Urgent!! My axolotl swallowed sand!!

[WilBor]

I was casually hand feeding my juvies when i notice that the black melanoid and the leucistic had sand in them! I could see it through them and they look like theyre problem.. the black melanoid also seems to have a bumpy stomach because of all the sand.. should I fridge them? And for how long?


(They all seem to be eager to eat)
Theyre both 4inch long and im using national geographic substrate

 

[WilBor]

I dont want to remove the sand because that might cause my cycle to crash so can I jusy cover it up with large slates until the axies are large enough to be in the sand?

 

[xxianxx]

If you keep axolotls on sand they will eat it, especially if your feeding pellets or small food items rather than large worms. The black one looks full of sand, I would keep them on a bare bottomed tank till they are much bigger.

 

[xxianxx]

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...ers-substrate/79557-sand-safe.html#post310223

 

[WilBor]

What should I do? Should I get a bunch of slates and put it on top of the sand or take all the sand out completely? Will he be okay?

 

[xxianxx]

If you put slate over sand your going to encourage anaerobic bacterial activity, it may stink the tank up. Keep them on a bare bottomed tank, you will see the amount of sand consumed over the next few weeks/months. Complications from sand consumption are rare, your guys shoukd pass it easily enough.

 

[WilBor]

Thanks! I am going to remove their sand now

 

[Holly12]

That sand looks pretty gritty anyways - very similar to what I had and caused the skin to wear down to the bones on my axies feet. I switched to a super soft sand from Big Als, that is good for fresh water stingrays rays since they burrow. (I could see the individual black grains and they felt coarse. The new sand is almost powdery. You can't really see individual grains and it's so soft you almost can't feel it.) It wasn't a problem when he was young, but with age and weight, it caused the skin to erode.
Also, try using the bottom water catcher from a Terra cotta pot for feeding. I use that for Stelly and he doesn't eat sand. You can see it in the pic here. I've used it since he was small enough to fit in it.

 

[WilBor]

Whats the sand called? I dont have big als where I live ):. They look better now, Their stomachs arent lumpy anymore.

 

[Holly12]

I think it was a Carib Sea - Super Naturals sand that I found.

 

[AxolotlChris]

Feed worms by hand, or remove the sand. Any food that is eaten from the bottom of the tank will result in sand being ingested. It is not recommended to keep juveniles on sand due to a higher risk of impaction compared to adults.