Is sand safe?

[Morrison]

Sand doesn't pass straight through an axolotl, there is an actual buildup which can be seen when an axolotl is kept in a bare tank after being kept on sand. The sand will keep appearing for weeks, which is a lot slower than an axolotl digests its food, so obviously some of the sand is holding in the gut.

Wow, that explains where all the mysterious sand keeps coming from when I have them in a bare tank.
I always blamed the filter.

 

[Kerry M]

Last week my axie Darwin needed to go to the vet. The vet believed that the problem for Darwin was sand substrate irritating the cloaca region while he was in the process of sexually maturing. I assume

 

[Kerry M]

Apologies, didn't mean to send. Just wanted to say that I assume that the vet was correct. I have no X-rays to know whether that was certainly the problem. I did find sand in his poo when he came back, I'm not sure how much was passed at the vet while he was in the fridge. I do know that I dropped the worms directly onto the sand so this incident probably occurred due to my ignorance. I am sticking with a bare bottomed tank as I like to drop pieces of worms for my axies to find. I think they like it too. Thanks for starting this post, I will read through the posts more thoroughly. Cheers ☺

 

[layna]

Now im just confused, i thought i had it all safe and fine. But if its bare bottomed it also creates plant problems, i.e where to plant them.
Im just going to stick with the sand and my feeding dish until more evidence is provided, i feel a bit like its the whole protective bubble thing, like with children. Parents dont let them ever be dirty or eat mud ect, then their immune system goes to pot.
Nothing except a bare tank with nothing in it will be 100% safe so its choosing the lesser of evils in that its its very fine, can pass through the body and if you use a dish, can minimise consumption, in my eyes its better than gravel.

 

[robbie cloud]

Hi, I have received a few messages through Instagram telling me to remove his rocks, but when I x-rayed "Boi" to ensure he wasn't swallowing them, I found he did have a bit of sand in him. It's believed he will pass it as normal. From what I have read and understand, they use sand and small "gastrolith" (or stomach-stone) as a way of assisting in digestion through roughing up food to allow enzymes to penetrate the food better.

Even some go as far as to promote gravel for this reason: https://embryogenesisexplained.org/2015/09/10/gastroliths-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-gravel/

And I believe others have maybe mentioned the buoyancy idea, but it is also mentioned here: "Black worms form a major part of their diet since they are aquatic relatives of earthworms. The Axolotl may engulf gravel that acts as gastrolith for improved digestion (grinding function) and also to regulate the buoyancy control."
-https://www.aboutanimals.com/amphibian/axolotl/