Dry Foods

I'm having some trouble finding a food source for my axies (when I can find some). I am unable to locate a supply of Salmon Pellets, and I'm thinking frozen bloodworms/brineshrimp are going to be too messy to feed on a regular basis, and I can only get earthworms in the summer. So I'm wondering what else can I feed them in terms of Dry food? I have some thoughts.

1- Koi pellets. These are often recomended along with salmon pellets for feeding koi, so could the be used interchangeably for axies?

2- Shrimp pellets. I'm assuming these are going to be ok, unless someone tells me otherwise.

3- "Carnivore" pellets. Some companies (like Hikari) make these to feed to Oscars and other large predatory fish.

4- Freeze-dried krill. These might be a little too fatty for axies. Generally used to feed predatory marine fish.

Has anyone ever used any of these, or can anyone think of anything else? Or should I just experiment to see what they like when I get them?

P.S. - I think I found a place to get them. I have a person from England willing to ship them if I pay for the export permit, and I may have found a local source. I'm still waiting to hear back from the wholesaler on that second one. Heres hoping!

I am having trouble finding Salmon Pellets too.

I feed my juvi's the shrimp pellets and they LOVE them.

With my adults i feed them a mixture of. Earthworms, crickets, mealworms, bloodworms (frozen)

***Gotta cut post short at TAFE and gotta go home now ill post when i get home***

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Ok also i feed my babies to specified pellets that daniel just mentioned and they also love them. But my adults tend to like the live foods or the frozen blood worms.



(Message edited by brendan on February 08, 2005)

In Australia They sell proper axolotl pellets made by aquarium science that's what i Feed mine and the love them!!


Dan

Crickets are no problem, I go through about 100 or so crickets a week for my other animals. How do you feed them to your axies?Just drop them on the surface?

I don't think my axies would eat cricket's for the surface , I would proably try hand feeding.

Dan

I feed axies the crickets by hand as every other food they have. Sometimes i will wriggle the cricket infront of its face and then slowly move my hand towards the surface and let the cricket go and the acie will gulp the cricket.

or.

i put the cricket onto the curface of the water and wriggle my finger infront of axies face and proceed upwards to near the cricket.

I just hand feed them for the sake of

1. Knowing what they eat and exactly how much
2. Easy for them
3. Easy for me
4. Fun experience

Sometimes just for fun i will wriggle my pinky infront of the biggest adult and she will gulp it down, suck on it a few times and thgen spit it out. Its a funny yet cool feeling having and axies not so teethy teeth scarpe onto ur skin.

And like you brian i go through a fair ammount of crickets per week.

The things we do for our axies and our pets in general.

i feed my axie Hikari sinking carnivore pellets, large type, and she loves them. I alternate with, brine shrimp pellets or axie pellets 1 day per week and the odd earth worm. The Hikari pellets have a low Crude Fat content min 5 per cent. You can get more info at www.hikari.info/tropical/t_05.html

Thanks for the tip Denise. I've used Hikari pellets before. They're pretty much THE BEST dry fish foods on the market, and I have some Carnivore pellets that I feed to my Exedon paradoxus. I'm probably going to vary their diet as much as possible, feeding Hikari Carnivore pellets, Wardley Shrimp pellets, crickets, rosy red minnows, ghost shrimp, and earthworms when I can get them. And you're right Brendan, my animals eat better than I do sometimes!

Brendan,
maybe try some Hikari pellets for your axie. I searched everywhere for Salmon pellets but had no luck unless I bought them over the internet, which I'm not comfortable doing. My axie would only eat hand fed live food but since I have started feeding the Hikari pellets her appetite has doubled. I was sinking them next to her head and she gobbled them up, after a couple of days I then put them in a saucer in her tank and she finds them easy and eats them. They have a very strong smell and she never misses one.

Cool, thanks denise. When i go to the local aquarium ill be sure to pick some up.

Once again thanks

Brian - Michael Shrom has listed that he sells salmon pellets. I do not know how hard it is to get them shipped into Canada, but I thought I would let you know incase it is feasible.

Thanks, but I'd rather stick to local food sources not that I have confirmation that what I have access to will work. That way I don't have to pay shipping.

Any angling shop will sell a wide variety of pellets. They don't have to be salmon or trout pellets. Just find something that's pungent and they will eat readily enough. Plus you should be able to buy earthworms (nightcrawlers) at an angling shop too.

All the shops that sell bait don't sell it in winter here. All the water is frozen (I live in Canada). I'd have to go a few hours north, to where there are lakes that are popular for ice fishing (too far out of my way). I'll only be able to get them in the warmer parts of the year (probably starting in late april).

have u tried buying online...ebay for example...just search for angling or bait. It should return quite a big number.

Plus you should be able to buy pellets from the IU. Just check out the site.

Pellets are no problem. I can get pellets from the local pet store. I'll look for worms online, but I'll probably just stick with my current plan.

I use Koi pellets alongside earthies and frozen bloodworm, and the odd bit of fresh water muscles I have asked if they are as good as salmon but not really had an answer , anyway Alex likes them.

Brian,
If you can, it may be worth it to check out Indiana University's Axolotl Colony website. They sell and ship salmon pellets pretty much anywhere. I don't think they are very expensive. The website is http://www.indiana.edu/~axolotl/