FYI: Warning to axie owners :(

Hannahlotl2987

Hannahlotl2987

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Ariel
Hey guys,
So a while back Keiko helped me with my younger axolotl, Murphy.
Murphy is okay and thriving. She's very sweet and loving.
She had been kept with siblings at the pet store with gravel as their substrate.
I was concerned but she started acting normal and didn't have problems after the substrate.
However, the other day, over a MONTH later, she passed a small piece of half digested gravel.
She is absolutely all right now but we should all see this as a lesson learned.
Just an FYI,
Ariel
 
i heard about axolotls passing gravel 8 MONTHS after they have been removed from poor conditions, it really sucks, just gotta keep an eye out and remove them as they come :l
 
axys said:
i heard about axolotls passing gravel 8 MONTHS after they have been removed from poor conditions, it really sucks, just gotta keep an eye out and remove them as they come :l
Click to expand...

WOOOOOW.
That's so sad.
I politely informed the pet shop owner (very small isolated shop) about the trouble with gravel. He was actually really sad that he had put them in there like that and I saw that he removed it later.
I guess I'll just look out for more. At least she passed the first one (it was soooo much smaller than the tank gravel).
Hope there are no other horror stories :<
 
I'm very glad the shop owner was willing to learn an take corrective action. :happy:
 
I mean, I know there are horror stories but 8 months is REALLY horrible :mad:
 
Wow I'm glad the store owner was willing to correct that. There are a few horror stories of axolotls passing gravel/rocks/plastic plant parts from the pet store, or getting them stuck in their bodies, here on the forums. Thankfully most seemed to be fine after passing it, but the poor things.

I'm glad your little one is doing all right though and thanks for the heads up.
 
Hopefully she only had that one piece in her belly, but chances are there are more. It's good that she seems to be pooping them out so hopefully she'll have a long and happy life with you.

Good thing that the shop took your advice so well, not all of them do!
 
keiko said:
Hopefully she only had that one piece in her belly, but chances are there are more. It's good that she seems to be pooping them out so hopefully she'll have a long and happy life with you.

Good thing that the shop took your advice so well, not all of them do!
Click to expand...

Yeah I was surprised he did anything about it. But he genuinely had no idea. It was his first time with them in store. He felt SO bad. Thank goodness for animal lovers.

And she has been great so far. She was very small when she swallowed it. I think that lump that I worried about originally was the one. But like you said, hopefully if there are others they will pass especially now that shes three times the size she was when I got her XD
 
Sorry to barge into the discussion, but I wanted to throw in my two cents because I noticed from some profile pics that there are axie owners who use sand for substrate. Though it is popularly believed that sand is okay for axies, because they can pass it, the truth is that they can't pass ALL of it. Snakes who are on sand will oftentimes eat some along with their prey. Over time, these sand granules accumulate and essentially turn to concrete in their gut, which can lead to a painful death. As axies also pass ingested material very slowly, my vet advised me to go against the popular wisdom and NOT use sand as a substrate. They don't need it. Contrary to another popular myth, axolotls will not be stressed if they can't grip the bottom of the tank. Many times axolotl owners dress up their aquariums more for themselves than for their pets. But decorations can often pose more of a danger than provide any benefits. A simple hide, like a tube (open at both ends) with no sharp parts along the openings, is sufficient. Interaction with your pet is far more important than substrate or decorations. I'm glad that pet shop owner adjusted his methods. It just goes to show how little is known about these mysterious creatures. We all have to be flexible with our thinking and willing to change and adjust as new info becomes available.
 
I try and recreate natural habitat, I figured at the bottom of a lake there would be mud and gunk. The closest thing to that is sand. I hand feed anyway, they swim to the top of the water and wait, so they chances of them eating the sand is almost impossible.
 
Hey guys,
At first I used sand too. I hand fed as well but I guess Hannah (Murphy's husband/wife XD) is unusually derpy. At one point and I walked in to my room and saw him throwing up a LOT of sand. Now he and Murphy (of the gravelly fame) have a barebottomed tank just in case. It may be that Hannah doesnt understand how to be normal :<
They're both doing great now and btw still no sign of more gravel from Murphy. YAAAAYYYY!
Ariel
 
Good link. Thank you all for pointing out that sand is not good either. When I tell people Hannah's throw-up story they say that I should handfeed but I already was :/ and the levels (ammonia, nitrite, nitrates, ph) were VERY difficult to control.
 
A bit of an aside, but the mention of an axie having gravel in its system for 8 months made me think of this:

I worked at a vet for 3 years, and during that time we saw a dog that had repeated bladder problems that didn't seem to get better for anything. Eventually the owner opted for exploratory surgery. We didn't find anything wrong with the bladder, but while the dog was under we just happened to notice that the dog had a small cat toy in it's stomach, one of those little balls with "fingers" all over, about 2 inches in diameter. It was all wound up with bits of thread and other inedible things the dog had eaten, so it had obviously been there for some time, but the dog had never had any digestive problems.

Just goes to show you how under the right circumstances, something can sit harmlessly in the stomach for a really long time. If we hadn't happened to have found it, that ball would have been there the dogs entire life.
 
I use sand as a substrate in the Axie tank and have done from day one, however on several occasions over the past few months the Axies have passed bits of gravel.

I've never had any tank maintenance issues, touch wood. But I can imagine sand would begin to pose a threat if I became lax with the cleaning.


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I am interested to see what "half digested gravel" looks like :)
 
The gravel was the same color but much smaller and super bumpy with craters like the surface of the moon DX
 
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