Feeding routine

Hi, my axie is about 14 cms long and a golden albino. I've only had her for about a week and she didn't eat for the first three/four days after a diet of guppies at the pet store. Now however, she seems to be hungry all the time. She is eating a mixture of compost worms and pellets each night, with the amount of pellets she wants increasing every night.

She started on 3 pellets and a worm, moving into 7 pellets and a worm last night. However, she is very hungry again this morning and was trying to eat the thermometer so I gave her another 4/5 pellets. She isn't extremeley skinny although I don't think it would hurt her to put on a bit of weight. So, what do you think my feeding schedule to consist of? Is it best to feed her all in one go or spread it out through the day, and how much should I feed her in each sitting?

Hi Bex,

Firstly congratulations on your new pet and your ideal choice of food types. I am glad you did some research beforehand. Pellets and worms are definitely suitable as staples.

Your axie is about 6 inches so i would say its a young adult. It certainly does not require daily feeding. You can actually start feeding on alternate days. I only feed my axolotls once during their feeding day. Each feeding session is about 15min, whereby thereafter i remove all uneaten food. I also try to feed my axies during the evening (or dawn if you prefer) as they are crepuscular and tend to be most active at these hours.

Pellets are nutritionally dense. Despite their tiny compacted appearance, they contain a lot of calories. i would restrict pellets to not more than 5 per feeding session.

I think the axie attempting to eat the thermometer is purely coincidental. Being opportunistic 'cup mouths', they will try to eat anything yummy looking in their way.

You can also offer occasional small treats of your choice - shrimp, fish as well.

Cheers.

Oh okay, thanks so much. I was curious about her age because the store said she was only a few months but I thought she would have been a lot smaller if that were true.

So feed her every second day with 5 pellets and just one worm? Or more than one worm? And yes I have been feeding mostly at night although she can be pretty active in the day as well. She is only eating with the assistance of forceps at the moment so I can't unfortunately I can't leave her for 15 minutes and then retrieve the uneaten food, I have to assist her myself or she won't eat it.

Thanks!

Hi Bex,

The average axolotl will eat as much as it can as often as it can. I agree with Raysons suggestions about diet an frequency of feeding.

Good Luck

So how many worms do you suggest per feeding? If they are compost worms approx. 5-8 cms long?

I am not sure what others say but I would suggest feeding compost worms 5-8 cm long every 2-3 days and about 2-4 worms each session. :frog:

Just see what she eats in about 10-15 minutes and don't give her anything more. :supercool:


OVER feeding is much more of a problem then underfeeding.