Bloodworms in filter.

When I fed my axies bloodworm some of it went in the filter and stuck out the side and was all embedded in the sponge so i took it out to clean it. Now today the same thing happened. Loads of it stuck out of the side of the filter. I dont know if its embedded in the sponge or not. So I phoned the pet shop and they said to leave the worms there cos if i keep cleaning the filter ill get rid of the good bacteria.
But wont the worms go bad?
Anyway, I managed to get them out with chopsticks. Thing is the axies didnt eat them then and they floated down to the bottom and are not floating back to the filter again (i turned the filter off and then back on to get them out).
The shop suggested I turn the filter off when feeding them anyway which I didnt think of, but its cos I just plopped the bloodworm in and I have to more or less shove it in their faces and chase em round the tank with it they said cos they are dim and wont eat unless they see it moving.
So does this mean cos I havtn managed to successfully hand feed them since I got them (about a week or so ago wasnt it?) then they have only eaten a couple of little worms?
They still got black in their stomach but they have every day anyway. The little one seems to have more black in his stomach when hes just about to be fed.
Im going to get the plastic tweezers from the shop thrusday. thats when theyre next being fed anyway. Cos I tried using my hands which is what id prefer to do but when the bloodworms come apart i get squirmish and they are too slippery to hold with chopsticks.
oh and i wanna know is the red stuff i get on my hands when holding the bloodworm actually blood? cos i thought the 'blood' word was referring to their colour.

The worms will rot in the filter.

To stop this, you have lots of options.
-Try feeding the worms on the opposite side of the tank
-Try using a small jar to put the worms in at feeding time
-Turn the filter off during feeding
-Put a small piece of pantyhose over the filter opening

Have you tried feeding them anything other than bloodworms?

thankyou. i have fed them daphnia and brine shrimp. i am still looking to find a bait shop or something to get live worms, but i dont know if they are going to be free of pestisides etc. i mean if they are just bait then there would be no need to sterile them would there?
Also, as much as i dont really want to give live food i would much rather feed earthworms than meal worms or something like that. i used to keep mealworms as pets. i think they are great. lol.
Anyway, how do i go about cleaning up earthworms from the garden? i would have to get my dad to do that for me as i get attatched to anything and i mean ANYTHING so I dont want to do it myself.

Adelle, Most bait shop worms are 'farm raised', and are inherently free of pesticides. I mean, who would apply poison to soil where you're trying to harvest animals?

My worms, I dump them into a bowl of water while I'm getting things sorted, and just cut them up.

Would anything else but a turkey baster do to get the worms off the sand at the bottom of the tank?

Hi Adelle, I have started feeding mine live blood worm, but I do switch the filter off until they are eaten....they then trundle around the tank looking like hoovers until they are all gone. To begin with uneaten food used to pool under the filter and night time the axolotle's would trash the tank to get to the food.I have noticed mine are snobs and love to be hand fed slivers of fresh meat...and are turning their noses up at the worms I give them. I have gotten very adept with the old turkey baster...really wish I'd found out about it when I had my terrapins!

Didn't Ian give you a name of a company that ships them direct to your door live in another thread? Turkey baster is great but occasionally I've found I'm not quick enough and have to dip my hand in to retrieve the worm before it disappears into the sand.