How frequently should I feed my Axolotls?

I feel a little embarrassed in having to ask, but I have two juvenile axolotls, and I'm not sure how frequently to feed them. I've read that adults should be fed 2-3 times a week, and that larvae should be fed daily, but I'm concerned about the in-between. My lotls are about 2.5" in length, with all limbs developed.
Upon first receiving them (Tuesday) I gave them soft sinking pellets, which were pretty well recieved. I'm wondering when I should introduce their next meal?

Also, does anyone have any tips for keeping the water well chilled that won't stress them out? It hasn't been an issue so far, but I'd like to know, just in case.

Thanks.

Hi!

First off, never be embarrassed asking a question...you're among friends and we all want the best for each other's pets.

You have 2 little cuties - I miss this size, too cute and active! Anyway, I degress. At this size, daily feedings are the norm. You can keep up with daily feedings until they get about 6" or a little over. Until they get that size, it's best to keep them well fed because they tend to be nippy and some accidental amputations can occur.

Frozen bloodworms will probably be well-received at this size as well. With pellets and the frozen bloodworms, a good rule is to remove whatever they haven't eaten after about 20 minutes. This will help prevent fouling your water. You can even try some chopped nightcrawlers at this size too. A little messy I know, but those are really good for them. May take them a bit to catch on to those though. Also, you may find it necessary to soak your worms before offering them to remove excess dirt and slime.

Your tank should have plenty of hides and physical barriers too. What are you using for substrate? Hopefully sand or even a bare bottom.

Waterflow can stress them out, but if the cooling method is done correctly, you should be fine. If your tank has a hood, replace it with a screen (homemade or bought). A regular fan blowing across the surface will help too. The agitation encourages evaporation which aids in lowering the temp. A small airstone can help with the evaporation too - just keep it turned down at first and adjust it as they get used to it. Some axies love the full effect, some don't.

If you have any other questions or concerns, just ask away.

Thank you very much. I have a fine sand substrate, and two low-flow filters in the tank currently (one on each side of the tank divider)
I'm well stocked on bloodworms, - a favorite food for some of my fish - and plan to get some blackworms later on. I'll look into nightcrawlers next time I'm re-stocking on pet supplies.

Oh, also... As the pellets go, I read on Axolotl.org that they receive soft salmon pellets well... I couldn't find those at my local pet store, so instead I grabbed the closest thing I could find - soft sinking community pellets. They're small and high in protein. mostly shrimp and krill and such. My axies ate them - but then, they're a species known to eat gravel as well - so I'm don't assume it's the best source. My leucistic seems to like them moreso than my white albino.
I'm making a short story long here - do you know of a good source to buy axolotl pellets that isn't terribly pricey?? A lot of the sources I found online have been in the UK, and shipping's pretty expensive for the US. I couldn't find them at my local pet stores, since they're not a common pet.

There is a breeder/member here who sells them or you can get them from edsflymeat.com which is where I get mine from. Zoo Med newt pellets are basically the same, but are very small. You can get this size and the larger size from the website I gave you.

Be careful with the divider, I had a bad experience with one slipping and injuring once of my babies.

dragonlady said:

Waterflow can stress them out, but if the cooling method is done correctly, you should be fine. If your tank has a hood, replace it with a screen (homemade or bought). A regular fan blowing across the surface will help too. The agitation encourages evaporation which aids in lowering the temp. A small airstone can help with the evaporation too - just keep it turned down at first and adjust it as they get used to it. Some axies love the full effect, some don't.

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Shannon, I'm a bit confused. Of course I know that waterflow can stress them, but you're suggesting that a "cooling method" can decrease waterflow? You're saying that a fan blowing across the surface of the water will encourage evaporation and lower the temperature, but I don't see what that has to do with waterflow.

You also mentioned a screen, and of course I can see how that would decrease waterflow, but I used to have a wire mesh terrarium cover on my tank, and it became super rusty and gross. I threw it away. That was before I changed to my waterfall filter (Penguin Biowheel 150), and I am SUPER happy with my new filter! Remember my problem with yellow water? GONE!! My tanks are all crystal clear now. I was concerned about this filter causing too much waterflow, but I found that if I increase the water level in the tank to JUST where the water flows out of the filter, then the water pressure into the tank is greatly softened. Furthermore, a higher water level eliminates that noise that sounds like someone's "using the facilities", and when you have four tanks in your house, it's important to keep that creepy noise to a minimum!

Changing over to the Penguin Biowheel filters caused a new issue, though- I needed a glass aquarium cover. Am I the only person who is unable to find such a thing at ANY aquarium store, Petco, or eBay?? All I could find were wire mesh terrarium covers, and those don't fit when you have an external filter hanging on the side of your tank. I finally went to the hardware store and had them cut glass for me in the correct size, and it's working well, but my only concern now is that the glass is not tempered (it's window glass), so I'm worried that it may break if one of my cats decides to jump on top of the tank. All in all, though, I have a much better setup now, and much cleaner water!

Velaria said:

Shannon, I'm a bit confused. Of course I know that waterflow can stress them, but you're suggesting that a "cooling method" can decrease waterflow? You're saying that a fan blowing across the surface of the water will encourage evaporation and lower the temperature, but I don't see what that has to do with waterflow.

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Thanks Velaria! I had two thoughts going at once and yes, I confused myself when I went back and read it over again!

I was trying to say that waterflow can stress them out - too fast, it's a bother to most axolotls. The other part was an attempt to address the concern about cooling methods stressing axies out. The two should not have been in the same sentence! Sorry to anyone else that may have confused!

The screen I mentioned was referring to a screened top - I keep my tops completely open but some others may live in households where this won't work.

As far as blocking the outflow (waterfall), many methods are used. Your method of having the tank completely full of course cuts down on the noise but if you are using, say a 20/30 gallon long or 40 gallon breeder with the lower sides, the force of the waterfall could still interfere with the inhabitants. You and I use 55s (unless you switched up on me ) where the depth is a bit more substantial. However, I don't keep my 55s completely full (about 3/4) because I am a shortie (5'3") and I am not fond of getting my arm wet completely to the shoulder to do tank maintenance!

I use artificial reptile vines to disperse the water flow and those work great for me! Others have used legos, blocks of wood, or even a soda bottle with the ends cut off and one side slit so that it can be fitted over the waterfall (jclee method).

I know exactly what you mean about the noise - I currently have 3 axolotl tanks in my LR and about to set up a 4th for Andersoni! lol

So glad to hear about your yellow water getting resolved! As far as the glass, I recall seeing that at PetsMart. You could try to get a piece of plexiglass cut that may be a bit stronger or tempered glass.

Of course, you could just take my personal recommendation...get rid of the cats!! :crazy:

Hi, so I’m very new to axolotls. I just wanted to know how often to feed my 2. One is around 4cm the other about 6cm. They’re currently on a mixture of blood worms and small earth worms, I’m feeding them everyday, switching between the two, is it time that I should start to give them just small earth worms? Thank you.