Mildly Urgent Request For Advice

I am a new Axolotl owner... And my story is kind of sad.
I actually just acquired Allegro last night... an acquaintance of a friend didn't know what to do with her 'amphibians' (as she called them) because they were constantly getting picked on by other fish in her aquarium (sigh) and one of them ate the other's leg off.
She didn't even know what they were. (AAARRRGGG) Another friend of mine was able to take the one who's leg became lunch and I took the cannibal culprit... It took me forever just to find out what the hell it was...
luckily enough I have almost everything I need in the set up. I'm running out tonight to get the final touches on the habitat.

Thanks to a few REALLY good websites *and* browsing this forum over the past 17 hours or so since I've had my new friend, I've been able to make a pretty snazzy new care sheet/feeder plan/wish list... i've found the answers to most of the questions i've had just by doing some good research.

here's the really big question I still have pecking at the back of my cranium. Allegro's brother... whom I lovingly call gimpy... should they have been separated or should we have kept them in the same habitat regardless of Allegro's flesh-devouring tendencies?

Keep in mind they CAN'T be that old... i'd place Allegro at MAYBE 3 inches... if even that. I'm sure they've been together since they've been hatched... I don't know. Should I offer to take the other one as well, or should I just concentrate on the little guy that I already have at home? I just want to do whatever's best for him...

Secondly, I would REALLY prefer to be feeding this little guy something thats... not in pellet form. ew. I've always been a fan of fresh food for my pets and pellets... don't thrill me much. Unfortunately, these little shrimp pellets are the only thing that my axolotl's been fed since the idiot (who didn't even know what it WAS) got him. Any suggestions and the best way to get him started on a new diet that doesn't involve pellets? He already pretty much snaps at anything, (yay!!!!!!) so I'm wondering if i should just go ahead and start him off on frozen brine shrimp or tubifex and screw the pellets.

sorry my post was so long... any advice, whether relative to these two questions exclusively or just caring for my new pal in general would be greatly appreciated. I get really irritated with people who buy pets because they look cool, and never learn how to take care of them, so I'm trying to learn as much as I possibly can in a very VERY short amount of time. (and if there's anything I should look out for in the next 48 hours, that'd be great to know too)

well done for rescuing him/her. it always annoys me when people go out on "impulse buys" and buy something they have no idea how to look after.
to answer your questions:
-how big was the tank they were previously in? but to be honest, as long as the tank they will be going in is latge, with plenty of hiding places, and as long as you do have the possibility of seperating them if problems arise, and as long as they are both of a similar size, you could house them together no problem(any other thoughts on that, i know it could be a debating point)
-with regards to the feeding, i would start him off on something that wriggles. pretty much anything that wriggles(e.g. earthworms are perfect) or anything with a really pungent smell is perfect. and yes, just start right away. but keep the pellets handy just in case, as that food is a definite yes that he will accept, so its worth keeping it just in case he chooses to not take a fancy to the other food.

i also have a couple of questions for you, because that will help me and others give more advice:
how big is the tank? i ask because this will determine almost exclusively whether or not your axie can be accompanied by the other.
have you cycled the tank?
what have you furnished the tank with?
what substrate do you have(not gravel i hope )

hopefully you will soon be a happy axolotl owner. this might just be your downfal lol, as this might get you hooked on herps. something along the lines of the above got me into axolotls, and ultimitely(damn you guys!!) herps.

Good luck!!

You can feed him frozen blood worms they are a good staple when he gets bigger you can feed him live earth worms. At that age it is common for them to nip at each other when they get bigger it will stop. If it were me I would keep them apart till you know they are better. What kind of set up are you doing? Whats in his tank?

lol, i'm already hooked on herps! I actually ended up with an iguana about a year ago in a similar fashion... a very vicious ig at that... but now he's sweet, even if he *does* have a superiority complex. ^_^

answers to your questions: The tank is only a 10 gallon tank at the moment. Of course I'll eventually get bigger, but like I said, he's only around 3 inches right now... which is tiny.

yes, I have cycled the tank... my brother and I had already begun the process to start an aquarium. So it was a slight change of plants. heh.

The tank *isn't* furnished at the moment... not really anyway. I have a few plants in there, but I'm going out tonight to get some things... mainly a good place for him to hide.

the substrate isn't really gravel... but it is rock (is that the same thing?) at any rate, he can't come anywhere near fitting the substrate in his mouth.

I guess the short version of my question was : Can Axie's Suffer From Separation Anxiety? lol

not really, although i would say my axies have formed a "clan"
they sleep in one corner all huddled up, which i find really cute!
i would change the substrate to sand. rocks are fine, but axies have evolved to burrow, and sniff around in sand. besides, sand is easier to clean, because waste food can just be syphoned or netted off the top, whereas in rocks the waste food is hard to get to, because of the gaps left, which results in a deterioration of water quality

Yeah I think change to sand. You can get plan pay sand From a hardware store, walmart it's the cheapest.

alright then, I'll get some sand substrate tonight... any suggestions on changing the bottom without traumatizing too badly another night in a row?

If you already have the water in the tank, siphon some of into a bucket and place your axie in. Cover it if you have any animals and so s/he doesn't jump out.

Another reason they nip at each other\is if they're hungry/searching for food. Anything that moves and can fit in their mouths looks like prospective food and they can't see very well.

Frozen brineshrimp is pretty messy to feed. Frozen bloodworm is good and doesn't make too much of a mess (my adults won't eat them but my sister's axie babies - same size as your one do), if you can get live food, earthworms, live blackworms/tubifex/bloodworms, he'll probably prefer it more.

He didn't just nip at the other one, he ate it's entire leg. And this did not happen under *MY* care... but it IS the reason I ended up with a new pet at about 7:00 the other night. And my brother's a little p.o.'d at me... We had this nifty tank all cycled and ready to go for his new aquarium... he comes over and there's something else in there. poor kid. lol

Ugh. I don't even want to TALK about what happened at the pet store yesterday when I went in to get live bloodworms... and got on a topic about substrate. oi.

But thanks everyone for the advice! I love my little guy already. I have everything ready to begin the process of substrate change tonight! this is happy!