New axolotl won't eat

[steve611]

On Monday I got a new axolotl and I haven't been able to feed it all since then. I've just got frozen blood worms which I can feed to my other Axie with no problem. Should I try feeding it something else? How long does it take for them to settle down if it's a matter of settling into the new environment? Also the new one looks rather skinny. Could there be some sort of sickness at play?

 

[Kaysie]

Get it some wiggly earthworms, and give it a few days to settle in.

 

[steve611]

I'll pick up some earthworms today and see if that changes his appetite. Thanks for the tip.

 

[jeromeetabuzo]

I'll pick up some earthworms today and see if that changes his appetite. Thanks for the tip.

Hey try giving him something that moves , if he has hard time eating , all you have to do is take the live food and make it shove in his mouth , and if he gets irritated he will buy it off! and also my new axolotl took me a week before he ate , the first food he ate at my house was fish , because it wiggles , but fish is only for treat as they can burn Vit.B and it has fats

 

[EJgraydon]

I wouldn't /force/ it in his mouth. Remember, axxies are delicate animals.

 

[steve611]

Thanks for the help guys. I went down to my local pet store but they were out of earth worms. I bought a 10g container of meal worms instead and the axolotl gobbled it up eagerly.

I chopped off the meal worms head and only fed the body. Is there anything else I have to do with meal worms? Also any suggestions as to how I can get my Axie to accept frozen blood worms. To my understanding, meal worms aren't an ideal choice for being the key source of nutrition in a staple diet?

 

[Jen10s]

Hi Steve, best place for Earthworms is not your local pet store - you can get much better value for money at Bunnings hardware store. Most Aussies end up setting up a worm farm again from Bunnings and they sell boxes of 500, 1000 & 1200 Earthworms. Initial outlay is well worth it and you're Axies will love you for the fat juicy worms.

You're right about the mealworms not being ideal, try to keep them to a minimum, as Axies cannot digest their exoskeleton (shell) and they aren't as nutritious for them as earthworms.

If you want to try blood worms again, try using a feeding jar as it helps cut down on mess and don't leave uneaten food in your tank too long as it fouls the water pretty quickly. Also, make sure to thaw them first in a small container of tank water, suck them up with a turkey baster and squirt them into the feeding jar.

Good luck, look forward to some photos of your lovely Axies :happy:

 

[Jen10s]

PS - if you can get hold of some live black worms, they love those and you might be able to fatten him up a bit with those - but keep the earthworms as your staple food.

:happy:

 

[Kerry M]

Hi Steve,
If you are looking for earthworms I have found that Kookaburra worms are a good supplier of mature compost worms. These packs have five different worms, one of which is the 'Catchall Crawler', this is really a European Nightcrawler. I contacted the company to ask whether these worms could be supplied on their own. I was told that BCF stores nationwide have the small Catchall Crawlers packs, I think there are about 20 worms. I was told to ring my local store to check on stock levels if I was interested. They can be stored for 6 weeks in the fridge.
Have fun fattening your little one.
Cheers,
Kerry

 

[Quentari]

I have two axies now that completely refuse live food and will only eat the axolotl pellets, have you tried that? (I have no idea why they won't eat the worms. One refuses to try them and the other spits them out)

 

[steve611]

Thanks for the help everyone. I might have to check out bunnings for earthworms. What are the prices like there for a standard pack? If earthworms don't work I'll try out the pellets. Where can you get the pellets from? None of my local shops have them.. All they have is beef heart/liver and frozen blood worms. On the first day upon purchase of The meal worms, I fed my axolotl 3 worms. The 2nd day didn't go so well. He ate one worm with no problem, but regurgitated the 2nd and 3rd (I thought he ate the 2nd worm). Eventually he stopped even attempting to eat the worms. Still haven't managed to get him eating frozen blood worms either.

 

[Jen10s]

Hi Steve, I just got a 500 Booster pack from Bunnings for about $30-

To get a worm set up and running I think it's around $120- cause you need around 1000 worms to start off plus the actual worm farm itself. Once running, they will multiply so you may need to top up with more worms now and then or if they go well, maybe you'll never need to top up .

