I have a customer who rang in and her axolotyl has got a marble stuck in its mouth, has been there for a week and it hasnt eaten anything since then.

I have told her to get the rest of the gravel and anything in the tank it can fit in its mouth out quicksmart.

How can she get the marble out of it mouth???

if she thinks its not going to get it out by itself im afraid shes going to have to do some 'emergency 'surgery'' :lol: in theory it should be able to get it out if its gone in but i know that there are exceptions to that one.

get her to find some powder free disposable gloves as this will cause less damage to the axie than her hands will. she will need to get someone to hold the axie in a shallow bowl of tank water, one hand around the back feet/tail and one under the belly- this is normally a grip i use if i have to pick up my axies but if another method is easier thats cool as long as it isnt going to crush the legs/damage the body and wont hurt the gills. axies can wiggle like nothing ive seen so it might be a bit of a struggle, im not sure how one would go about holding an axie head. if she cant get her fingers in its mouth to remove it i would suggest perhaps plastic blunt chopping sticks with some sort of grip thing (unsure to what you could make this out of, perhaps tie bits of plastic glove around it to give it a more grip on the marble?) and try and remove it. if she manages to get it out put it back in the tank and leave it be for a while, adding a bit of stresscoat etc might be a good idea also as the axies slime coat will be damaged a bit.

i will go post this on an axie site to see if they have any suggestions, if she cant get it out pm me and ill see if i can come over and help her out

Are there any vets that could help? Or a LFS that might be able to help?

I am the LFS but im not sure if any other lfs around here would know either? anyway sharn ill give her a call too see if shes willing to attempt to get the marble out herself, she seemed to wanna bring it into the shop and get me 2 do something about it!

if she wants to bring it in can i organise with u sharn to come in and asisst?

Gee I guess the word "customer" should have told me that you were the LFS, sorry :oops: I'll go back to sleep now, its been a very long day.

All the best with it I hope you manage to help the poor blighter.

What about those little darts that kids have that have a sucker on them??

Might be able to withdraw it using that.

Methodoligy:-

Thumb and index finger around the throat,

rest of the fingers behind the front legs,

middle finger up under the throat, (stop the marble being pushed further down)

and use the right hand with the sucker.

Could also use a small scalpel and operate.

If they can have a leg chewed off and grow again, it would be no sweat for a little nick to repair itself.

Goodluck

Alan 104

I would think local vets would have the right sort of instrument to pull it out of the mouth.

ok they managed to prise open the axies mouth and get the marble out so all is well!

they have also removed all gravel and marbles from the tank!!

thanks for all ya help guys

wicked!

good lesson for all isnt it? dont keep axies on things smaller than marbles :lol:

alan- your scalpel idea is a good one but i dont know how theyd feel about having their chins slit open, they definatly feel pain.

Just hold tighter with the left hand,

better than choking or starving,

and they'd get over it I'm sure.

Alan 104

Well done! I had a similar problem a while ago with a Guppy female...

http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/stone- ... 11408.html

She is still alive and kicking and just dropped a few babies yesterday BTW

That's great new 2fishy

yip u can always rely on the LFS for good info :lol: :roll: except for me, im cool 8)

lol well someones gotta blow my trumpet! i even asked for and recieved a payrise yesterday wahoo!

:bounce: :bounce: CONGRATS :bounce: :bounce:

Well done. If you don't ask you don't get! :bounce:

lol so true caryl. she seemed surprised i even asked.

Obviously you should have asked for more 8)

Yea start really high then compromise to a rate still higher than what you think you should get.

lol yeah well its not as much as i wanted but shes reviewing it again wen ive been there a year (start of dec).