New axolotl owner with questions!

kaikoga

New member
Joined
Oct 29, 2012
Messages
19
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Louisville, KY
Country
United States
Hey all, first off I'd like to say I love this forum! I've been going to it and reading threads for weeks and learning lots of useful information, so I decided to finally make an account. I've had my axolotls for a little over 2 weeks now, and they are just wonderful little creatures. Things have been going well for them but I have a few questions about their care.

My first question is about feeding. My axies are juveniles, about 5 to 5.5 inches in length. I have been feeding them frozen bloodworm cubes, 2 in the morning and 2 later in the day. I put one cube on the left side of the tank and one cube on the right side. However, my leucistic, Hydra, is a little vacuum cleaner and gulps up all of his food before my wild type, Water Bear, even notices his cube. Today I saw Hydra wander over to Water Bear's cube and begin to eat it before Water Bear had even gone near it! How do I ensure that both of my axolotls receive a proper amount of food? And why does Water Bear take so long to start eating (it usually takes about an hour)?

My second question is about cleaning. I recently moved them into a new tank which is 2 ft and 20 gal, with cut tiles secured on the bottom. There are lots of tank ornaments and hides for them to interact with, but this makes cleaning the bottom of the tank difficult. What is the best way to clean up excrement and stray bloodworms from the tank floor? Should I find a gravel vacuum even though there's not gravel? Or should I try to maneuver around with a net?

All in all Hydra and Water Bear seem to be doing well, but you help with these questions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
Bumping because I have another question, I'd heard that bloodworms are the predominant diet for juvenile axolotls, but now I've read that feeding your juveniles only bloodworms can be harmful to their growth. I want to buy earthworms for my axies as soon as I can, so I'd like to know where the safest place is to purchase worms. Are worms from bait stores OK? What are some good sites located in the US that ship earthworms?
 
To keep Hydra from stealing Water-Bear's food, you can feed them earthworms by hand or move Water-Bear into a separate container for feeding.

As for the cleaning, many on this forum would suggest a turkey baster. I use a siphon vacuum.

Worms from a bait shop should be fine. Just make sure they look healthy. I would suggest making a worm farm so that you won't have to go shopping for food.

I must apologize for the wait on these answers, however if you have questions like this in the future, please use the search function at the top of the page. You most likely would have found your answers there.

Lastly, welcome to the forum. :D
 
I have 2 x 4.5 inch axies and I feed them one earthworm each every other day or a cube of frozen bloodworms between them occasionally. They don't get fed every day. I'm not sure if that is right but it is what I was advised when I got them. I feed my fish every 3 days too.

One of my axies is as thick as ..... so I feed the faster one first (with tweezers) and the thick one second while the first one is chomping a worm to keep it busy.
 
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
  • Shane douglas:
    with axolotls would I basically have to keep buying and buying new axolotls to prevent inbred breeding which costs a lot of money??
    +1
    Unlike
  • Thorninmyside:
    Not necessarily but if you’re wanting to continue to grow your breeding capacity then yes. Breeding axolotls isn’t a cheap hobby nor is it a get rich quick scheme. It costs a lot of money and time and deditcation
    +1
    Unlike
  • stanleyc:
    @Thorninmyside, I Lauren chen
    +1
    Unlike
  • Clareclare:
    Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus Japanese . I'm raising them and have abandoned the terrarium at about 5 months old and switched to the aquatic setups you describe. I'm wondering if I could do this as soon as they morph?
    +1
    Unlike
    Clareclare: Would Chinese fire belly newts be more or less inclined towards an aquatic eft set up versus... +1
    Back
    Top