Multiple axolotl food questions

Hello everybody, my name is Alexander and this is my first post on here! I've had an Axolotl for about 4 months now, he has grown pretty big in that time from just a very small little thing. c:

He was pretty reluctant to eat at first until I started digging for worms for him in the garden, and I have pretty much been feeding him on mostly earthworms since then, he really loves them and he'll always eat them.

However now it's winter and very cold outside, and the ground is too solid for any worms to be anywhere near the surface. The lady at the aquarium store I got him from told me that he had never taken pellets so she fed him exclusively on bloodworms, and I have found the same to be true about the pellets, however I also have difficulty getting him to eat bloodworms. He will swim right at the baster I'm using to offer them with, press his nose into them but never bite. He'll do this for some time and then just swim away, despite the fact that I know he's hungry. :c

In addition to this I am going away for 4 days in February. While it would probably be possible for me to arrange for people to come in and feed him, this would involve moving his tank setup, teaching them how to feed him, and asking a lot of neighbours I don't know all that well...

I have seen online that brine shrimp are a good source of live food for axolotls, would it be possible for me to breed some and put a few of them in with him for him to hunt over the time that I'm gone?

Of course I would check in advance that he would take them, but otherwise I'm not sure what else to go with, my old goldfish would have a pellet that slowly broke up for them, but I'm not sure if axolotls can eat anything similar or if mine would even if there was such a thing! :c

Erm, Yeah, thanks in advance for any suggestions that you have, apologies for writing so much!

Update:

I have done more reading and have purchased some earthworms to continue feeding him them over the winter, however if possible I would still love recommendations on what to do for the 4 days I'll be away!! Thank you!

Hookwyrm said:

Update:

I have done more reading and have purchased some earthworms to continue feeding him them over the winter, however if possible I would still love recommendations on what to do for the 4 days I'll be away!! Thank you!

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A well fed adult axie can go four days without food. Nonetheless, I would buy some feeders (guppies or minnows) and leave a few in the tank while you are gone. It will also give him something to do...

Zidartha said:

A well fed adult axie can go four days without food. Nonetheless, I would buy some feeders (guppies or minnows) and leave a few in the tank while you are gone. It will also give him something to do...

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Be sure and quarantine any newly introduced fish in a separate tank for at least a few weeks before placing them in the tank with your axolotl, you want to make sure they dont have any diseases that could spread to your lotl

Feed him really well before you leave for the 4 days and he should be fine
Mine has gone a week with no food with no issues, theyre pretty hardy

Thank you both of you, I was looking into some shrimp, are guppies better? c: I'll get some soon-ish to be sure he will eat them before I run off and leave him~

And yeah I know they can go for a long time without feeding, but I don't think that means he SHOULD, ya know? He's a hungry little guy and he always gets so excited when he sees me cause he knows he's getting fed so I don't like to leave him without even if he can technically manage. :c

But yeah, thank you very much to the both of you, very helpful!

Guppies don't survive very long in an axies tank - it's too cold for them. Minnows survive longer as they can tolerate the temperature.
River shrimp are fun, but too many can make an axie constipated, brine shrimp will die in a few hours and foul the water.
If you feed up your axie for a few days before you go away, an axtra worm here and there, he'll be fine for 4 days.
Worm farms are easy - good job on getting that sorted!

auntiejude said:

Guppies don't survive very long in an axies tank - it's too cold for them. Minnows survive longer as they can tolerate the temperature.
River shrimp are fun, but too many can make an axie constipated, brine shrimp will die in a few hours and foul the water.
If you feed up your axie for a few days before you go away, an axtra worm here and there, he'll be fine for 4 days.
Worm farms are easy - good job on getting that sorted!

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Thank you very much for the advice! I hadn't known that about river shrimp, brine shrimp and the guppies, so I'll go for some minnows~

Worms just arrived today, though he had begun to eat bloodworms more he seemed so happy and swam to the surface to take it from me! Definitely will set up a worm farm after this, I underestimated how easy it'd be to set up and to get ahold of em. c: Made sure they hadn't had any chemicals or anything before I bought just to be safe~

layna said:

How big is your axie now?

I would make sure he is well fed before you leave, then i would add a few river/red cherry shrimp to his tank the day you go (quarantine them first) he will eat these when he is hungry and theyre just an added extra as he can survive 4 days without food anyway

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He's about 8.5cm now, but growing all the time, such a greedy lil guy. I'll try and take some pictures of him and my set up soon and upload~

Don't worry I will be sure to quarantine anything I put in there with him. It'll definitely have my mind at rest to know he'll have something to eat while I'm away, even if he can go without I am a worry-wart.