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When to cut back on feeding babies?

Kristen0888

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I have babies that are about 3 weeks old with their front legs and toes in, I feed them twice a day with a mid-day treat up a tiny piece of blood worm for the ones that will take it every other day. When do I start feeding them only once a day? I want to be sure they are getting the food they need and I'm not over feeding them. Thank you! :)
 

spyder

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I've had to cut mine back to 1 feed a day from around 10 days old due to work shifts.

Although it's not everyday and they seem to be fine. 3 weeks old front buds but no toes as yet. :D
 

Alkylhalide

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I just started once a day a few days ago. mine are 34days old. Im just getting exhausted at this point with all the water changes i need to do that i cant physically feed them twice a day anymore!
I was always paranoid that they would all starve to death within 12hours if i didnt feed them before school but really they definately would of been okay! Ive seen people on the forums only feed them once a day from the beginning. Mind you they grow a lot slower. At 62F that my babies are in i account their fast growth to feeding them so much.

Does anybody know if its okay to stack the tubs that the babies are in? I had no choice but to put them in individual containers tonight the cannabilising was way bad! But space is an issue so i have them all stacked together. Will they suffocate? Ill be doing 100%water changes daily still.

Does anybody have any tips of the quickest/best way to feed/ do water changes with 30individual tubs? I dont have enough hours in the day to do everything so if anybody has tips on what worked the best for you please share!

My thought was every night putting 15per big tub and feeding them, while doing that rinsing out their small tubs and filling them again? Does this seem like a decent plan? Any other suggestions? In just afraid of the possible cannabilism i those 15-20min they are together.
 

tigmades

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How big are your hatchlings size-wise (smallest, largest?)? I raised 30 together, then divided them up as they got bigger. I tried individual containers but I didn't like it because of the lack of swim space. I had 0 injuries. Doesn't mean yours will do the same - if they're similar in size and picking on each other then you may not have much choice. They could also be doing this because they're not being fed enough - I always left food in my containers, removing it and replacing with fresh stuff.

Alternatively, if you see who's doing the cannibalism, you could remove them and keep them individually, as I've read others have done successfully.

You could also spread them out more - say ten 1.5" axolotls per 12"x9" container? If you are interested in trying to split them into groups, I can give you more suggestions.

When I did use the solo container method, this is what I did: filled bucket, let water sit out for 24h, add dechlorinator. I had twice the number of containers than axolotls. I would take fresh containers, scoop water into them, set them on the table then pour the dirty water with axolotl in it through a net and into a larger container (I used this for group water changes, but still it works well). I then would take the net, flip it inside out and gently nudge the axolotl out of the net, without putting it in water. I did this because if food got caught in the net, it wouldn't join the axolotl in the clean water. Give a quick rub down of the now empty containers with fingers using dirty water, then dump the dirty water.
 

Alkylhalide

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Yes i had 7 of my big ones and 10 smaller ones in each 12x9 container plus a few that werenin smaller containers at 2 each. Ive been notising small injuries like toes missing and the tip ofgills going so i would just thin them out more and more and in 6hours i noticed there i a huge chunk of tail missing from one. I just cant have these injuries! I had no choice. As far as im concern i feed them until their bellies are nice and full. I also heard keeping them in the dark helps as well. Nothing. I would love to keep them in 9x12 containers

They are about 1"-1.5" i think i have a couple that are pushing 2" now. The problem is only from them ones who have their back legs(toes and stuff) in. I guess i over did it i didnt need to seperate my smaller ones, yet anyways. I will see how i can handle all these babies in seperate containers! Maybe i will only keep the big ones seperated. However i hate coming home to seeing injuries :(
I feed them once a day. Maybe i should just keep a few pieces of bloodworms in their containers just in case they get hungry? I found it fouls their water fast(i do it with my juvies though and their fine) i just dont have the energy to feed twice daily anymore!

Thank you. I will keep them seperate and see how itfoes first. And see how i can tolerate it haha!
 
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