Flightless Fruit Flies?

Has anyone ever fed their axolotl flightless fruit flies?

I was trying to find a live source of food for larvae and juvenile axolotls, and the only small live food the local pet shop has are fruit fly cultures.

Just wondering if they would make acceptable food.

They are not really suitable as they don’t sink. The flies will float (or even walk) on the surface of the water for quite some time. Those that make it to the edge will just climb the sides and either escape or wait for you to open the lid... and then escape. They are very fast so preventing escape is almost impossible. Fruit flies are also not a complete food source.

Either buy live food (daphnia, bloodworm etc) online, start a BBS culture or try some pond dipping. If the larvae are big enough they may take frozen bloodworm chopped into small pieces.

Gamachii, since you gave your location in your profile, I googled "tropical fish Portland Maine" and called a couple of shops near you. TriCity Aquarium Center is able to special order live blackworms. This is the approach that I would highly recommend. If they are kept correctly, live blackworms can be kept alive in the fridge for a month or more, so even if this place isn't near you, you wouldn't have to go very often. Google "blackworm care" for specifics on keeping them healthy. For comparison, the cost to mail order the minimum amount of blackworms is about $25 per half pound.

Flightless Fruit Flies

Wow, Thanks a lot for the great feedback, I am thoroughly impressed. ^^

TriCity Aquariums is actually pretty far away from where I live, but on your example I called a number of tropical fish stores in the area.

Hidden Reef in South Portland was extremely helpful. I talked with the owner who is contacting his suppliers to try and special order live blackworms for me, free of charge. He also stocks Daphnia and Brine shrimp eggs, so these should work if the blackworms don't come through.

Would the use of an airstone create the illusion that chopped frozen worms, like tubiflex or bloodworms were moving without causing too much stress to the young axolotls?
(I understand that this method would cause a need for frequent tank cleansing.)

Thanks again for all your help, you guys are amazing!

Larvae are usually kept in a broad shallow tub. A single airstone isn't going to move enough of the pieces around to feed all the larvae. Just doesn't seem practical. The great thing about live blackworms is that the chopped pieces stay alive and wiggling for hours/days. They won't foul the water unless you put in too many. Hatching out some brine shrimp eggs is also an excellent option for the first few weeks. Are the daphnia at the shop live or bottled/frozen? If they are live, this would be the optimal food, but I've never seen any shop sell live daphnia so I'm doubtful they are.