Axies: Am I in over my head? (Food Questions)

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OKori

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All those many years ago as I child when I spotted my first "mud puppy" in a dirty petstore aquarium I told myself that one day I'd have one of my own.

Well, thanks to Jay (an excellent Axie seller here!), I've got three little beauties on their way. And I thought "Hey, I've had fancy goldfish in the past, this'll be a piece of cake."

...That was until I REALLY started to look around at the "diet" of Axolotls. So, to get to the point, I've spent hours searching through forums about axolotls, some people swear by live food, some by trout pellets, some both. Since there are plently of members here who raise axolotls, I figured I'd ask the pros ;)

The axies will be juvies (2-2.5 inches). From what I gather they can live off pellets (Trout pellets from Rangen seem to be popular) for awhile, but live food is preferred. Guppies or Mollies seem like the popular fish for mass breeding and feeding, and something I could easily handle myself.

So what I'm REALLY trying to ask is, what foods do YOU suggest using???
 
Earthworms. Everyone else can be used occasionally (bloodworms, pellets, very rarely feeder fish). But the bulk of the diet should be live earthworms.
 
I'd suggest feeding your juives bloodworms until they're big enough to handle chopped earthworms. I can buy a container of 20 canadian nightcrawlers at walmart for like 2.50 and they last me a while. At the moment I'm feeding one worm to both axies, so 2.50 lasts me about 20 days for food. Bloodworms are pretty cheap for how long they last. Earthworms are the ideal diet for axies, and if you have a walmart or a baitshop nearby it's really not that hard to feed them the appropriate live food.
 
Shizeric said:
or a pesticide/fertilizer free garden!
Click to expand...

Definitely!

And, another vote for yummy earthworms!

Like Carson said, I fed mine bloodworms (which seem to come in both mini and large sizes for as they get a bit bigger) until they were big enough to wrestle an earthworm.

They are pretty easy to please, food-wise. Easier than my boyfriend anyway. I tried him on worms but he just moaned til I made pizza. Tried putting worms ON the pizza and he didn't like that either. Sheesh.
 
Plus, if you're thinking of breeding your own food for them, you can do that with earthworms too! :D
I get mine from eBay if I need a top up - they're just in an old, cleaned out popcorn tub (which is like a mini bucket with lid + holes drilled into the lid), the soil they arrived in + some coco substrate, since I already have that for my GAL snail.
I chuck a bit of fruit waste in every so often (usually when the previous bit has nearly all gone, which I can tell when I root around with a pair of plastic tweezers trying to catch the wrigglers) + they're breeding quite happily in there ;)
 
At 2-2.5 inches they should be able to eat earthworms, if the worms are too big cut them up.
It might be worth asking Jay what he has been feeding them , if they have been eating pellets it might be worth trying them first, then introduce the worms.
 
You're not in over your head. I stick with earthworms, myself. I keep pellets on hand for the occasional times I'm out of worms. Mine take both happily. (Worms, more happily though):p
 
Wow :eek:

I'm completely suprised by how QUICKLY everyone responded! Thank you for the feed back, and I'm glad that the solution is so simple~!!! The babies have yet to arrive, they'll be housed in a 5 gallon until I've got my 20 long planted and situated the way I want, then I'm moving onto the 55 gallon and going back to goldfish :rofl: aaaah, such is life. Well if anyone can think of any useful tips or general info about axies from your day to day hobbist experience i'd appreciate the insight! <3
 
we get our worms from wal mart too,(3.25 a dozen) but make sure to open them up and see that they are alive and wiggly. there have been a few times that I've checked and they were dead, or had mold growing, not just at walmart but also from the pet store.
 
Canadian Red worms keep better (and at room temperature) than night crawlers. I think my axies like them better than red wigglers. I know I prefer them because they're bigger than red wigglers and, so, are a better value. I also feed my axies pelleted food occasionally - especially when I need to leave them for more than two days without food.
 
When I got my babies in the mail I fed them frozen bloodworms they took this right away, I later started them on chopped earthworms and freezdried tubifex(I use this as a backup food if I run out, they loe it as a daily treat tho.) I have found that they do the best on earthwoms, and they are also easy to keep and not a messy choice. I got my babies from jay about 2.5 months ago and they were 2 inches when I got them, they are now 4.5 inches so Im sure they are doing well with the diet I have them on. Good luck! :D
 
Very excited! Jay is shipping them out either today or tomorrow, and I have the following day off :D. Attempting to explain to the girlfriend that axies dont live "peacefully" with other fish, so yes, I DO need that 55 gallon for my goldfish, ha ha.

Also, still trying to explain the worm thing to her, but I'm pretty sure I lost that fight and they're going outside... I dont see what's wrong with having worms in the fridge next to the eggs and milk, but she wont have it.:rolleyes:

Once again, thanks for all the great feedback! I think it'll be a little while before I start feeding these guys anything more than pellets, but it's good to know what I'm in for! Thanks all!
 
I've always had worms in my fridge, even growing up. Tell her it's okay, they don't eat much.

PS: Axolotls aren't fish, so they can't live with 'other' fish. So yes, you DO need a new tank. I mean, what's one more tank?
 
Ha ha I think it's more of the fact she's a girl and they're "icky worms" in HER fridge. I'm letting it slide because I'm getting my 55 tomorrow :D Yes, she was finally convinced that axies are NOT fish and do not get along with other fish, so there's a 20 tall in my living room now, and despite her not wanting it, she likes how it looks now that it's set up. Lol, women.

Axies just got shipped out today, so I'm hoping they make it here by tomorrow or thursday so i can fuss with it all. Expect lots of questions from the new kid!
 
How exciting!

You know that as a member of the forum, you're required to post pictures of all new pets you get, right? hehehe
 
Kaysie said:
How exciting!

You know that as a member of the forum, you're required to post pictures of all new pets you get, right? hehehe
Click to expand...

Yep! Thems the rules!

Re: worms, I challenge anyone not to fall in love with axolotls, and when that happens, worms in the fridge is quite irrelevant!

Tbh, thinking about some of the stuff I suspect is lurking at the back of MY fridge since I last cleaned it is far more alarming than a tub of worms.
 
:D:D:D

All FOUR of the axies arrived yesterday as I was heading out to pick up the 55g. Only ordered 3, but Jay threw in a second leustic in addition to the one I ordered and the two wild types. All four are doing REALLY well, have them seperated by color in small tupperware containers--I've read too many horror stories about wild types attacking all other colorations at this young stage-- and the tupperware is in a 5g tank with just enough water to cover the top and a bubbler.

Planning on leaving them in there until they put on a bit more size, and when they're a bit bigger there's a 30g ready and waiting for them.

Any advice for the new kid about...well anything at all??
 
I second that! They don't stay little for long.
 
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