Question: Strange behaviour on feeding

[Shinsei]

Hi all, We have had our axolotl just ten days, did a lot of research into keeping her and have been getting used to her behaviours. I just fed her on a finely chopped up dendrobaena which she has had a couple times before. Suddenly, she is swimming around the tank, repeatedly gulping, floating, writhing and more gulping for what seemed like four or five minutes. She is now resing quietly on the bottom. It's given me quite a turn because I don't understand what is going on. Any ideas please, all you clever people?

 

[Shinsei]

Since posting the above, I removed her uneaten food from the tank and also found four 5mm to 10mm pieces of gravel on the bottom. I changed the water eight hours ago and had a general clean up and know that there was no gravel in the tank then. Neither has any been introduced in any way since. She is on a contoured 'slate' ceramic floor tile and large pebbles. I conclude therefore that axi has pooped the gravel. She came from a pet shop that kept axi's on gravel and in the first three days of having her she pooped three bits of gravel, and a couple more since. Is it possible for an axi to have this much gravel inside her and to retain some of it for ten days? Would pooping the gravel make her behave in this way? Now I am worrying lest there is still more to come out or that she is constipated. .

 

[Biev]

She could definitely still have some gravel in her system. A good way to determine that would be to take her to the vet's for x-rays. As for the weird behavior, sometimes they swallow air instead of breathing it, or they get gassy from eating, and this will make them float until they burp. It seems to stress them out a lot when they can't control their buoyancy, so that could be why yours was freaking out a little, fighting to get back down.

 

[Shinsei]

Thanks for that info Biev. I am slowly getting to know her bevaviours. She settled down a while after that episode. She is feeding OK. I noticed that after passing the last lumps of gravel, her abdomen changed colour from a kind of dark grey to light pink. It's now gone somewhat grey again after feeding, so I am guessing you can tell a little whether she has anything inside her or not. Just a tad concernd that she hasn't pooped lately, despite feeding. I guess that what goes in must eventually come out though. She seems happy enough today, exploring the new arrangement of the tank after doing a water change. Thanks again