Can an Axolotl over eat?

[chillydude]

Hi everyone!

I'm new to the forum, but would like advice from more experienced owners. I've owned my Axolotl Mushy for about 4 months now. Things are going great so far. One issue though...I bought 5 small minnows for Mushy to eat and she ate the ALL in one day...yikes! She usually eats live black worms, but I'd rather feed her the feeder fish. Does this Axolotl know when to stop eating? I'm afraid to keep putting feeder fish in her tank if she doesn't know when to stop eating. I guess I'm wondering how long I should wait between feedings before I put more live fish in the tank. I'd appreciate advice from the group! Thanks!

 

[Possum63]

Welcome to the forum

I believe they can but my guys seem to be very well behaved because when they have had enough they just refuse food. But some people have lotls that would eat 24/7 if they had the chance. Depending on size, I would let her/him have two or three fish maybe.

As a general rule if your axolotl is as fat as the width of their head then they are feed nicely and you should stick to that amount. If you notice him/her putting on weight and getting wider than her/his head then cut back and if losing weight feed more.

All that said, I would recommend feeder fish as only a treat. The best diet for them is worms. My guys personally have a mainly worm diet with raw prawns, pellets, and sometimes chicken just to mix things up. I've also just purchased feeder fish to start feeding them as another treat once I've moved and settled again.

 

[Alkylhalide]

Id just like to add that depending on the relative age/size of your lotl they will just refuse food once they cannot cram anything else in there(i have watched mine when they were younger spend 15minutes trying to swallow food to just give up because it wouldnt fit)

However, once they reach a certain size/age which i am not 100% sure of. I stoped feeding mine as much after they past 6" in length. Now i use the whole the belly should be the width of their head rule when feeding them. Its all trial and error when it comes to feeding time really. All lotls are different.

You can overfeed an axolotl once they get out of their little juvenile state(i just assumed around 6"+ you can overfeed them) however axolotls are smart and just regurgitate anything that they know they cant digest before it rots in their stomach. Ive only had mine regurgitate once. I also found that the older they get the lessthey need to be fed. I feed my juveniles more per day then my mid-adults? Lmao i dont know what they are now.

But other then that i am not going to re-write what was stAted above. Just adding a few more things that I have found.

 

[chillydude]

Thank you very much for responding to me! I travel a couple/few days at a time and need an alternative food source to live black worms. If I am not home to clean rinse the worms they die or dissolve in my fridge. That's why the live fish seemed like a good alternative. My Axolotl has been eating live food before I even brought her home but I would love to try pellet food...what type of pellets can I feed her? And, how do I get her to eat them since pellets don't move around?

Considering your responses, I think maybe I'm not feeding her enough. Her stomach doesn't bulge based on the rule of thumb you both use...

 

[Possum63]

I like using live food because it encourages my guys to hunt and be less of the tank potatoes that they are but here live food options are limited. I totally recommend worms! Like earthworms, I use red wigglers. They keep very well in the fridge and I've found my axolotl like them a lot better after being fridged

Heres a great thread on list of pellet food...

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...ral-discussion/92329-list-pelleted-foods.html

To introduce pellets you can soak them to soften then and then just drop them infront of your axy head. Like maybe two inches up. They snap at them as they fall Thats how I taught my baby juvies when I had some.