Prawn diet

I've switched feeding my axolotls feeder goldfish as was informed they're high in fat & not good over long periods of time. Now I feed my 10 axies some prawns (like the ones at the supermarket peeled). Some of them only eat one a day, others twice a day. The size of the cut pieces of prawns is about a cube. I was wondering if this is sufficent enough for them & that I'm not starving them in anyway. They're not fond of earthworms they just spit them out & I find bloodworms a pain in the butt not they were too interested in them either. I do have pellets for them but they ended up just sitting in the tank not being touched. As long as I know the prawns I'm supplying is good I'll be happy.

Somewhere on this forum I've read that prawns only is not balanced, and they need more variety. As far as the pellets go, when I first gave mine some, he would only eat them if he caught them dropping through the water and not once they were on the floor of the tank. Within a couple of weeks however, he was hoovering them up off the floor within an hour of being fed and I just try and feed him in a clear part of the tank so they don't get stuck under rocks. He probably only has them once a week (earthworms and bloodworms otherwise), but it's handy to be able to feed him them, so it might be worth persisting for a while. Have you tried cutting the earthworms in half? I had to do that the first few times I fed them, but then he got the hang of it and has eaten them whole since. All that said, karma probably dictates that my next axie will be a fussy eater....

Possibly your axolotl doesn't like the taste of the earthworms you are offering. There is one spot in my garden that I took worms from once and my axies totally refused them, the soil was more acidic in that area so it must have affected the taste.
You can also try woodlice(slaters), slugs and snails (remove shells).
I also give my axolotls small chunks of liver (they will try to gorge on this if I let them), prawn, and slivers of raw fish. Gave up on pellets, totally refused them after live food. Bloodworm is good too and I find it doenst matter if its live or frozen, they still love to snuffle it up.

Cheers guys. I persisted with the live earthworms tonight but they drive me crazy. I put them on the end of the bbq tongs & the little buggers slip off & float around the tank if I don't get them. I don't like to leave them in the tank cause then they like to burry themselves. Is there any eaier way to feed the earthworms? Oh and my axies loved them some ate 5 all to themselves.

Use your hands, alot better control of them. I tend to drop them infront of Darwin's nose.

I use chopsticks to feed mine their treats of prawn, depends how good you are with those chopsticks though lol

I use a pair of plastic tweezers, but do sometimes drops them and have to play "catch the earthworm" before it disappears under a rock.

I hope i dont sond too thick now but when you say raw fiush, what do you use exactly, its just iu want to give a variety of foods, Isis loves worms and hasnt got a problem eating them whole! I just like to have other options if i cant find worms in the garden!.

Im still learning what they can and cant eat, and because i like to give variety i appreciate any advice or information!

Can you give them worms ment for reptiles? I have briefly read the information about Axolotls but cant seem to find information about food! I do tend to miss the obvious sometimes!!!

I need to feed Isis now, but its really wet,rainy and windy outside! the neighbours will think im potty!!

Right i think ill dig a few up and keep in a pot with soil!!

How many earth worms do you feed a day or every other day?

Sorry to rattle on i just want to do everything right by her, it took me so long to chose her and i want to giuve her the best life!!

Amy axolotl's will eat anything some are more fussy then others. Your local pet store or anywhere that sells reptiles should sell live earthworms in a tub but if you can't get them I'd suggest your yard just make sure there's no nasty chemicals in the garden. If you get mealworms you have to cut off their head cause they have a rasping mouth which can harm the axies insides. Snails will do too but you will have to de-shell them if going to feed. Slugs are great too no shell to crack.

As for fish I find feeder goldfish ok every now & then but just make sure you quarantine them for 30 days once bought as sometimes they could be sick or carry disease. Guppies are more nutrious & less fatty. Even if you bought a piece of cod at the shops & cut strips off it, that would even do. Crickets which you can also buy at reptile pet stores here are nice but I think you have to rip off one of their pointy wings (don't know aint had much experience with crickets lol).

If you kill a cockroach in your house by squishing it a little you can feed them that too not that I'm expecting you to hunt cockroaches hehe.

I use to feed my axolotls twice everyday but then my tank & ammonia went up so now I'm taking everyones advice and feed them once every 2nd day (or try too if they're out the front of the tank I'll feed them once everyday.) I find feeding them at night has more takers of the food as they're more alert.

Hi thanks for the advice and sorry for hijacking youir thread!

Im abit of a woss, so de-shelling snails, ripping heads or wings off just wouldnt work for me!!lol.

I have a real guilty feeling when i feed worms to her, but she has to have them and i wanted an axolotl so much!and she does seem to enjoy them! Through when my mum came around yesterday and asked what she ate and i told her she said it was horrid! At the end of the day is nature, or so i keep telling myself!

My garden doesnt have any chemicals as far as i know because i have children and dogs, bt thats not to say the worms dont, so i will watch that!

May try feeder fish, buit iu would feel so guilty, Wouild she eat an adult platty/guppy or s it the babies they like?

May get sone cod and put it in the freezer and cut a bit off now and agan, just as a back up.

The pellets people use are they specially for axolotls? as i have not seen them but will invest in some just as another back up!

No probs on hijacking the thread, we're all here for advice so I don't mind . Yeah they should eat a adult guppy mine even ate medium size goldfish whole.

Yeah most aquariums round here use sinking shrimp pellets for them there's even pellets you can get called axolotyl food, but I haven't had much luck with pellets. I spoil mine I hand feed them so they're use to that now if I dropped some pellets I think they'd be sitting there untouched thus adding to my already cleaned out ammonia lol.

Don't worry on the earthworms you get use to it, you kind of get desanitized to earthworms feelings after awhile lol. I think my problem is I got 11 axolotls now & I have to stuff the food in front of their gobs & by going round to each ones mouth I don't care less about the earthworms feelings

When your mum comes around next time give her a show of the axolotl munching the things lol

I may do some highjacking of my own if thats ok. Does anyone know if sandeels would be fine for axies? Not alive ones, they are defrosted.