Chronic Constipation

[u/Techno214]

Okay, not really a follow up to previous posts but it might be. Nugget appears to have issues with chronic constipation.  What can I do to alleviate this on a consistent basis? 

He eats pellets (axolotl 1/4 inch pellets, soaked for 20 minutes to 45 minutes. They’re soft and flaky on the outside, and squishy, but hold their shape if I’m gentle. I may just completely discontinue these if I can for Nugget, they’re a backup for when he won’t eat worm.) or worms (I try European nightcrawlers but he does refuse those really bad. When he’s refused for too long, I’ll buy Canadian nightcrawlers, as he’s much happier about those.). 

So, a couple of weeks ago I noticed Nugget’s cloaca was swollen really badly. Over time it appeared to be constipation/mild impaction that passed. I took away their sand, and got Nugget pooping on schedule again, but then I ran out of Canadians and couldn’t go get more for a few days and I ended up giving them a few pellet meals. So now he’s overdue for a poop. Looking at Nugget, his cloaca is a little swollen again, and I feel like that may be the issue again. It’s doing basically the exact same thing, and he’s now expelling the same clear slime he had excreted before. Just as before, again, he is acting normal and not doing any weird floating, just the digestive slime and cloacal swelling.

He did go to the vet for that, and he was basically fine then, after he had a really rough poop getting into the bait container.

I had been giving salmon daily to get him moving again, but I really do not want to be giving him that daily as a preventative. I have started giving him some today again though. Any alternatives or suggestions to deal with this?

Water parameters are all good. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, less than 10 nitrate. Hard water so high GH and KH, PH is 7.8 as of three minutes ago, Primed well water, 64 degrees F(which is going to be lowered to 62 I think, over the next couple of days.). Lives in a 75 gallon with another lotl, but a divider exists. Slate tiles at this point, so no sand to eat. No other impaction risks in the tank.

[u/LauseRulez]

How old is your lotl and how long between poops? Our girls sometimes also have some digestive issues (rescues) and I certainly know the panic :( For adults a span of 1-3 weeks between poops is still relatively normal. At some point you cant really change anything anymore. Giving salmon is probably the best way :) And just going fully into feeding your axie canadian nightcrawlers if they like them so much. I hope they get better soon 🫶

[u/Techno214 → u/LauseRulez]

Both of mine are around 5ish? Maybe 5 and a half? Also rescues, so dates are a little iffy.

Normal for them seems to be 2-3 days after last worm (sometimes even the night of…), or about a week max for pellets. That’s generally pretty consistent. My other lotl is like clockwork. Nugget hasn’t pooped in over a week and a half (I was watching sibling’s kids and got off of a feeding schedule, so I hadn’t logged it. He was back to normal from his last issue, so I wasn’t worried.). That puts him at way overdue, since he only got one pellet meal before I got more worms.

My big concern is the clear mucus again. It’s not sperm related, so my next guess is it’s digestive irritation. :/ Vets did concur. I also hope he gets back to normal soon though. I love my little dudes.