Newby food queries...

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bobe70

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Hi all,

I have set up my tank and am going to collect my first 2 axolotl next week... very excited!

I have read up on axolotl but there seems to be a lot of contrasting opinions so i thought I best ask...

What do they like to eat?

And how much should I give 2 young axolotl (about 3-4in long)?

Thanks!
 
Your best bet for Axolotls is earthworms, chopped so they can easily eat them. Some people have several diffrent foods for their Axolotl, such as shrimp, fish, axolotl pellets, etc. So its really up to you what you use, as long as you've verified its ok.
 
The best food for an axolotl is a variety of foods. Earthworms are considered the most nutritious by far, but other things should be offered now and then.

This article details different kinds of worms:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/worms.shtml

And this article details various other foods:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods.shtml

And this article offers a nutritional chart for some foods:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods2.shtml

At their size, your axolotls should be fed at least once daily. Feed them as much as they will eat in, say, an hour.

Good luck and welcome to the addictive world of axolotls!

-Eva
 
I read one of the lists for alternative foods for captive caudates but I didn't see snails listed? I collect these tiny snails from my local petshops' plant aquarium (no medicines are ever used in those tanks). They stay smaller than an adults close clipped pinky nail.

I toss in some baby guppies I raise in my turtle tank for the axies to hunt. They're to small to hurt the axies if they decide to nibble but I haven't seen any try it. And they're small enough to eat the offspring of the snails I put in that manage to live long enough to breed.

But what nutritional value do they have? Does any one know? I try to feed a variety of foods. Everything from shrimp pellets, salmon pellets, occasional snips of beef heart & chicken kidney to the aforementioned guppies and snails for my axolotls.

Sharon
 
I think mine enjoy any thing that moves, they are a bit unsure on the un-moving things. If the fodd is not live it can still move though, if I feed them blood worms I just crank up the water flow a bit and the worms just float around the tank. As for ease of use i would probally chose blood worms or those Axolotl pellets (but some people can't get their fish to eat it.)
Just give them a variety and they will love you
:love:
 
I would suggest a bit of raw meat as well, mine go nuts for ox heart and steak but what ever you do dont feed them mince! it goes straight through them and is very fatty. Just dangle a bit of heat or something in front of thier noses :) you can cut it into little cubes or strips, just big enough for them to swallow. they will love you for it lol.:wacko:
 
Some great ideas here, thanks!

May I also ask how I should feed my axies?

Should I just drop the food in the tank or physically hold the food in front of the axies faces?
 
Depends on what you are feeding. I tend to just drop in live food like worms, Daphnia, mosquito larvae, and guppies. I use a feeding tweezers or my hands to feed pellets. For small, messy foods (tubifex, thawed frozen foods), I use a jar - put food in jar and jar slowly onto tank floor.

I used to handfeed beaue I thought it was cute at first how they would eat from my hand, but they quickly became fixated on my hand and would rush after me, trying to sniff and suck on my hand as I was trying to do other things in the tank. Now I use the tweezers. :rolleyes:

-Eva
 
I feed mine mainly on earthworms but he also enjoys the odd maggot, slug, meal worm, prawn and strips of meat. I tries him on pellets but he tends to just spit them out. I've also filled an ice cream tub with soil and keep a supply of worms, so there's always a good source. I'd say earthworms are most nutritional but I couldn't eat the same fruit everyday so a treat every now and then goes down well. just make sure the food comes from a safe source free of chemicals.
 
When it comes to feeding I tend to hold the food at the surface either in my hand or using tweezers, as I've found he isn't the greatest hunter in the world. He has even had worms land on his head but he hasn't had a clue.
Quite often though if I've dropped food and its close to the glass if i move down to in line with the food he'll follow me and find it. :crazy:
 
@Jax: I have two sizes of pellets and have noted that if they spit it out, they are just having trouble with the pellet size. Give them time (and the pellet time to be softened by the water) and they will eat them fine.

And then: I also have a juvenile who will let the worm roll down his nose and then sniff it for a good full three minutes before deciding to look elsewhere. For whatever reason, he just doesn't like worms.

-Eva
 
The only time I hand feed my axolotls is when I"m introducing them to a new food. After that I just toss it in the tank - hopefully near their heads - they sniff it out and eat it. The next day I use the turkey baster to siphon off anything not eaten.

Sharon
 
Another food related question if i may....

I have just read that food should be dusted with vitamins before given to the Axolotl, is that normal?

If so, what should i buy and where from?
 
bobe70 said:
Another food related question if i may....

I have just read that food should be dusted with vitamins before given to the Axolotl, is that normal?

If so, what should i buy and where from?
Click to expand...

Not all food. Only calcium deficient foods such as crickets are dusted with vitamins if these foods are to be used as primary staple diet.
 
You can't dust a food and feed it to an axolotl. The dust washes off in the water. It's better to gut-load crickets rather than dust them.
 
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