Axolotl Pellets

Hey guys,
Ive just bought my axies some axolotl pellets and i was just wondering if anyone has tips on feeding them to my axies? Ive tried holding some in my hand and feeding them one pellet at a time or simply letting the pellets fall to the bottom of the tank but they just don't seem to know they're there. Its funny cos they just end up walking over them or staring directly at em'. Any tips will be appreciated.
Thanks

i have the same problem with my axie. he just doesnt relise that it is food! any help would be appreciated

Get a stick and use it to move the pellets ( axies react to movement ). Once the axies have eaten the pellets a few times they should get used to them and will eat them off of the bottom. It works for me
Just watch them until they start eating them without assistance - it may take a while but it is worth it in the long run for convenience and the addition to their diet.

Good luck

Thanks for the tip, but how would i use this, shall we call 'stick method' without hurting my axies? I don't want them to hurt their mouths with the stick.

hi, i think nzaxie was saying use the stick to push the pellets around in front of the axies, not to feed or touch them with it. i hold the pellets in my hand just above their head and drop them one at a time for them to catch, when they get used to it they wil take about four pellets in their mouth before the next lot. my axies also know now when they see my hand its feeding time and they raise their head to let me know they want to receive the food. i have also found if a pellet falls on top of their head you can gently push it forward to their mouth for them to catch.

ive tried holding the pellet i front of mambo but he doesnt react. he sometimes even swims away from it. ive had him for a week and a day now and he hasnt eaten once. im starting to get worried

feeding plate??

Lucy wouldn't eat her pellets either - i think she couldn't see them because they just blend in with the rocks on the bottom of the tank. But then I put the pellets inside her clay pot, which has a smooth surface and is a lighter colour, and she ate them all within half an hour (i didn't see her eat them unfortunately - but they were definitely gone!) - maybe try like a 'feeding plate' on a surface where the pellets stand out?????? it might work

Chrissy i might suggest you feed it something it is used to, until u train it on pellets, i wouldn't want it to starve now...
Axolotls hunt by movement and scent. If you look carefully durign meal times before it snaps it might look like a frog croaking (enlarging the throat) . It is actually breathing air through the nose to smell the water.
Ive had 4 axolotls. One would only eat them during the process of the pellet falling. If it missed it i had to pick up the pellet and drop it. etc Over and over.
One was totally a smart cool hunter and i jus plopped them in and he would sniff and also push his muzzle in the sand and when he felt something big (the pelleT) move with his nose he woudl gulp, spit the sand out and swallow the pellets. It helps to make a pile of 10 pellets, that way he gets a mouth full. If they aren't soft or nto soggy-ish they will spit it out thinking it is a pebble (*edit* changed pellet to pebble). That's what ive found and my assumptions anyways...
The one i have now has eaten a few but i don't think it likes the taste. My other one thinks they are pebbles (*edit* changed pellet to pebble) regardless. Im thinking, since she eats frozen beefheart sqaures, to moosh them in water and freeze them....just a thought...
It might pay to train them in a bare tank to feed, coz it can get messy, and return them to the main tank after dinner to keep your tank clean?

Ive tried the 'feeding plate' method, and it worked :wacko: it really did help to stack the pellets up so they can see them better
Thanks for the suggestions now my axies can enjoy their yummy pellets

im going to try the feeding plate method. ill keep you posted on how it goes

Hello, i have just tried my axie onn some pellets, i usually feed him frozen beef heart so i held that in front of him and guided him to the pellets and he loved them, i watched him just smell his was over them and he ate the all (i only put 3 in to try).

My axie was only fed mealworms..
i heard that mealworms are a sometimes food
and so today i bought bloodworm and pellets and shes eating niether..

i feed my axolotl on floating axolotl pellets and he comes up to the surface to eat them

naymo said:

My axie was only fed mealworms..
i heard that mealworms are a sometimes food
and so today i bought bloodworm and pellets and shes eating niether..

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I heard that Mealworms were hard to digest - I've fed mine the odd mealworm, and I find the exo-skeleton in the poop!

Earthworms are the main meal for my lot - but currently taking some advice from Bellabelloo to varey their diets.

Food plate method works fine!

Dittany said:

Lucy wouldn't eat her pellets either - i think she couldn't see them because they just blend in with the rocks on the bottom of the tank. But then I put the pellets inside her clay pot, which has a smooth surface and is a lighter colour, and she ate them all within half an hour (i didn't see her eat them unfortunately - but they were definitely gone!) - maybe try like a 'feeding plate' on a surface where the pellets stand out?????? it might work

Click to expand...

We have tried this feeding plate approach from the beginning with great success for Darwin. He's in a 10-gallon aquarium, and at one end we have an 8" (maybe 6") diameter clay "plate" - the sort of thing you put under a clay pot for plants. Darwin actually sends a good bit of time in that plate. It's large enough so that when we drop the feed pellets or bloodworms from the surface they fall into the plate. He finds them and snarfs them up just fine. He must find them by smell, because (we are convinced that ) he is utterly blind.