Question: Baby food!

[inkozana]

My axolotl babies will hatch soon from their eggs, I would love to feed them live daphnia but I have no idea how to get it! Anyone have any advice? Brine shrimp would also be fine.
My alternative is finely chopped blackworms - which I can get easily.

However I would love to try daphnia as they aren't as messy, thanks :smile:

 

[philbaker76]

I always get my daphnia from my parents pond (although there is a risk of introducing something nasty, I've not had a problem as of yet). However, you can get live daphnia from most aquatic shops.

I try and get daphnia in my hatching tubs as soon as the spawn is laid; gives them time to culture.

Good luck with your hatchlings.

 

[Jake]

Daphnia live in almost any semi-permanent or permanent body of water around here. I can take a handful of grass clippings and place it in a bucket of water and get a good Daphnia population within a few weeks. Check ponds around your house. Though, finely chopped blackworms would probably get your babies to grow a bit faster than Daphnia. Axolotl larvae can easily handle daily or even twice daily water changes.

 

[inkozana]

Thanks guys, I'll check out the shops near me..

 

[sherylbobbins]

Greetings Stef, check out Ebay. You can get packets of brine shrimp eggs for reasonably cheap. 1 gram goes a long way lol and they're not too hard to hatch

 

[blueberlin]

Hi Stef,

For some reason it seems to be difficult to find Daphina for purchase in Australia. You might need to go with brine shrimp, as Sheryl suggests. The trouble I foresee with chopped blackworm is that hatchlings usually only feed on live food - they hunt by chasing movement, not by smell (or sight) - so that you might have a high to very high death rate early on due to starvation.

On a side note - brine shrimp are fun to raise! So much so that they have been marketed as a toy called "Sea Monkeys" for years.

You've probably seen this already but just in case, here is the CC article on microfoods for larvae:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/microfoods.shtml

Good luck!

-Eva

 

[Nathan050793]

The trouble I foresee with chopped blackworm is that hatchlings usually only feed on live food - they hunt by chasing movement, not by smell (or sight) - so that you might have a high to very high death rate early on due to starvation.

I just thought I'd clear this up and say that the reason blackworms are so great is, because even when chopped into tiny pieces, they still squirm. Thus it does stimulate feeding through movement.

 

[blueberlin]

I just thought I'd clear this up and say that the reason blackworms are so great is, because even when chopped into tiny pieces, they still squirm. Thus it does stimulate feeding through movement.

Hi Nathan!

Wow, I didn't know that - very interesting indeed, in a kind of totally disgusting way. :lol:

Thanks - and again, good luck to you, Stef!

-Eva

 

[coichards]

Brine Shrimp are a pet by itself. Sea monkeys are geneticly altered brine shrimp (?), they grow bigger and you are forced to by their water purifier and magic food. ect or they say they will all die.