How To Fatten Up A Thin Axolotl?

[Sky]

I just bought another axolotl and he's fine and well apart from two bites out of his tail and being really thin. I was just wondering what are some good foods to feed him to get him to gain weight?

Thank you.

[Kaysie]

How thin is it? If its just underweight, feeding more frequently than normal should do the trick. If its really thin, you can add foods like waxworms and butterworms.

[Sky]

Very thin. I don't think we have those out here - I've never seen or heard of them before. I'm in Australia. Are they at pet shops?

Sorry the image is flipped. I can't get it the right way around for some reason. This is as good as a photo I can get right now. He's about the width of two of my fingers put together and I have hands the size of a kid.

[jane1187]

Wow he is thin...

Waxworms are the larvae of wax moths and aren't often called anything else. If you can't find them in your pet shops (often sold in a small dark tub over here) then try online. They're not essential though.

Just feed him as much as he can eat at least once a day if not twice and he should soon start putting weight on. Earthworms are good all-round nutrition.

Don;t forget that waxworms and butterworms are high in fat so don't feed these exclusively. This guy needs some protein to build himself up too so if you do go for waxworms, make them only about 1/4 of his meal.

[Sky]

Ah we call them weevils over here. Thank you for explaining that. I got him to eat some sheep kidney earlier thankfully, I'll try and find some worms asap but right now it's winter here and they're hard to find.

Thank you again. :)

[jane1187]

Well at least he is eating, thats good news as he is not too ill to eat. Do you have any angling shops you can purchase worms from? Pieces of meat are ok occasionally, try something like squid if you can as well. Buy it from a fishmonger and cut it up into small strips and put them into ice cube trays with water. They'll keep well this way (but will make your freezer smell a little(!).

I saw your thread about his skin, it looks like excess mucus which could be a sign of bacterial type skin infection, but is also created during heat stress or even general stress. It can also be a problem with shedding.

I would worry about his weight first as his excess slime secretions could be due to his previous stressful conditions. If under better water and housing conditions and better weight he still shows this excess secretion then you can investigate further.

Good luck, keep us posted in the next few weeks (he does look like a handsome axolotl and will look great when he's better)

[Sky]

I think we have one near our local pet shop but I'm not too sure. I'll get looking around next time I'm in town. I think I'll be able to find someone who sells worms around here, surely.

Well it's currently winter here so I can't imagine it's from heat stress and my tank gets no higher than 21C. I'm not too sure what his water quality was like in the tank he was in at the pet shop as all the fish lights in the shop weren't working, but they had just moved location so it may have been stress from that. I have given him two salt baths due to having to put him in a tank that had white spot in it. Would that help any? I think I've seen some of it floating around the tank. He's in with my other male and they're happy together. He doesn't seem sick, he swims around the tank happy enough, even swam over to me in the pet shop.

Thank you again for all your help. I'm highly grateful for it.

[Jenna]

I had the same problem with the 2 axolotls I bought from pet shops. I have attached pictures of my first Axolotl when I first got her and 3 months later. When I first got her I was worried about her size so I was feeding her 2 cubes of beef heart every other day as I was told not to feed them everyday. I have since realised that was far too much food for one sitting as she just spat most of it out when I wasn't looking. I tried giving her worms, since its winter I buy them from bait shops. She liked them but my others didn't so I gave up on the worms and I now give her half a cube of beef heart twice a day. I also give her some pellets when I don't have time to cut up the beef heart. She has now started to fatten up nicely, the pink feathery parts of her gills have even started to grow.

[jane1187]

Originally Posted by Sky Diamond

I think we have one near our local pet shop but I'm not too sure. I'll get looking around next time I'm in town. I think I'll be able to find someone who sells worms around here, surely.

Well it's currently winter here so I can't imagine it's from heat stress and my tank gets no higher than 21C. I'm not too sure what his water quality was like in the tank he was in at the pet shop as all the fish lights in the shop weren't working, but they had just moved location so it may have been stress from that. I have given him two salt baths due to having to put him in a tank that had white spot in it. Would that help any? I think I've seen some of it floating around the tank. He's in with my other male and they're happy together. He doesn't seem sick, he swims around the tank happy enough, even swam over to me in the pet shop.

Thank you again for all your help. I'm highly grateful for it.

I would be cautious about the white spot. There has been a recent thread on here about how to treat whitespot that I've been advising on so if I were you I'd monitor the axolotls closely and if they develop any symptoms then follow these instructions for treating your axolotls and your tank. You may want to have a read of it just incase as its based on my experience with fish.

Treating White Spot With Salt Tank?

Post us some pictures in a few weeks too so we can see how they're doing.