Frozen Blood Worms, or Phoenix Worms?

My juvies are 1.5-2" long... I'm currently feeding them solely blood worms as live food is near impossible to come by... However I recently found a reptile store that sells small Phoenix worms.

According to Caudata Culture Articles - Food Items for Captive Caudates frozen blood worms are "good" and phoenix worms are "excellent"... so I'm wondering, should I try and switch them? Or will phoenix worms be too big?

Thanks for your advice!

Could you chop the Phoenix worms into 'bite' size bits?

I probably could chop them (I hate the idea of cutting living things up though..), but if I did wouldn't they not really move, and therefore not be overly attractive to the axies without me making their food 'dance'?

I'm the same, apparently worms don't feel pain though.

I wiggle my worms like a thing possessed and my Axies bite every time. You look a bit loopy but it works a treat.

Hahaha! I don't mind looking loopy. I'm sure I do already to them - sometimes they make the begging face, however sometimes I'll tweezer feed them and they decided they wanted bloodworm "hats" instead! I think they're just very curious at times, coming up to the surface to stare at me like this ---> O____O

I wonder, are they truly better nutritionally? I guess I could raise some on BW and some on the PW and see if it makes a difference growth-wise!

tigmades said:

Hahaha! I don't mind looking loopy. I'm sure I do already to them - sometimes they make the begging face, however sometimes I'll tweezer feed them and they decided they wanted bloodworm "hats" instead! I think they're just very curious at times, coming up to the surface to stare at me like this ---> O____O

I wonder, are they truly better nutritionally? I guess I could raise some on BW and some on the PW and see if it makes a difference growth-wise!

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They could start a new trend with their novelty hats :grin:

You wouldn't need to chop Phoenix worms if you got the smallest size. I use their smallest size with young herps. I believe small sals really prefer the general shape of long worms, given my own's reactions to them, but Phoenix worms are pretty good nutrition.

I forgot to note that I can also buy butter worms (aka Tebo/Trevo worms), and it sounds like they're cheaper, keep better, and more likely to be in stock (store not open mon/tues so I can't find out yet). Have you tried those before, Elena?

Butter worms will be much too big for your larvae, and are a bit too fatty for a staple. They will be fine as treats when they get larger, though. I feed butterworms on rare occasions. They are usually a bit more expensive. If you decide on Phoenix worms, order from the bulk supplier reptiworms. They last a long time in the fridge, and the price for so many is significantly cheaper than a pet store.

esn said:

If you decide on Phoenix worms, order from the bulk supplier reptiworms. They last a long time in the fridge, and the price for so many is significantly cheaper than a pet store.

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Thanks for the tip! The website says they last 2-3 weeks if they're not in the fridge, which I think would be fine. Don't know how well my mother would take to having worms in the fridge!

I'm not sure if they ship to Canada, so I dropped them an e-mail

Thanks for the info on their too-fatty goodness! I imagine PW are also on the fatty side, but not as bad? They would likely only be staple until they can fit small night crawlers down the hatch

tigmades said:

Thanks for the tip! The website says they last 2-3 weeks if they're not in the fridge, which I think would be fine. Don't know how well my mother would take to having worms in the fridge!

I'm not sure if they ship to Canada, so I dropped them an e-mail

Thanks for the info on their too-fatty goodness! I imagine PW are also on the fatty side, but not as bad? They would likely only be staple until they can fit small night crawlers down the hatch

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I'm sure you'll find a supplier! They come in discreet white containers, so just put it in a paper bag and hide it in the back of the fridge! They can last up to a month at the right temps.

Pw are not that fatty. They are actually considered an appropriate staple food for reptiles. I don't think they're used overly much for salamanders, but definitely for frogs as well. I think they'd be the next best thing to bloodworms, but also note that some keepers have issues with maggots and bloating in newts. This may not apply to Phoenix worms, as they are a much different type of fly larvae, and are less of pus-bags as others. This happens at certain temps, though, and I believe only when it's a bit too cold. You might want to search for some topics on general maggot use. I don't think that they'll be a problem, but that is only in my experience, and I don't want to advise you wrongly.

Good to know, and thanks for the suggestion! On a side thought, I wonder how important calcium is to axolotls..... they don't need it to lay eggs like lizards do...