can someone advise me please..

Hello all...

I`m new to keeping axi`s and all is going quite well at the moment

i`ve got the water cycled well , some leafy plants and tubes for them to hide/play in.. but they seem quite bored lately..

i`ve read somewhere in the threads about half filling ping pong ball`s or some thing for them to play with..

can anyone advise me on how this should be done properly or any other novel ideas for my lovely spike & fluffy to have something to occupy them..

many thanks

kez :angel:

hi, i dont think axies get bored like we do, but if you do the ping pong balls then you need to block the hole you put the water in with, by using an aquarium safe silicon. be careful with the one you use, some say aquarium safe as long as its not under water (weird) i found a glass shop unhelpful but a hardware shop had fish safe silicon. then of course making sure its has plenty of time to dry properly.
another thing you can do is use live food for them to hunt such as slaters worms and others.

be carefull if your axys are huge with the ping pong balls - my big axy nearly got it stuck in her mouth.
My little two always push it round the tank so its good for them to play with.

Many thanks Shelley and Russell...

our fluffy & spike are roughly 15cms at the moment.. but growing quickly..

i think a ping pong ball would be fine for the moment , but will keep in mind about the dilemma you had..
not wanting to sound like a plonker but how did you get it removed ?
did your axi just allow you remove it yourself ?

I am having a little trouble with them being fussy with their food lately too..
when i got them from the pet shop they were just feeding them on whole meal worms, i have since learned that i have to cut the heads off, but they seem reluctant to eat anything else but these and i am lead to believe these are not good staple

i have tried earth worms on occasions , whole and cut they totally refuse these and sulk if i persist trying...
i`ve also tried frozen bloodworm, they don`t seem fussed on these either and usually leave them in their bowl..
also i have tried them on sliced up king prawns .. they thought this was rather horrid and after a few times of trying this, i decided to leave prawn out totally.

however after much searching yesterday i found a marine shop that sold live brine shrimp, and i believe it`s called daphina.. i also bought some live river shrimp... which much to their and my delight had a whale of a time hunting these down

i like to give them a little something in the morning and then a little something in the evening,
i also found a fishing tackle shop that sells wax worms ?
would these be alright to give to them ? and would they need preparing at all ?
unfortunatly all petshops i have found are of no help to me at all..
thank heavens for these message boards..

once again thank you shelley and russell..
have a good day , i know i will

kez :angel:

hmm I would perservere with the earth worms, do you have feeding tongs?
Another good choice is crickets which can be bought from most pet shops, go for the medium ones, stick them in the fridge for a while to slow them, grab one with tongs then dangle in front of the axy - you will get an instant responce.

Wax worms arnt really the best choice as can be hard to digest.

(daphnia = water flea and is different to brine shrimp)

River shrimp are my axys favourite, i treat them once a month!!!

cheers russell

big thanks ...

sorry i wasn`t clear russell , i ment that i got daphina and some brine shrimp,
but i believe these should be used as a treat? am i right in thinking this ?

i will keep trying with the earth worms and limit the river shrimp, and will forget about the wax worms.

i managed to get some rubber tipped tweezers to feed them at the moment but eventually i would love to be able to hand feed them..
i think that i will have to resort to buying supplies from the net as the pet shops i have found in south wales aren`t much good in what they stock, i have asked about crickets but none stock them..

thanks for speedy reply.. top fella ..cheers :blob:

I just find brine shrimp and daphnia too small to feed to axys!!
Have you tried salmon pellets (sinking) or carnivore pellets? i tried them and both went down a treat!
Just stick one in the water near the axys and they will sniff it out and most probably eat it

no haven`t tried these yet..
but will do ..
jus checked out your pics... stunning looking axy`s well done,
hope mine grow up to look as well as yours

kez