me that he is slightly impacted. From the pictures the sand looks more like very fine gravel to me (often labeled as sand or "gravel sand", in my experience) but I can only go by what the pictures show! If you feel this is the case it may be best to switch him to silica sand. If it is in fact your standard sand all should be fine. All axolotls will swallow something they're not supposed to at some point, be it a mouthful of sand or something else. I should think he will be able to pass it on this occasion but a short time in the fridge can ease passing and/or vomiting if he's having trouble getting it out on his own.

 

[Bellabelloo]

Axel is a very gorgeous axolotl I would maybe move him into a bare bottomed tank/ container for a few days and see what he passes.

 

[kjones8000]

Our axol is called axle too! And I just posted on impaction concern. hope all is better!