Caudata.org: Newts and Salamanders Portal

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
Did you know that registered users see fewer ads? Register today!

Axolotl food

mitchell101

New member
Joined
Nov 30, 2008
Messages
141
Reaction score
5
Location
Melbourne
I have been feeding my axolotls; earwigs, garden worms, live goldfish and axolotl pellets but I am running out of earwigs and garden worms as I have used too much and can't find any more of them. The goldfish I'm trying to breed so I haven't been feeding the axolotls any at the moment.

What are the best foods I should go and by from the pet store? Is the pet store the best place to buy worms and whatever else is good to feed them with? Are worms the best food?

Can some people name in order what foods I should get.
I have no price range and can buy whatever as long it is the best I can get for my axolotls.


Sorry but I couldn’t find this topic thread anywhere else.

Thanks :D
 

mitchell101

New member
Joined
Nov 30, 2008
Messages
141
Reaction score
5
Location
Melbourne
Snails, Slugs and Freezing Worms

Sorry I didn't mention this in my last post.
But I just saw that some people use snails and slugs for their sals and newts.
Are slugs and snails any good for my axolotls and if so do i have to shell the snails?

Also what does freezing the worms do, should I freeze my worms?
Should I freeze the slugs and snails as well?

Sorry about asking all these questions but I'm a newbie to axolotls and I want the best for them.

Thanks
Hope you can reply
 

Shadow

New member
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
Messages
207
Reaction score
2
Location
Birmingham
This article is good --http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods.shtml

I normally use frozen bloodworms but on the occasion use freeze-dried brineshrimp because it is a little easier to feed.
 

kira

New member
Joined
Sep 22, 2008
Messages
407
Reaction score
9
Location
Hervey Bay, QLD
You can get live and frozen worms from the pet shop. Anything like that is ok. Your can also get frozen earthworms from bait shops but I don't like going there because your never know where the worms have come from.

I don't think that feeding your axie earwigs is a good idea though because they seem to have large pinchers.
 

mitchell101

New member
Joined
Nov 30, 2008
Messages
141
Reaction score
5
Location
Melbourne
My axies love the earwigs and the ear wigs dont nip hard at all, when they nip me i don't even notice them because they nip so lightly. Some have large pinsers but nearly all of them have small once. But yeahh... I don't have many more earwigs left because i used too many.
Thanks for the help
 

mitchell101

New member
Joined
Nov 30, 2008
Messages
141
Reaction score
5
Location
Melbourne
This article is good --http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods.shtml

I normally use frozen bloodworms but on the occasion use freeze-dried brineshrimp because it is a little easier to feed.

Great site, really helped alot. Thanks
 

Heather at HMSG

New member
Joined
Aug 15, 2008
Messages
87
Reaction score
5
Location
Monmouth, Wales
When I bought our 2 Axis from a biological supplier (only ones I could find), they were being fed on maggots. I continued to feed these for several weeks (the pot supplied with them cost a fortune - they were only bluebottle MAGGOTs for heaven's sake!). Anyway, they ate them fine, but as they grew, feeding 30 or so maggots was time consuming, & we progressed to earthworms, & also now slugs, & have successfully tried slices of pig heart whenthe ground was frozen hard recently (not something I will do unless desperate though). Slugs will be very easy most of the year as I also grow veg at home! However 'Lotte' has now taken against slugs........but Sparkle eats them enthusiastically.

As far as I can see, no one else has mentioned maggots as food - John?

I suspect the supplier was keeping them on limited rations to keep growth rates down - I was recommended to feed only once a week.........John put me right though - my instinct was that once a week was not adequate. I now feed a morsal whenever I'm passing the tank & someone is looking hungry..........growth rates have been good.

Heather
 

blueberlin

2010 Research Grant Donor
Joined
Apr 23, 2008
Messages
1,939
Reaction score
51
Location
Illinois
Hi Mitchell,

I don't know if your question is still current but if so, I found a lot of information on this forum. There is an entire subforum on foods (click here) and then the Caudata Culture (here) site has an article on foods (as Shadow posted above) as well as articles about worms (here) and other foods (here) and an article on the nutritional value of various types of food (here).

One thread in the Live Foods Forum (here) noted that it is a bad idea to freeze worms, because they are nothing but a thick liquid when they defrost - and smell bad, too.

As to earthworms, you should be able to order them online. I have found that places offering worms for composting (they call it vermiculture, if that helps) are excellent sources for worms. You can also culture worms yourself, in a "worm farm". You can buy ready-made worm farms or "bucket-of-worms" online, or build your own. I made mine by buying two paint buckets and one lid at the hardware store. Holes in the lid and the floor of one bucket, then bedding (soil, shredded paper) on the bottom, then worms, then shredded paper on top. Put the hole-y bucket into the other bucket. The lid is important because worms ... crawl...

You can feed your household scraps to the worms. Besides making a free and self-replenishing source of food for your axolotls, you can empty the stuff that collects in the outside bucket into your plants. Best fertilizer in the world.

-Eva
 

mitchell101

New member
Joined
Nov 30, 2008
Messages
141
Reaction score
5
Location
Melbourne
Thanks.
I have also fed my axies slugs and maggots and they are fine with both,
I have feeding under control now.
Thanks.

When I bought our 2 Axis from a biological supplier (only ones I could find), they were being fed on maggots. I continued to feed these for several weeks (the pot supplied with them cost a fortune - they were only bluebottle MAGGOTs for heaven's sake!). Anyway, they ate them fine, but as they grew, feeding 30 or so maggots was time consuming, & we progressed to earthworms, & also now slugs, & have successfully tried slices of pig heart whenthe ground was frozen hard recently (not something I will do unless desperate though). Slugs will be very easy most of the year as I also grow veg at home! However 'Lotte' has now taken against slugs........but Sparkle eats them enthusiastically.

As far as I can see, no one else has mentioned maggots as food - John?

I suspect the supplier was keeping them on limited rations to keep growth rates down - I was recommended to feed only once a week.........John put me right though - my instinct was that once a week was not adequate. I now feed a morsal whenever I'm passing the tank & someone is looking hungry..........growth rates have been good.

Heather
 

rnocera

New member
Joined
Dec 4, 2008
Messages
58
Reaction score
2
I know this is old, but for anyone reading through this as an archive-

You can get live and frozen worms from the pet shop. Anything like that is ok. Your can also get frozen earthworms from bait shops but I don't like going there because your never know where the worms have come from.

As a pet store employee, I can tell you most pet stores order from the same people bait stores order from. Bait store worms are the exact same thing as pet store worms.


And maggots or wax worms should be good, but they're VERY fatty, and they don't have a ton of nutrients in them. I feed wax worms, which are just big maggots, to some of my lizards sometimes, and they all love the waxies, but like I said, nutritionally, they're not exactly amazing. . . Good treats, and good for putting weight on skinny animals, though!
 
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    There are no messages in the chat. Be the first one to say Hi!
    Top