Question: New over worrying axie daddy

Hey guys, what an awesome site this is! I wanted to find advice as i got my first little axolotl a few days ago, totally in love haha! she's called Chantico, named after the aztec god of home and volcanoes.All her tank is set up with a very slow filter, large gravel that she cannot eat, a couple of plants, rocks and hidey bits. i tested the water for all kinds of things and it seems spot on so far.

Basically i worry about her all the time i've never known anyone to have one , i think not many people in the UK own them yet, though they should cos theyre cute as hell. I was wondering whether someone could help me with the basics as there is noone else i can really ask.

-She potters about very slowly and unsure, and doesnt really swim, is this normal, i thought being young she'd be quite lively, not that i mind here being mellow, i just want to make sure this is all ok. i'd hate to be giving her too much or too little food, or causing her stress for whatever reason.

-I'm still figuring out how much food to give her, today she had a bloodworm cube, served half at a time, shes about 8cm nose to end of tail, i don't know how old this will make her. any advice on feeding routine and ammounts would be appreciated aswell.

Any advice and knowledge of theyre general day to day behaviour would be awesome,, so im not allways worried lol.
I will post a pic of the little cutey soon x

They are just like children, they don't really come with a plan on when and how much to eat.
If I'm not mistaken 8cm would be about 3 inches in my sizes. It would all depend on how fast that you want them to grow. You could feed 1 - 2 times per day. At what ever amount the axie will eat. Hope that helps.

Dont worry too much, pottering around is what they do. She will swim when she wants too, they are lazy creatures.

With the feeding, half a cube of blood worms is ok once a day if she is young. Try earworms too.
Have you read the axolotl site conected to this forum? that will have the majority of the information you need about feeding. I feed mine once a day and they seem to be ok with it.

Hope that helps,

Elsie.

Sounds like normal axolotl behaviour, Here are the links to the sites Elsie has mentioned Caudata Culture & the Axolotl site

Good Luck

ah thank you guys! i was on the forum last night and was helped by some lovely people, when i got up today she was full of beens running arround quite mad and i believe trying to threaten her own reflection lol! she seems slower when the lights are off, and much more playful when they are back on, i thought they weren't too keen on light , but from watching her she seems to like it? i think shes just settling into the new home and we're gonna have to get used to each other.
thnaks guys

Congratulations on your new lovely friend . What's very important is that you check her tank water regularly, especially ammonia and nitrite. If you don't have a testing kit at home, most aquarium stores will test it for you. Good luck!

Congratulations on you newest family member!
Firstly a down side though im afraid.
You say you have your axie on gravel, no GRAVEL is to big to be swallowed, you will be surprised just how accomodating an axies mouth can be. I really would advise you to either post a picture so as people can give you assurance on its size or remove it.
Gravel causes more problems in axies then anything else.
Most people tend to go for bare bottom tanks or playsand.
As for food, frozen bloodworm is fine whilst it is young but they do much prefer live foods.
Earth worms are far more nutritious and gives the axolotl something to hunt down.
Activity in the light does not neccessarily mean pleasure im afraid, they have no eyelids so are unable to close their eyes and alot of activity could therefore be a sign of stress.
As long as you make sure your tank has plenty of dark hidey holes so as your axie can hide if it chooses, it is ok to leave a light on, i would suggest you keep an eye on the tank temperature though as most lights heat the water.
I have put moonlight bulbs in mine as this not only reduces the glare of normal lights but also the heating up of the water.
Any way, i hope you thouroughly enjoy your new friend and if you get half as much pleasure out of it as i do mine you will be very happy indeed.