over weight axol!

I am needing a bit of help with our axolotls .We have 2 axolotls saffera and drako .We've had drako for about 8 weeks and saffera for about 1.5 years . Lately when I feed them saffera is acting more like a croc than a axolotal .She is feirce just about eating the tongs aswell as the worms! and she also eats drakos tucker most of the time..but now i'm noticing shes huge she looks over weight will it hurt if i stop feeding her for a while .
oh and also whats the life span of an axolotal?

How often do you feed her? What substrate is she on? Do you know how old Drako is?

Our adults are fed twice a week at the moment, they're less interested in food while it's cold (tankwater 10C)

Hi Karlie,

Axies can survive for a suprising length of time with no food, so putting on a diet for a while would probably not hurt her though she may view it differently.

My late wife turned into a bit of a crocodile and ate copiously everytime we were expecting and chances are I would have been slapped for drawing that parallel but you did say you have a male and female.

I believe 12-15 years check out www.axolotl.com

my female axie is extra hungry at the mo, she has just layed her second lot of eggs so i feed her when she wants it. mating and egg laying must take a bit out of them, so maybe your axie is up to somthing.

Thankyou for all your answers I've now started to feed safera every second day and she doesn't seem to mind ,she is still acting like a croc at feed time but i don't think i can change that i think she just likes her food! thankyou for your help

Hi Karlie,

Has Safera lost any weight? every second day for an adult axie is what is reccommended I have two adults that thrive on that schedule but would be quite happy to eat more often.

I have one that snaps at food and one that takes food gently, well, as gently as an axie can.

Good Luck

Unless the amphibian is ovulating or undergoing some other severe metabolic stress, it can take a very long time to cause one to lose any fat.

For example (from Amphibian Medicine and Captive Husbandry) if you axolotl weighs 80 grams then the minimum amount it should be fed to maintain its resting metabolism at 20 C is 0.26 kcal/day which is the equivalent to 0.52 grams/day of earthworm (0.26 kcal/day x 1g earthworm/0.5 kcals of earthworm)
or 3.64 grams of earthworm/week to maintain weight (there will be some variation due to stress activity so this should really be about 5.46 grams earthworm per week to maintain weight).

A heavier axolotls say one that weighs in at 100 grams (and the do get bigger than that as well) would need 0.64 grams of earthworm/day or 4.48 grams/week to mantain minimal resting metabolism so a normal metabolism is probably closer to 6.72 grams of earthworms/week.

Unlike mammals and birds the metabolic needs of amphibians (and reptiles) can be met with much less frequent meals. Often only one to two meals a week are necessary to supply all of the nutrition needed by the amphibian (and at colder temperatures even less frequent feedings). As can be noted by the small amount of food needed to meet thier nutritional requirements it is very easy to overfeed them when feeding them multiple times a week.

With respect to the aggressiveness of the feeding response, keep in mind that amphibians are hard wired to take advantage of times of food abundance as they cannot be sure the "food gods" will always provide such a bountiful harvest.

Ed