I dont know what to do

maxieandpatches

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My axolotls are too young i think for me to tell the sex and i have 2 of them in a 20 gall wise spread tank. They are leucistic and they seem to be nipping at eachother at feeding times they fight over the food even though i put plenty for two. One has a twisted arm still uses it when he/she needs to but most of the timebits twisted back and limp. And part of the gills are now missing on one side!!
 
What are you feeding them on?
 
A variety of things. Had them on meal worms at first then blood worm and brine shrimp and earth worms. Earth worth alive and the blood worms and brine shrimp frozen
 
Do you hand feed them or just kind of put it in a designated feeding area?
 
I like to kinda let them do their own thing to a point like ill separate their foods to where they are and they usually go to the same place at feeding time. But the floating food just ends up near eachother and then they nip. I try hand feeding the floaters but i end up being mistaken for food lol
 
I would hate to give you bad advise so stick around until someone can either back me up on this or tell you something different. I personally would separate them at feeding time.

You could do this by getting a large tupperware container and scooping one of them up and feeding it in the container then once it finishes do this to the other one.

I usually just hand feed mine earthworms so they don't have to wander around for the food and get into trouble.

Are they being really aggressive towards each other? Keep in mind axies don't have they best eye sight so they could just be gulping up the other axie's gill having mistaken it for food.

Also I'm sorry I have no experience with an injured axie leg so I'll be of no use there.
 
Removing them back and forth from Tupperware to tank every day or second day could be quite stressful. When I had 2 axolotls ( 1 big, 1 small) I used to thaw the bloodworms/ brine shrimp in a plastic clear cup full to the brim of tank water. I'd lay it on its side and kind of scoop the small one inside and press it against the glass so the bigger one could get in. I would then feed the bigger one close by so he could see the other one, snap at the plastic and not hurt him but kind of attempt to train him that the other one isn't food. I don't know if axolotls can be trained, but when the bigger one was still alive he never end up nipping the small one from then on.

Also being in a cup minimizes the clean up :). Or you could separate them until they grow out of it (juveniles can be quite aggressive and cannibal. I don't know how old your axies are but that's a possibility)
 
Hand feeding would be best - you can control when and where they eat and prevent the accidental chomping. Yes it takes a bit longer, but your axies will come to learn that your hand in the tank means dinner time.

I have also found that feeding them a little less but more often works for mine - if I feed them one worm each evey day the are less nippy than several worms every 2 or 3 days.

Separating them into tubs for feeding would be stressful for them and they may end up not eating.

The injured leg should heal on it's own,as long as it's not causing obvious distress leave it alone.
 
I like to kinda let them do their own thing to a point like ill separate their foods to where they are and they usually go to the same place at feeding time. But the floating food just ends up near eachother and then they nip. I try hand feeding the floaters but i end up being mistaken for food lol
 
You could make a divider. Thats what I did for my tank and it was less than 5 bucks. Nab an embroidery mesh or what ever you call it from walmart, and a pack of portfolios with the spines that just slide on. I also got a 6 pack of suction cups with hooks and bam, nice little divider to keep them from biting. Just make sure they can't swim above or below it. You could even only put it in during meal time.
 
I used a large glass plate with turned up edges, they all just sat on the edge of it and ate what was in front of them.
If your axies are over 5" they should just be on earthworms anyway, so you can just use reptile tweezers to drop a worm on their heads.
Feed the snappier one first to placate him then feed the less aggressive one.
 
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  • 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??
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  • 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
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  • stanleyc:
    @Thorninmyside, I Lauren chen
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