Not what but HOW do you feed 'em

Hey all. I've just come to own two beautiful adult axolotls and am happy to report they appear to be breeding after just a couple days! I'm so excited and so are my middle school students!

I am having some trouble with feeding. I have some earthworms and soft pelets from the Stock Center, but I'm struggling to find a good way to feed the guys. The male bites at the earthworms but then spits them out. He got one into his mouth and then it started going out his gills and he finally spit it back out. My amphiuma just gobbles things down and these guys seem to struggle a bit more. Also the pellets just drop in front of them and then lie there on the sandy bottom. The female isn't eating at all (granted it has just been a couple days so she might be a little stressed still, but she was courting...) Anyway, how can I ensure some greater level of success? Should I get tubiflex worms? On the care sheets it indicates that earthworms and pellets would work ok. Perhaps I just need to learn a delivery method.

Thanks in advance...

Hello. The problem you are having may be solved by just giving them some time. If your axolotls were shipped they are probably still stressed out and it takes time for them to get adjusted to their new environment.

As far as a delivery method goes there are several ways you can go about it. Dropping the pellets in front of their faces has always worked the best for me. Even if they do not jump at them, they will still smell them and feed off the bottom later. The earthworms may be better accepted if you cut them down a bit. If they are too big they may not want to even deal with them. There are tweezers you can pick up at petco that are made of bamboo and have rounded edges. I have used these and never had a problem with hurting the little guys. You may also try adding live blackworms to the tank if you have a bare bottom setup. They will usually chase after them when people are not around.

Just make sure to keep the stressors minimized (not too many loud noises or bright lights). Also, give them time, they should come around. Hope this helps.

Hi Monomike,

I hand feed all of our axies using chopsticks.

They are all trained to feed in separate areas of the tank and they go to their respective areas when they see me or when I knock on the tank. This took about two weeks to achieve. It was way easier than training my dogs and my kids for that matter.

Axolotls seem to be creatures of habit and once you have established some routines around their care and feeding they will settle down.

You could try thinly cut strips of beef heart or even steak about worm size.

Axies vision is better from above so when you are feeding make sure your axie can see you.

They can go for quite sometime with no food so a few days wont hurt a healthy axie and Im sure when they are settled and hungry they will eat.

Good Luck

please bear in mind these are adults,
firstly they have been moved from their usual habitat,

which no matter how careful people are is stressful and might need a few days to settle.
secondly being less active as adults they only need to feed a couple of times a week, snapping at food is habit not just hunger.

i use wooden meat skewers to feed mine this has always worked for me, just remember to blunt end

The only thing I can add is that I feed mine at a set time of day , and thats when my cherubs have gone to bed. This was initially so I had the time and patience to stand there dangling live worm in front of the axolotl until the bite. I didn't use any tools other than my fingers ( it never crossed my mind!!) . It also meant that my children wouldn't be bustling about distracting the axolotl and my self. With regards to pellets my adult male won't touch them. I have always fed live worms and then raw lean slivers of meat, tiger prawn, heart and liver, musscle and as an occasional treat live river shrimp. With regards to the latter they toodle around the tank until captured...once thought mine had all gone but night time when a torch was shone onto the tank there were a crop of eyes looking back!

Hi,

one small addition: When feeding earthworms I always use a tweezer and feed the axolotls seperately. I do so not only for monitoring who ate how much but also to make shure that them worms won't disappear in the soil. They will try to dig in but will eventually drown if they are not eaten - and that may be bad for your water parameters...

In your case I would let the axolotls go hungry for some days (you said they are adults) until they get acquainted to their new "home".

The quality of axie hearing is debatable. The tapping sends vibrations which are picked up by the axies lateral line. I guess initially it could have startled them but they very quickly associated it with a food source. By very quickly I mean after two feeds.

It doesn't bother them at all now.

Thanks for all the thoughts fellas. I'll give it a shot again in a few days and let you all know how it goes.

try waving the pellet infront of the axies face, once they start coming closer let the pellet go when they are close enough to snap at it. Mine hasnt eaten any pellet, until i tried this. Now whenever i move something around her face she rises to the top of the water.

Good Luck!

Mine eats pellets if they are dropped above or slightly in front of his head and snaps them up as they go past. But won't eat them off the bottom of the tank.