Earthworms

Hello everyone,

I bought earthworms for Axel and Lotte yesterday. They have eaten everything I've offered them so far but I read here that earthworms are the best food for them and I thought it might be a nice treat for them. Unless their breeder fed them worms before they arrived at the pet shop, these would be the first worms Axel and Lotte have had.

They sure seemed to know what to do with them, though, and slurped them right down! Only at first, however. Both of them did the same thing: they slurped down the worm, kind of chomped or gulped a few times, sat still a moment, then spit the whole worm out again! Then they would suck the worm back in again and the whole process would repeat. The worms are not large, just skinny-ish and about the size of my little finger, and Axel and Lotte are quite large. I haven't measured them yet but I reckon they are at least 20 cm long.

It looked more like work, kind of distressing to see, than a happy lunch, so I thought I'd ask if this is how axolotls normally eat worms? I had watched some videos here and got the impression that it's a simple and quick process..?

Thanks,

-blue

It may depend on what the worms have been eating or living in, sometimes it can give them a funny taste.

So, it's not a normal way to eat worms?

Perfectly normal mate, mine do the same with most new foods

If the worms seem a bit on the large side, cut them up.

philbaker76 said:

If the worms seem a bit on the large side, cut them up.

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Yuck. No way.

Fortunately the worms don't seem too large at all.

Thank you for reassuring me, though. I intended the worms as a treat, not a torture.

blueberlin said:

Yuck.

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It might seem gross, and it is, but it's something I learned to do, forced myself to learn really, for the good of the animals. Here was my odyssey:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/24861/75310.html?1168481478


And here's something about how the worm feels:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=39058


Good Luck!

Dawn,

I loved the worm odessey, I actually laughed out loud.

As to the pain issue... well... possibly due to my Cherokee heritage, I believe that just because we humans only understand things in relation to ourselves does not mean that other life forms (and even inanimate objects, but maybe I'm just weird) do not think, feel, and communicate. I also, however, believe that outside of humans, the rest of nature is pretty understanding about things like the food chain and the need for housing, clothing, and electronic devices.

I'm sure the scientific types are laughing at me now. But then, scientists and I have been defying each other for years har har har...

Back to the point, though, the worms seem to be of manageable size. The bait shop where I got them has even smaller ones, too (as well as imported Canadian nightcrawlers) (imported live worms, now I have heard of everything). So we're good.

BlueBerlin, I have somewhat the same feelings toward worms. While they may not actually feel the pain, I do feel bad for chopping them up. I usually cover my karmic butt by apologizing to the worms beforehand, and chalking it up to the food chain. I appreciate the worms for what they provide, and eventually will return the favor to them.

Kaysie said:

I usually cover my karmic butt by apologizing to the worms beforehand...

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haha

Indeed.

Anyway, that's what they get for being born worms. Maybe next go 'round they'll opt for something with teeth. Or even bones.

Most axolotls eat worms without trouble but one of my four always spits them out even if cut up small and starved for a week. It eats slugs and snails easily so if all else fails try crushed snails! I don't feel any need to apologize to slugs and snails, they don't apologize to me for the disappearing plants.

Earthworms Part Two

Part Two:

I'm still trying to avoid writing the "Am I the Worst Thing that Ever Happened to my Axolotls" text...

I have decided maybe worms don't agree with Axel. I tried to research this but the search funtion has a 4-letter minimum for keywords with rules out "leg" and "up". So I'm back. (Again. Sorry.)

Axel has started doing this funny thing with his back legs, holding them out like airplane wings. He still walks around alright with the front and even uses one or both of the back legs in doing so, but it seems like he might be favoring the left hind leg. This morning I thought it was cute but he's still doing it so maybe its a problem.

Pic attached. He was walking at the time so all 4 legs look like they're up in the air (ehmm, water) but it's the back ones I mean.

Combined with the new worm food, I was wondering, could the worm be twisted inside of his belly? Does Axel have to poopie? Have I killed my axolotl with a treat??

Thanks in advance for all this help.

-Eva

Pic

Duh, I forgot the picture.

Hi Blue

i found that when i first introduced worms to my Bubba, it took her a few feeds to work out what to do with them, and i had to get my other half to cut them in half for me.
but now she slurps whole ones down like spagetti.

i have a new little boy called bubba and he is just starting to eat worms, but to save myself and hubby having to cut them up i just brought smaller worms

he is now getting the hang of the little ones, and they are starting to get slurped up as well.

as to the pic. i cant see it very well, and one of the other people would be able to tell you more.

lolly

As for the legs: COMPLETELY NORMAL!!

Having just been introduced with worms, they'll spit them out and play with them, as they're a new texture. Mine do this with crickets (as they only get them on rare occasions). Worms are a great food, and if you continue to offer them, I'm guessing your axolotls will eat them more readily.

Thank you Lolly and Kaysie, very much.

I'm actually an avid fisher so I can certainly break a worm in half. Funny how the idea of cutting one into little pieces bothers me. I will try to relax and not worry so much. Maybe I shouldn't read quite so much here in the forum. (Yeah, right, you know I'll be back soon with another worry.)

Thanks again, to everyone, for all your help.

Mine sometimes spit out their worms and sometimes they don't, but they always end up eating them .