Just Purchase very young axies

I am having trouble feed these guys.. there are about 6 to 7cm long, so very young and very small. I have had axies in the past but they were much larger and easy to feed Earthworms, so feeding was never a problem. These are so small, i was sold blackworms, but the worms seem to get lost in the water before my axies catch them. I now have a couple of little spots where the tiny worms are half buried in the gravel and half out. Will the axies eat these worm eventually. or will worms just die a sour the water? I have read Daphnia is good does anyone know where in Brisbane QLD AU I might buy them?

hi jenny, chances are the axies wont find them unless the worms surface again. you could chop the earthworms up so they're small enough and use tweezers to dangle the worm in front of your axies.

you should be using gravel as axies will most likely eat it, espicially when theres blackworms creeping around underneth it. have you tried blood worms?.

Thanks Alex

well the little worms are half under the gravel half above, it's as if they are growng out of it.
Yes i read where someone didn't like chopping up the earthworms, so it gave me an idea to do that, like you have suggested.
Yes I now know gravel isn't a good idea, but when one doesn't know one listens to the pet shop advise.. i won't be doing that again. Gravel was never a worry before as my axies were much larger and they ate the earth worms from my hand.. I have tried dropping pellets but they spit them out... I did try them with an earth worm, they went for it like crazy, but it was obviously too large for them, so will try the cutting up idea.
I am actually unsure if what I have are blood worms or black worms how do i tell?

Bloodworms (at least when new) are an obvious red color. I've only seen them frozen or dried.

Are you going to fill out your other info & join the forum?

I just signed up smiles

I now have a pic of my editions.. the white one is missing some legs due to canabalism in the pet shop, but I know they will grown back

ok ill give you my experiences on the littlins, i have a approx 6cm baby at the moment.

i feed in twice a day as hes still pretty young/small. i have no substrate because his diet consists mainly of bloodworms and i like to change some of his water daily, plus its easier to suck up anything uneaten. hes just started eating 'big boys' food cut up into teeny tiny bits but still spits most of it out as its not as slimy?slippery?small? as his worms. hes getting there though!

hope this helped a bit, might make things easier for ya

Thanks for the help guys, I so wish I had found this site before getting the little axies, I do hope my ignorance doesn't have me loosing them before I even begin. I need to at this stage, to ensure they get to eat what they need at this young age, is to take them out of the large tank, which is all wrong anyways. Put them into something smaller and with no substrate. And in the mean time get the larger tank sorted so it's the right kind of environment for them.
Yeah I tried cutting up some earth worms, which they took to like crazy, but they were still more than the poor little guys could handle and they promptly spat them out.

Damn Pet shops, and this was one who sells a lot of axies and had all the stuff one might need for the little guys, so one would think they would have better advise to give as opposed to normal pet shops that focus on dogs and cats so to speak. Maybe my assitant didn't know as much as one of the other assistants.
Though I should have twigged something, when one of the other assistant at the shop, couldn't even sex a cat.

Jenny, you might try cutting the earthworms down the middle, into worm filets, or strips. I found they take these more easily than chunks. It's kind of gory, but I just apologize to the worm and remind myself that it's all part of the food chain.