Feeding newly hatched Axolotls

[Carley]

How do I feed newly hatched Axolotls? And what should I feed them? Thanks.

[frances dansie]

live baby brine shrimp is what most people use, my self i use live daphnia as these live in fresh water and can therefore be left in with the larvae ,whereas the brine shrimp live in salt water and must be removed within a couple of hours as they will pollute the water.

[mary_kate]

Check out 'Eggs, Larvae and Breeding' for more specific information. Recently some useful replies were posted under 'Live food for newly hatched axolotls'. All the best - it's exhausting but rewarding work.

[Julia]

I fed mine live brine shrimp, I had two hatcheries on the go starting each on alternate days and running full time for 5-6 weeks ,these needed to be rinsed under non chlorinated water for the feeds ( twice daily). I then tried live daphnia which are in my opinion far easier to use after I read that Digger prefered this method..if I ever decide to raise the larvae again I think I would use this . As soon as the Larvae were big enough they progressed to live blood worm, mosquito larvae from the garden and now at approx 12 weeks old mine are dining on sushi worm and at last tiny pellets. ( the pellets are just to broaden their taste buds in preperation for leaving home..I prefer to use live/ raw food)

[click]

Hi another place to look is www.axolotl.org it too has all the information you will need

Good Luck

[Carley]

Hey thanks for all your replies. I have some mosquito larvae but how on earth do I get the wee guys to eat...or will they just eventually go for the live food themselves?? I would hate for them to not eat and die on me.

[Jennewt]

If the food is moving, and it's within reach, they will eat it. If they just hatched within the past couple of days, they may not be ready to start eating yet.

[Carley]

Aah okay, I was told that they were approx 3-4wks old, BUT they are only about 11mm long with no limbs...so I'm thinking they must be alot younger???

[Julia]

The size and age could be ok, in general my hoard are given their food and with in the hour its the quantity is much smaller , with the exception of the brine shrimp the live food is ok to be left with them...brine shrimp tends to start dying off in an hour or so after removal from the hatchery. At the moment I have seperated them into two groups in different tanks and they now hover at their feeding satations waiting to eat! At the size you mention I would feed them twice daily.

[Carley]

Thanks, I'm feeding twice daily, have yet to see one eat but overnight they 3 of them have all shifted places around the tank so I'm assuming they are doing good and were probably chasing food. Are Axies this small usually so still?

[Julia]

I think mine might have been..its such a long time ago!!. I certainly remembering them dart about when startled, or when i tried to clean them.

[Carley]

Yea they dart around alright lol. I moved them into a smaller container so that I can monitor the feeding a bit easier. How much mossie larvae do you recommend I put in at one time?

[Julia]

I would put in approx 1 per larvae...But....when you have a hoard of them its a case of putting in as much as I could catch!!..I figured the left overs ( rarely happened) would be ok for a little longer till eaten!!

[Phil]

Hi Carley, I prefer feeding my hatchlings Daphnia.

Also, a little controversial; but I use wild caught/wild cultured daphnia. It seems to live happily with the axolotls until it's eaten. Plus; I got a bacterial infection from the pet shop daphnia that killed all my hatchlings bar five.