Question: Axolotl diets ; Worms

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oceangoddess106

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So i have 2 juvenile axolotls and today I decided I was going to try feeding then earthworms. My problem is the axies are only about 4inch / 10cm and the earthworm is some deal longer. Will they be able to eat these whole or should I be cutting them up? One other question, I also bought live full grown blood worms from a bait shop thinking these would make a nice treat but when I looked at them I noticed they have spined like barbs on them. Would these still be okay for them to eat because i spent about $12 on them for a dozen and thats not exactly cheap. If it will cause a problem I will just throw them out but if anyone has any information or experience that would be great :) Thank you for the time and I await for any input the community has to offer.
 
Hi Oceangoddess106,

Its ok to cut up your earthworms, try them on whole ones and if they appear to big or the axolotls keep spitting them out chop them up. The blood worms should be fine as they are but if you are worried just romeve the barbed ends and go from there.

Good Luck
 
I have several juvies at the moment and all love the chopped earthworms. I just cut them into manageable bite sized pieces with a sharp razor blade. They tend to still wriggle (and bleed!) and the axies love them :lick:

Ed
 
So I made a decision on the earthworms but now I have a new concern about the bloodworms. Quoted from Wikipedia "Bloodworms are carnivorous. They feed by extending a large proboscis that bears four hollow jaws. The jaws are connected to glands that supply poison which they use to kill their prey, and their bite is painful even to a human." can they harm my axolotls? I think I shouldnt put them in alive but if anyone has tried and know it wont hurt them I wouldnt double guess there advice. At the very least I would be able to cut them into chunk and feed them I think. Now I know I am being a nuisance but this is my first shot with axies and would feel bad if anything happened so I am just double checking with the good people here. Thanks so far :happy:
 
Hi Oceangoddess,

Are you sure you got live bloodworms? Are they blackworms? Bloodworms normally come frozen or gel form in blister packs.

I would think that the article refer to prey smaller than the bloodworm.

Cheers.
 
Live blood worms I got them from a bait shop while I was picking up the earthworms. These things are huge too so I am probably just going to cut them into peices considering my axies were having a hard time with the nightcrawlers. Still if anyone has experience with live blood worms it would be nice. I am wanting to get my axies used to finding live food just to help with hunting instincts.
 
From what I have seen the "blood worms" sold in a Bait Shop is a completely different species to that normally referred to in pet stores, aquarium shops, or on here.

Does the blood worms you bought look like the one in this link?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycera_(genus)
When I saw them I politely told the shop owner that they were not what I was after.

The frozen bloodworms that I buy are actually the larvae of midge flies (among other names) and most are under a centimetre long. There is a good photo of one here;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chironomidae

There is some good information on the Axolotl website about feeding your Axies.
http://www.axolotl.org/feeding.htm

In regards to the blood worms that you have, if they are all still there (you haven't used any) and still alive I would be inclined to take them back to the shop and politely explain that you were misinformed about the type of blood worms you require, they might be willing to give you a refund or store credit (that you could use on more earth worms ;) )
 
When I saw them I was quite suprised. Not having the chance to look at them to long I thought they would be a nice treat, then getting home and reading up on them I did get rather nervous about putting them in the tank. I intend on doing abit more research seeing they would hurt the axies. Worse case scenario it wont be that big of a deal considering I could always use them as fishing bait.

And just to clear everything up the worms I purchased are these:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycera
(click on the link including "genus" the link wont work pasting it normally)
 
These dont sound like live bloodworms to me, we can buy live bloodworms here in the uk and they definately dont have spines on them or anything that could harm an axie.

Claire
 
Im not sure if you would call them spines, I touched them myself and they are very soft so im not worried much about those hurting the axies. I am sure they are live bloodworms according to the baitshop and pictures I found all over the internet. The problem now is I have read that they are carnivorous and bite so that is my only concern now. I cut one up in peices and my axies seemed to love them.
 
Hi Oceangoddess,

Dalabrae gave very succint, concise and accurate information. The common name bloodworm is used to describe both the midge fly larvae as well as the genus glycera. Sometimes blackworms are also incorrectly called bloodworms.

The type of bloodworm recommended for axie (or more commonly referred to) is the midge fly larvae. The type of bloodworm you purchased though will still be nutritionally suitable for axies. You would have discovered that they are much larger than the midge fly larvae and would require some chopping up beforehand. There is no need to waste them, they can still be put to good use.

Cheers.
 
I personally feed my axie frozen blood worms which you can get from your pet shop. They come in bite size cubes which my axie likes very much.
 
We do the bloodworm cubes for the daily diet, I was looking for a treat for them more or less. As far as earthworms go should we keep those refrigerated or room tempurature? I kept them in the fridge for week because that where the bait shop pulled them from but now my worms are looking a little unhealthy.
 
I have been feeding mine either small earthworms from my wife's organic garden or frozen bloodworms when I am too lazy to go dig them up. They certainly love the live worms a lot more than anything else. I bought some of the soft pellets, but they don't go for them but that is probably because I am spoiling them with better options.
 
Hi Ocean Goddess,
To keep worms for any length of time I would say keep them in a lidded container with some dampened newspaper, I'm not sure about the fridge, mine are room temp. If you drop in some kitchen scraps now and again they'll fatten up a bit.

I keep a small wormery in the cabinet under my axie tank, it's filled with compost and I feed them on fish food flakes and the occasional chunk of cucumber. They seem quite happy, chunky and are breeding. If you want any more info about keeping worms, or where to get them online just PM me.
 
I have occasionally bought fishing bait shop bloodworms for my axies. I decapitated them, and my axies love them. I only give them as an emergency (if i can't find earthworms) as i understand they are dug out of the sand on the sea shore, and although i rinse them, , and I fear they may be a bit too salty as a staple.
 
oceangoddess106 said:
So I made a decision on the earthworms but now I have a new concern about the bloodworms. Quoted from Wikipedia "Bloodworms are carnivorous. They feed by extending a large proboscis that bears four hollow jaws. The jaws are connected to glands that supply poison which they use to kill their prey, and their bite is painful even to a human." can they harm my axolotls? I think I shouldnt put them in alive but if anyone has tried and know it wont hurt them I wouldnt double guess there advice. At the very least I would be able to cut them into chunk and feed them I think. Now I know I am being a nuisance but this is my first shot with axies and would feel bad if anything happened so I am just double checking with the good people here. Thanks so far :happy:
Click to expand...

the bloodworms you are referring to here are not the bloodworms we normally feed. those are the saltwater mudflats type normally used for fishing bate. the bloodworms we use in the hobby are actually not worms, but chironomid fly larvae from freshwater sources. they are detritus feeders.
 
Thank you johnny and I understand that my question originally was if it would be safe to feed them to the axies since I already purchased them.
 
I thought these glycera bloodworms could only be found in the mudflats in Maine? Which contributes to the high price. Either way, these surely arent the guys you are hearing everyone talk about feeding their axies as a staple. Those are the fly larvae. (im sure already said, butI didnt read the whole thread.)

Mark
 
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