Question: Axolotl will only eat if hand fed

[sasamika]

Hi, Im still relatively new to this and need some advise.

I have 2 axolotls, 1 white and 1 golden. they are both about 4 month old. The golden one is fine and eats well. I feed them pellets, blood worms and earth worms.

The white one is not keen on eating and will only eat if hand fed. it never picks food up from the bottom of the tank and even hand feeding is so tiringly slow most day. I often find myself spending 30mins or more trying to get it to eat a decent amount of food so its not too thin.

during the 6 weeks Ive had them both, the golden one has grown significantly in size and the white one just didnt grow.

Really need some help and advise from more experienced axolotl owners. Do some just not eat as much? will it ever start eating on its own?

Many thanks :happy:

 

[tcbemis]

I just wanted to say hi and welcome! I don't have experience with axies, but I'm sure someone who does will chime in soon. Best of luck!

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk

 

[Boomsloth]

I'm dealing with a slow eater now as well. He only eats from my hand but only after pushing the worm against his nose for a few minutes. Sometimes the more vigorous axolotls will just eat more and grow faster and might even bully the rest of the food for themselves. I separated out my slow eater and have gotten him to eat on his own. He's not terribly skinny but not as wide as my other males. Now that he's separated he has been eating worms on his own. I leave live worms in with him and after a few hours remove any he hasn't eaten. He's eaten 2-3 each day now and has gotten a tad quicker. So try separating and see if that works. Even a divider will do.

 

[xxianxx]

Call me harsh but if its too stupid to feed let it starve till it figures it out for itself. Leave plenty of live food in its tank and drop small or chopped worms on it daily. Separate it from the other axolotl if the size difference gets to great. Have you considerd that there may be an underlying problem which has caused the lack of appetite ?

 

[sasamika]

I'm dealing with a slow eater now as well. He only eats from my hand but only after pushing the worm against his nose for a few minutes. Sometimes the more vigorous axolotls will just eat more and grow faster and might even bully the rest of the food for themselves. I separated out my slow eater and have gotten him to eat on his own. He's not terribly skinny but not as wide as my other males. Now that he's separated he has been eating worms on his own. I leave live worms in with him and after a few hours remove any he hasn't eaten. He's eaten 2-3 each day now and has gotten a tad quicker. So try separating and see if that works. Even a divider will do.

Thank God Im not the only one. They are not in the same tank anymore as the golden one who was the same size but now alot bigger attacked the white one. they just cant be housed together anymore.

I have tried leaving pellets out for him but he doesnt even put his head down to look at them. he used to eat blanched worms but lately he is refusing that as well.

It will be an issue if Im away as no one else will have the patience to feed him like that and he will starve.

 

[sasamika]

Call me harsh but if its too stupid to feed let it starve till it figures it out for itself. Leave plenty of live food in its tank and drop small or chopped worms on it daily. Separate it from the other axolotl if the size difference gets to great. Have you considerd that there may be an underlying problem which has caused the lack of appetite ?

He is not sick or anything and the water is fine since they were in the same tank and I have done alot of research on how to properly house them.

He has his own tank now as the size difference did become big and he got attacked by the other one.

I was away for 2 weeks before and had a friend come over to feed them. and he got so thin but I dont expect other people helping me to spend that much time and patience.

I just dont know if some are just like that or can they always be trained to eat on their own.

 

[Boomsloth]

Like Ian said and I've done this with mine. Let it figure it out. A hungry axolotl will eventually eat just maybe not in the first few days. Unless you see it wasting away and getting sick it is most likely just being stubborn about food.

 

[sasamika]

Like Ian said and I've done this with mine. Let it figure it out. A hungry axolotl will eventually eat just maybe not in the first few days. Unless you see it wasting away and getting sick it is most likely just being stubborn about food.

Maybe I will give it another try. He did get so thin when I was away for 2 weeks when the golden one will eat anything it can reach.