Question: New axi not eating well

I recently got a female 3+yr old female from a fish store and I can't really get her to eat much. She is about 4-5 inches long. I traded them 121 babies for her and food and sand. The problem is that she isn't eating much. I have given her all kinds of things. It seems that she doesn't want blood worms, or black worms. I even went 20 miles away to buy nightcrawlers (big earthworms). She ate one half of one and that has been it. I decided to go back and buy 40 ghost shrimp from them as that is what she was eating there (I called and asked) there are a lot left but not too man. That was days ago. That is all that I can get her to eat. Are my nightcrawlers too big? I left one in there for 24 hrs and it was still alive so I took it out. What would anyone recommend? I'm worried as she is my first one. I have 2 wild type babies but they eat fine.

Too bad the pet store wasn't feeding her something more sensible. Shrimp are fine for treats, but as the only diet... no.
I think that once the shrimp are gone - which will probably be in about 3 or 4 days if I had to guess.... I would wait another 4 days and then offer her an earthworm. I don't recommend a red wiggler/ red worm because axolotls generally don't like them. Try to get a regular night crawler/earthworm. I have a basement worm bin culture of e. Hortensis (European nightcrawlers/Belgium worms) which is doing great and the axies love them.
I also feed them salmon pellets from the University of Kentucky. Michael Shrom also sells them on the forum.
So basically, try fasting her for several days at least, then offer her food. This method should work eventually.
Good luck. :happy:

Thank u so much!! She's def not in the best shape she has nubs for gills. I have seen that since she has been here she seems to have gotten a few frills on her gills already. I knowthat she should not be eating only ghost shrimp. She will take things out of my hand if I put it in front of her nose and move it a bit but the process takes forever and the bloodworms melt and dissapate by then so I want to get her something that I can just hand her or preferably just drop in the tank. I will try your fasting method. Thanks so much for the advice....I don't want her to starve. Also, do you think if I cut the earthworms smaller she might like them more? I didn't buy red wigglers....but charteuse worms from my local tackle shop. Lol...I used to love to fish as a kid so I'm ok with worms.

I use a feeding tongs to feed pieces of night crawler. My axies have me very well trained. :happy:

3 yrs old and only 4-5 inches? That seems small. Are you measuring tip of nose to end of tail?

Well I actually haven't actually measured...I don't wanna take her out of the water...unless it's ok to do so for short periods of time. She was formerly the pet of a teacher for 3 yrs and then given to the fish store I go to. Who knows how long she was there. She was on gravel and had an African clawed frog as her roommate which probably explains why her gills are nubs. The water there was way too warm so they don't have to use heaetrs and the flow was insane. I went back after like 5 days and some of the babies had a bad fungus and had to go back the next day and some were dead. Glad I got her outta there but I'm sad about the babies...someone I knew wanted me to babysit and then just abandoned them here and I had open heart surgery in July and the water changes every day were effecting me and physically exhausting. She said they would become fish food for her bigger ones if she came and got them. So naturally I didn't make her come get them.Where do you buy these feeding tongs and how big are the worms? What happens if I go out of town? is there a way to train them to eat from a little dish or something? Btw thank u for your advice. I'm more calm now...but yes I do not think she is full sized and probably was always kept in a 10 gallon. She is fine with being handled though since I had to move her when I was changing her water. Her name is Bubble Gum. The 2 babies I kept are wild types and their names are; Tootsie Roll and Jelly Bean.Also, How often do you feed your's? thanks for the help!!!

:ufo: :animal:

Well I actually haven't actually measured...I don't wanna take her out of the water...unless it's ok to do so for short periods of time. She was formerly the pet of a teacher for 3 yrs and then given to the fish store I go to. Who knows how long she was there. She was on gravel and had an African clawed frog as her roommate which probably explains why her gills are nubs. The water there was way too warm so they don't have to use heaetrs and the flow was insane. I went back after like 5 days and some of the babies had a bad fungus and had to go back the next day and some were dead. Glad I got her outta there but I'm sad about the babies...someone I knew wanted me to babysit and then just abandoned them here and I had open heart surgery in July and the water changes every day were effecting me and physically exhausting. She said they would become fish food for her bigger ones if she came and got them. So naturally I didn't make her come get them.Where do you buy these feeding tongs and how big are the worms? What happens if I go out of town? is there a way to train them to eat from a little dish or something? Btw thank u for your advice. I'm more calm now...but yes I do not think she is full sized and probably was always kept in a 10 gallon. She is fine with being handled though since I had to move her when I was changing her water. Her name is Bubble Gum. The 2 babies I kept are wild types and their names are; Tootsie Roll and Jelly Bean.Also, How often do you feed your's? thanks for the help!!!

:ufo: :animal:

I would just try to keep her tank and water in optimal conditions. When you start feeding her, give her as much as she will take. She may catch up with her growth. But usually adults can be fed every few days.
I would try starting in indoor worm bin culture with a worm that will do well in your house temperature. Perhaps e. Hortensis or Canadian night crawlers, or Africans..... do some research on their requirements. Not sure on those chartreuse worms.... they sound like they may be a gfp strain of red wigglers, but I could be wrong. See if you can find out...