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Is Sherman fat or are others just thin?

Shermander

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Hello, my name is Emma and I'm the proud mother of my axy Sherman. I've had him for almost two years now (since he was about 2 inches!) and he's grown up to be a big strong guy!

I've been seeing pictures of other people's axyies and wondering if they are skinny or if Sherman is fat. He's 8in long now and lives on his own and I give him a tblsp of bloodworms every 2-3 days. I can't see the rib like bumps on his side--is this ok or am I feeding him too much?

I'll put some photos in here and y'all can let me know.
 

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emdalliance

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No he's a fine size, if you could get a top down view even better. His body should be as wide as the widest point of his head, as a minimum really. Thats what we aim for.

Bloodworms have very little nutritional value, if that's all you have access to I'd be feeding an adult like him a whole cube every day. Can you not get access to prawns, nightcrawlers or earthworms? They all have better nutritional value, earthworms would be best. You can buy pellets too for axolotls. I really don't personally advise sustaining an adult on such a small amount of bloodworms, bloodworms imo are only for feeding to babies who can't yet swallow earthworms. X


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emdalliance

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I don't know if it's the lighting, but his skin looks very pink? Especially his legs and tail. Lucy's should be more of an off white colour not pink. That's an indication that you have an ammonia problem with the water. How often do you test your water and what with? :) x


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Shermander

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Thanks for getting back to me!

He is an off-white color--sorry those photos were edited for instagram and I was at work and unable to get a better picture of him. That is good news for me though! I am glad that he is a healthy weight although now I have to have an uncomfortable conversation with someone about the weight of their own axolotls.

I have a complete water tester including nitrates, nitrites, ph, and ammonia. I spot clean as I need and cycle his water every other week.

Do regular pet stores carry earth worms or will I need to order those online? Any recommendations? I used to get worried about him being able to swallow bigger things but I guess he's grown a lot since then!!
 

Donna001

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Some pet stores sell worms, especially if they have a reptile section that sells live food.
I have bought earth worms from fishing bait stores, which works out cheaper.
 

emdalliance

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You can chop earthworms up if you need, there's plenty of places online, but it depends where you are, I'm in the UK so I can only advise you on that front, but just google earthworms for sale and most places are safe to buy from :) we usually buy a months worth and so we order every month x you can also make your own wormeries which works out a lot cheaper! :)
You can buy prawns from the supermarket and there's pellets on Amazon and other sites too :) x


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