Getting new eggs any day, need some advice

I am gettign some axi eggs real soon and I have scrambling to get ready. I have aquired daphnia today, and also thousands of mayfly larvae. I think both would work for feeding the new little ones, all though I will have beef heart soo as well. I also have bloodworms, which I was thinking could be a backup. What do you all think?

Jeff, Where are you getting the Mayfly Larvae, because I heard that in some states they are endangered. I could be wrong on this but should you be using them if they are?

I would use black worms chopped up into fine pieces. This seems to work with a lot of people.

Good luck

The mayfly is not in trouble in my state, and they have existed before dinosaurs so I have a feeling they will not go extinct before humans do(oh yes one day it will happen). There were so many in this one pond that all I had to do was dip the bucket in and I had hundreds from just one spot. I am wonder how I can get blackworms, who has a good website as they don't have them in my area.

Do you have a petsmart?

They have blood worms. You can also try this, just cut them up in the same manor as black worms. They are just as nutritious and sell them in the frozen section of most petsmart. Try there

As for black worms on the net, I really haven't a clue, sorry.

It's good to know they aren't endangered in your area, but I would suggest not using them straight from a pond. They can carry parasites or other nasties that you don't want your babies to come in contact with. Also keep in mind taking them directly from a pong could mess with the ecosystem of that pond. May Fly Larvae contribute greatly to healthy ponds and help to bring balance.

Have you tried Axolotl colony pellets? If they are soaked in water, they become soft and squishy. I think you can then break them apart a bit and feed them to the babies, or they have very small sizes for babies. Check here:

http://bigapple.uky.edu/~axolotl/

The pellets come in three sizes.

Jeff - Newly hatched brineshrimp always worked very well for me with newly hatched axolotls.

If you do decide to use brineshrimp the eggs from http://www.brineshrimpdirect.com
have always given me the best results. The eggs they sell with a 90 or 95% hatch rate are worth the extra money.

I have eggs from my golden albino male, Kukla, and white female, Fran. I put them together Saturday and today, Monday, she is laying eggs.As I am a teacher, I would like to do a little genetics with my students (grade 5). What codes go along with these colors?

I have successfully breed before in the classroom, though had dark female and same male.

Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks!

Hey Jeff,
I have found brine shrimp larva is the cheapest and easiest when dealing with new axolotl hatchlings. One gallon culture can last for 3-4 days depending on how many you are feeding. I try to do this for several weeks and then introduce black worms. I cut up the black worms with surgical scissors until it is a fine pulp. I drop them in (small bits) and see if they take it with no problems. I continue the black worms and gradually cut less until they are eating whole ones. I switch them over to a pellet food by this time and sometimes chop the pellets up with a straight razor to get smaller pieces. I raise mine in large rubermaid containers with sponge filters and gradually divide them up when they are getting larger. I also use some stones and other objects to separate them to deter caniblism. Plastic plants work well too.

Terry, have a look in the genetics and colour section of www.axolotl.org they have the letters that go with the colours there