If you have trouble getting your Axie to take worms you might need to chop them up to around the same width as the Axie's head ( this is where the feeding jar is handy again for saving mess).

Good luck and keep us posted on progress

 

[elfelty]

I had the same problem with one of my newest juvies. I ended up getting him to eat by slowly dribbling blood worms out of the turkey baster in front of his face. (made it seem like they were swimming) It took several tries but after a bit I think he realized it was food and started eating.
Best part was my mom called in the middle of it all and it was very hard to explain that I was "bottle-feeding" my baby axolotl!

 

[FX1C]

Thanks for the help everyone. I might have to check out bunnings for earthworms. What are the prices like there for a standard pack? If earthworms don't work I'll try out the pellets. Where can you get the pellets from? None of my local shops have them.. All they have is beef heart/liver and frozen blood worms. On the first day upon purchase of The meal worms, I fed my axolotl 3 worms. The 2nd day didn't go so well. He ate one worm with no problem, but regurgitated the 2nd and 3rd (I thought he ate the 2nd worm). Eventually he stopped even attempting to eat the worms. Still haven't managed to get him eating frozen blood worms either.

These are the worms on offer from bunnings - the quality should be better now than they were in summer - they had a lot of die offs in the summer heat.
The can of worms would be all you need to have a happy lotl & lush garden. I bought the 3 tier worm cafe & am struggling to keep the adult population up - trying to feed 12 hungry lotls isn't easy - I'll be buying the $80 Kookaburra worms from online next week to boost my worm farm population.


The best pellets that are easy to find are Hikari Sinking Carnivore Pellets.

http://www.hikari.info/tropical/t_05.html

Have you tried live blackworms - you can get them from good aquarium shops & they are hard to resist for axolotls & you can get a 20-30ml shot of worms for around $5.

I hope you get him eating soon - let us know how you go





<3 >o_o< <3

 

[FX1C]

Where in sydney are you?
I get 500gm of live blackworms every fortnight - I'm happy to share them with anyone who wants some as it shares the freight & is much cheaper than buying from the shops $15/100gm roughly



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[steve611]

Thanks for the help guys. I might get the $30 earth worms and if my axolotl will take it then I'll probably look into setting up a farm. I hadn't considered black worms. I might give them a shot too and build a farm with which ever option works best I guess. I live in ryde, where a bouts are you?

 

[FX1C]

I'm just in Epping

Let me know if you want some blackworms
- send me a pm if you want them



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[FX1C]

Which store did you get your axolotl from? Was it kept on gravel at the shop? Sadly most of the fish shops near us are all really bad at keeping there axolotls properly & even worse at giving buyers good care advice.

Hopefully if you offer live blackworms he'll start to bulk up & increase his appetite.



<3 >o_o< <3

 

[EbonySparkles]

Hi Steve, Nicki,

I picked up this little guy from a pet store today, they said he'd been eating but could've been stressed by the other two in the tank, I've brought him to my sanctuary for some tlc, I'm wondering if he could be from the same supplier as your two steve? He's not eating mealworms, crickets, earthworms or bloodworms.... Any suggestions to help increase his appetite? And to regenerate his gills? I'm hoping he makes it....

Even my husband who doesn't quite accept my fascination with the axies felt for this guy...

He's so boney, the kids named him Oliver after the orphan!

 

[jeromeetabuzo]

Hi Steve, Nicki,

I picked up this little guy from a pet store today, they said he'd been eating but could've been stressed by the other two in the tank, I've brought him to my sanctuary for some tlc, I'm wondering if he could be from the same supplier as your two steve? He's not eating mealworms, crickets, earthworms or bloodworms.... Any suggestions to help increase his appetite? And to regenerate his gills? I'm hoping he makes it....

Even my husband who doesn't quite accept my fascination with the axies felt for this guy...

He's so boney, the kids named him Oliver after the orphan!

You could wait for sometime to settle in before attempting to feed maybe a day or a week