Question: Questions for the experts, from a beginner!

[khmg]

Hi Everyone!

I'm new to this site and also new to owning Axolotl! I have two young ones.

I just have a few questions:

1. Is there any way of aging Axolotl? I know they're very young, but any guidelines?

2. How often do they need feeding? I'm feeling them everyday (frozen bloodworm and daphnia) and they either gobble up the lot or barely touch it?! Should I be feeding them every other day or should I continue seeing if they eat each day?

Sorry if these are very basic questions, but your guidance would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Kayleigh

[hacelepues]

Hey there, welcome!

First of all, axolotls grow at different rates, but if you keep them well fed as juveniles, they grow incredibly fast!!! Growth slows at a certain point, but they can reach 6 or 7 inches surprisingly fast as long as you don't starve them :)

I generally feed my juvies once a day... as much as they will eat quickly. Once they're growth slows and they reach adulthood, you don't need to feed them more than 2-3 times a week.

Now, larger juvies don't need to eat every day, but I don't find the harm in it as long as you don't overfeed them every day, since they're still growing a lot.

If you need to go out of town for a weekend, your little guys should be just fine on their own!

[nai live]

1. Its hard to age axolotls by size alone, a six inch axolotl may be a ten year old adult or six months old.
2. Feeding depends on the age, adults can be fed several times a week , young ones daily. If yours are still eating daphnia they are probably quite small, you can leave live daphnia in their tank but anybloodworm they leave remove from the tank to avoid fouling the water. As they get bigger they will start to leave less of their food so increase the amount you feed. When they get to a couple of inches you can move them onto chopped earthworm.

[khmg]

Thanks for the replies!


They seem to have eaten a little more now so that's good.

Should I leave them a few hours before removing the uneaten bloodworm?

Is there anything food-wise I can leave in there in case they get peckish, without spoiling the water? Or do Axol's not get peckish?!

Also, my water is a little green, there are plants in there and a good filter, the water is fine, temp around 20 degress. I know a lot of the posts suggest a lower temp than this, but this is room temp and a number of aquatic stores have said 20 degress is fine? I use ice bottles of a night-time to cool it down by a couple of degrees.