How often should i feed my Axolotl?

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Walkebra000

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I am wondering how often i should feed my axolotl he is 4.5 inches. I bought 20 small feeder fish 2 days ago at the pet store... there are only 11 left and he looks fat haha.

I am looking for some input thanks
 
Every other day. I used to buy 10-15 feeder fish for my axolotl about twice a week then one of them gave him a fungal infection. He spent over a month in the fridge with salt baths twice daily. It was a REAL pain! I stick to nightcrawlers and trout worms now. Every so often I catch maybe 2-3 minnows for him from my local creek. I don't think they ever get "full". They'll eat then eat some more. Just pace yourself with feeding it and you should be fine.
 
I feed my 5 inch 2 3mm pellets twice a day. He has never been sick and is a healthy weight. Usually he won't eat more than 2 pellets unless I am just feeding once a day, he will eat 3. Because I don't want him to get thin, I try to feed twice a day so he eats more.
 
Feeder fish aren't really the best food for them. I'd switch to earthworms - much less risk to the Axie. Smaller axies eat an earthworm every day but adults eat around every other day.
 
Kaini is absolutely right - worms are best, fish should be an occasional treat.

Until fully grown axies should be fed every day, then you can cut back to every other day.
 
Axie food 101:
WORMS! Lots of worms, worms should be the staple food of any axie's diet.
Occasional (once a week at most) treats can include:
Live fish - guppies, minnows
Live shrimp - cherry shrimp, river shrimp
Pieces of raw white fish or shellfish - prawns, scallops, cod, salmon etc. (soak to remove some salt)
Live maggots & insect larvae: waxworms, blowfly maggots, mealworms (only for larger axies)

Pellets may be suitable if the formulation is specific for axies, or a good quality carnivourous fish pellet.

Unsuitable foods: mammalian meat, salty or smoked fish, algae pellets, fish flakes, cat/dog food, vegetables.
 
So they can eat fish and shrimp (sometimes)? What are the risks of that kind of live food? Like spines, toxins, shells, etc... Are there certain species that are bad news?
 
You need to quarantine any live fish or shrimp and monitor them for any signs of ill health for a month before feeding to axies. Breeding your own is the safest - I have a tank with guppies and cherry shrimp to feed to my axies.

Guppies and minnows are considerd to be the best fish, river and cherry shrimp are used a lot but only because they are easy to come by and breed fairly easily. Fish with spines shoudl be avoided.

I have found that excessive shrimp consumption can cause a problem as exoskeletons are hard to digest. Hence the 'once in a while' rule.
 
Do they need to eat "more" worm in order to get the required nutrients? My axolotl seems full after just a couple pellets, obviously a worm is much larger than that. In other words, do they need to eat more or less depending on the diet?
 
Pellets are dry and expand in an axies stomach, as with a lot of dried food, meaning they eat less. I would say feed your axie every day if its only taking 2 pellets at a time.

If you feed an axie the 'wrong' kind of food it will end up with deficiency issues. E.g. if you feed your axie nothing but maggots you will end up with an axie who is very fat and deficient in calcium.

Worms are nutritionally the best food: why earthworms and nutritional values
 
my 7 inch axolotls eat about 3-4 two to 4 inch worms a day they swim tothe tank and ring the bell. so they get fed and they eat. nothing wasted in their tank. my little guy 4 inch will eat two daily i skipped a day and they ate even more so hate to get th tum upset so i am a daily feeder.
 
newtlady said:
my 7 inch axolotls eat about 3-4 two to 4 inch worms a day they swim tothe tank and ring the bell. so they get fed and they eat. nothing wasted in their tank. my little guy 4 inch will eat two daily i skipped a day and they ate even more so hate to get th tum upset so i am a daily feeder.
Click to expand...

Aww, they have a bell to ring? How cute! :)
 
newtlady said:
my 7 inch axolotls eat about 3-4 two to 4 inch worms a day they swim tothe tank and ring the bell. so they get fed and they eat. nothing wasted in their tank. my little guy 4 inch will eat two daily i skipped a day and they ate even more so hate to get th tum upset so i am a daily feeder.
Click to expand...

Ohmigosh, please give us a video! That is so cute.
 
auntiejude said:
You need to quarantine any live fish or shrimp and monitor them for any signs of ill health for a month before feeding to axies. Breeding your own is the safest - I have a tank with guppies and cherry shrimp to feed to my axies.

Guppies and minnows are considerd to be the best fish, river and cherry shrimp are used a lot but only because they are easy to come by and breed fairly easily. Fish with spines shoudl be avoided.

I have found that excessive shrimp consumption can cause a problem as exoskeletons are hard to digest. Hence the 'once in a while' rule.
Click to expand...

How many guppies and cherry shrimp do you have in the feeder tank? What care do they need and how often/many do you feed to the axolotls?
I'd love to setup a feeder tank in the future.
 
We started with half a dozen guppies and a dozen cherry shrimp (and a few snails), now we have lots and lots of both after 8 months. It's just a standard tropical fish tank setup.

We feed one or 2 at a time, they have to be temperature adjusted to the colder water first.
 
Ok so this is where my lack of research creates a huge problem. I never realised I needed to feed my new axie live food, even worms. Had I known that, I may have reconsidered. It's all too similar to the live mice shivering in terror in the corner of the snake enclosure at the zoo - horrified me as a child.
So now, I find I really should be feeding my albino axie Boris on earthworms, which are in plentiful supply in the garden (my mum actually has a worm farm seven minutes away). This is not going to be easy.
BTW, Boris does not seem to be particularly into grabbing wriggly things - he tends to wait until his food lands on his head and then suctions it up from his 'feeding corner', where he waits patiently, balancing gracefully in various alert and eager poses, until someone dutifully inserts a frozen bloodworm pellet into his tank. Totally ADORABLE.
I will try to post a pic of my beautiful Boris, but am of a generation where I tend to live in a state of techno-terror much of the time and found even making my first post here an intimidating process. I am sure I will master the photo thing soon enough (though will have to borrow a friend's phone to do so - my own mobile is so ancient it is probably an antique too). I know. It's sad. But at least I try.
 
I just started feeding my axie worms, i did some garden work and dug up plenty of small little.worms for him to munch on. He gets feed once a day usually two of the little worms a day. He is about 4 inches long. I can't wait until he is bigger and can eat a huge night crawler.
 
Just tossing in my 2 cents worth here, that while your axie is still actively growing, I would not worry too much about over feeding unless they are obviously getting fat and/or leaving food, regurgitating food, etc.

Keep in mind that worms can be cut up into pieces and come in various sizes. If you have a worm bin composter, or know someone who does, you can probably poke around and find smallish worms in there.
 
kjnorman said:
Just tossing in my 2 cents worth here, that while your axie is still actively growing, I would not worry too much about over feeding unless they are obviously getting fat and/or leaving food, regurgitating food, etc.

Keep in mind that worms can be cut up into pieces and come in various sizes. If you have a worm bin composter, or know someone who does, you can probably poke around and find smallish worms in there.
Click to expand...

Adding on this, anyone whose axolotl is under a year is 'still growing' and won't get fat very easily unless fed the wrong diet. When mine were 4" and under they ate until they felt like stopping, then I removed excess food. Some of mine would eat an alright amount while two of mine ate until they looked like balloons.

Also its best to avoid the feeder fish sold at stores. Most are goldfish and besides acting as a potential parasite host, contain high fat and can lead to vitamin B1 deficiencies. Guppies and red cherry shrimp (any neocardinia species) are prolific breeders and act as a decent snack for axolotls.
 
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