What kind of things do axolotls eat in the wild?

I think it would be cool to make a tank that imitates the natural environment of what was lake xochimilco and lake chalco. does anyone know what kinds of things lived in these lakes? plants and animals? And things that you could purchase in a store or online. I have been searching but i can't find anything about what lived in the lakes. so far i think mollys may be a possibility since i have found they are native to brackish water in mexico (sounds like xochimilco to me). i have also found a type of algae that was eaten by the aztecs as a delicacy.. spirulina algae which i found you can get online. any other tips and suggestions??

I'd think that wild axolotls would feed on common food items such as snails, crayfish and other aquatic invertebrates.I'm not sure about how one would set-up a community environment like this...I'd think that you would probably need a rather large tank.

If I were you, I'd try to stick to a naturalistic looking setup with strictly axolotls.

You have to take information into account that we don't have. Number of adult axolotls found per square foot of lake for one thing.

From what I see in my tanks - axolotls spent most of their time snuffling through the mud looking for worms, grubs and whatever else they could find. Occasionally snapping at a less than cautious minnow maybe, picking off the occasional snail when they ambled across one.

AND you have to remember that axolotls were victims of disease and larger or more lucky lake residents. I have no idea if crayfish lived in those lakes. I think more than likely they did/do. But crayfish can inflict wicked wounds. I THOUGHT I could keep a small 2 inch cray fish with a red ear slider - turtle with a hard shell, small weak crayfish? NOPE it cut the turtle in half.

BTDT - it didn't work and I won't try a "natural" setup again.

I do give my axolotls small snails I mean tiny - the size of an infants fingernail. Raised in a chemical free tank. I give them guppies to hunt down when/if they're bored raised by me.

I would like to give them the most natural setup possible but I don't want to take the chance of a tank mate killing one of these precious pets I've worked very diligently to raise up to their full beauty.

I think you would have as hard a time as an axolotl trying to obtain authentic food. The introduction of Asian Carp and African tilapia along with the draining of the lakes has meant that the is probably very little if any of the original food source left.

ianclick said:

I think you would have as hard a time as an axolotl trying to obtain authentic food. The introduction of Asian Carp and African tilapia along with the draining of the lakes has meant that the is probably very little if any of the original food source left.

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I'm not an expert on wild axolotls, but if they're anything like tiger salamander larvae, then the original food source was probably themselves. Tiger salamander larvae feed on invertabrates when they're very small, but after a certain point the fishless ponds have no more small aquatic insects for them to feed on so the big ones eat the little ones and grow even faster. Unless the lakes had some other type of small fish living in them, the wild axolotls almost definitely do the same thing. 1,000 eggs are laid, then 950 of them hatch, but only 30 might make it to adulthood, it's just natural selection. I could be totally wrong though, and if so please explain what other food source was sustaining the previously huge wild population.

You are what you eat

Don't really know about the all natural set up. That would be muddy. But once a week I put whiteworms and dirt in the feeding tub for the babies to hunt, it looks fun.
Also, I have a nonstop growth of snails in my 100gal. that have been there for a few years, a great snack !

what kind of snails suze??

Good to see you're doing your biotope homework mistari.

The mollies are more coastal and are found in rivers and cenotes. Spirulina is a blue-green algae that would really make your tank look horrible! Funnily enough the mollies really enjoy eating it but neither would make a good introduction.

I would echo the comments above and instead go for a naturalistic looking set up.