Question: What do you raise to feed your axolotls?

What feeders do you raise to give your hungry lotls?

  • Earthworms

    Votes: 62 68.9%

  • Blackworms

    Votes: 9 10.0%

  • Bloodworms

    Votes: 16 17.8%

  • Guppies

    Votes: 16 17.8%

  • Brine shrimp

    Votes: 17 18.9%

  • Freshwater shrimp

    Votes: 14 15.6%

  • Other worms

    Votes: 10 11.1%

  • Other fish

    Votes: 4 4.4%

  • Other...

    Votes: 17 18.9%
  • Total voters
    90
V

Visi

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Visi
I'm trying to decide on feeders to raise for my little ones.
 
The only thing I raise is Daphnia but that is just for offspring under 2.54 cm. The rest of the time it is just easier to go dig for worms or buy them during dry summer months.
 
I only raise BBS for young axolotls. I buy worms and pellets for the bigger ones.
 
For young axolotls I raise brine shrimp, micro worms , banana worms , walter worms and white worms, random pond bugs in outside tanks like mosquito larvae,daphnia, bloodworm and snails,. For adults I have a worm compost heap, roaches, pachnoda grubs, endlers and cherry shrimp. I also use baby axolotls and xenopus as food for the adults when I have too many, I have also started colonies of locust and black worm but they are still works in progress.
 
is it safe to feed axolotls snails? I have a ton of little snails in my shrimp tank
 
Daphnia brine shrimp and micro worms white worms and even bana worms seem to do the trick for me.

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mackinthebox said:
is it safe to feed axolotls snails? I have a ton of little snails in my shrimp tank
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If you check "species mixing disasters" you will see an axolotl with an apple snail stuck in its mouth, the lesson here is not that snails are unsafe for axolotls to eat but certain sized snails pose a risk. In my adult A.mexicanum, A.andersoni , P.waltl and X.laevis tanks there are large adult snails, too big to fit in the mouths of the tanks inhabitants. There are snail eggs in all those tanks but very few small snails, indicating that they are being predated. In comparison my shrimp tank, outdoor daphnia and plant tubs are crammed with little snails to such an extent that a make it a habit to transfer them to my other tanks as additional food, where they dont last very long. It is just a matter of removing snails which you think pose a risk due to their size, which doesn't happen that often to be honest as the attrition rate is nearly 100%, they are eaten before they hit a size which could potentially cause problems. In my juvenile tanks it is a different story , I have a whole range of snail sizes including ones which could potentially pose a risk but have had no problems with constipation , impaction or snails stuck in mouths. So as far as I am concerned, I am just providing a bit of variation in their diet.
 
the snails i have are very small, about the size of an apple seed at the biggest
 
I wouldn't feed them snails. Their shell is a bit hard, would make for hard digestion and possibly internal issues. Could impact them.
Earthworms are the best thing to feed an axolotl. :happy:
 
DeCypher said:
I wouldn't feed them snails. Their shell is a bit hard, would make for hard digestion and possibly internal issues. Could impact them.
Earthworms are the best thing to feed an axolotl. :happy:
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You reckon? Do you think axolotls avoided snails when they lived in the wild? Snails are often put forward as part of the wild diet of A.andersoni and A.mexicanum and as part of a suggested diet in captive animals The Best Diet for Captive Newts and Mexican Axolotls | That Reptile Blog (if you cant trust Frank who can you trust ?)
EDGE :: Amphibian Species Information (check out the "ecology" section , this information is given on many sites about this species)
One of the few potential problems caused by snails is in this thread
http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...a-mexicanum/69618-axolotls-eating-snails.html I have a lot of respect for oceanblue (who is a very knowledgable member of this forum) but the impaction problem was blamed on snails without any real evidence other than gravel was not present in the tank. If anyone has had problems with snail impaction I would be very interested in their account.
 
I think it comes down to the kind of snail. The common pond or " bladder" snail has a very frail shell that i know axolotls would have no problem with. Probably the same with ramshorns. However, Malaysian trumpet snails are very common in aquaria and have extremely hard shells. Puffer fish are known to chip teeth on them, and puffers are specialised snail eaters. I think an axolotl would have a very tough time passing a big, sharp trumpet snail.
 
JessKB said:
I think it comes down to the kind of snail. The common pond or " bladder" snail has a very frail shell that i know axolotls would have no problem with. Probably the same with ramshorns. However, Malaysian trumpet snails are very common in aquaria and have extremely hard shells. Puffer fish are known to chip teeth on them, and puffers are specialised snail eaters. I think an axolotl would have a very tough time passing a big, sharp trumpet snail.
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Interesting, it may be that the snails that axolotls naturally would have eaten wernt thick shelled. Trumpet snail are not an issue for me as they are not in my tanks, I will however go and squash a few big ones of all the species I have to see how thick their shells are and remove any with exceptionally hard shells. Trumpet snail
Red-rimmed melania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Dubias, and I'm attempting to breed waxworms, i have many lizards that love both of these. I have to try again though with the waxies. I just normally buy earthworms, although I'm thinking about starting a bin.
 
Thank you, everybody! This is great and informative discussion. My little friend's main diet is amphibian pellets, but I have some medaka (killifish) and some cherry shrimp and brine shrimp on the way. Whoever is easiest to keep (hoping I can maintain tanks for all three) gets to be axolotl's occasional treats. Any recommendations or warnings regarding these?
 
I'm trying to start a worm farm. Got a new tub, this one without holes so they won't escape and wriggle around my bedroom floor!

I think snails should be OK as long as they aren't too big. :happy:
 
Visi said:
Thank you, everybody! This is great and informative discussion. My little friend's main diet is amphibian pellets, but I have some medaka (killifish) and some cherry shrimp and brine shrimp on the way. Whoever is easiest to keep (hoping I can maintain tanks for all three) gets to be axolotl's occasional treats. Any recommendations or warnings regarding these?
Click to expand...

None of those are particularly nutritious and do not provide a complete diet - it would be like a person eating lard and peanut shells. The pellets can be good, but the rest are pretty worthless nutritionally.

Go for worms - blackworms for little ones and earthworms for adults. Babies need daphnia (adults usually will not eat them) .

I only have one axolotl and he eats one earthworm a week (plus 2 or 3 pellets) so I don't breed them since they would out - produce his ability to eat them!

I suppose it could be worth it to breed blackworms if you wanted to.

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I'm raising Denrobeana veneta (worms), Blaptica dubia (roaches), Enchytraeidae, Cherry shrimp, Gammarus and snails (pond- and ramshorne) for my aquatic newts. Not all the snails and crustaceans are eaten. If not they form a great addition to the aquarium, because they help to keep it in balance.

Of course I can only feed small roaches to most of my newts, but once accepted they seem to enjoy them. Adult roaches go to my lizzards and salamanders. The enchytraeidae are for the larvae, but not as a staple of course. I do think that larvae which are getting white worms now and then grow into firm adults.

My axies are being fed worms as a staple. Now and then I put a bunch of shrimp, gammarus and snails into their enclosure. Though it's heavily planted they get rid of their new tankmates within a couple of days. The only tankmates my axies have got is a small species of snail and some acroluxus. My axies also get a roach now and then.
 
I don't know about newts, but axies don't digest snail shells and can cause harm. I'd probably stay away from those. I breed cherry shrimp and I am thinking about starting a worm farm. sounds like you have breeding down to an art form! how many cherry shrimp do you have now and how many did you start with?
 
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