Cheapest Food for Axolotl?

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PhxJosh

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I am planning on picking up a axie here soon once my tank is ready, but my question is what is the cheapest food source for juvenile axies and once he grows then what?

I was thinking of getting worms from walmart?
 
I totally believe in saving a dollar. But please don't skimp on their diet.

Yes earthworms from Walmart are fine. Do not buy the green ones. I fed mine pan trout worms for years. I later started buying canadian earthworms.

I also feed pellets regularly. A little goes a long way.

HOWEVER - the size of your axolotl will determine what you feed it. A 4" axy can eat the small pellets, black worms and frozen bloodworms. Smaller than 4" feed it black worms & frozen bloodworms (defrosted) and a real baby axolotl will eat much smaller foods but I don't get the feeling that is applicable.

Pellets are available from at least one website online and a few of our members.

Good luck with your axolotl!!
 
ferret_corner said:
I totally believe in saving a dollar. But please don't skimp on their diet.

Yes earthworms from Walmart are fine. Do not buy the green ones. I fed mine pan trout worms for years. I later started buying canadian earthworms.

I also feed pellets regularly. A little goes a long way.

HOWEVER - the size of your axolotl will determine what you feed it. A 4" axy can eat the small pellets, black worms and frozen bloodworms. Smaller than 4" feed it black worms & frozen bloodworms (defrosted) and a real baby axolotl will eat much smaller foods but I don't get the feeling that is applicable.

Pellets are available from at least one website online and a few of our members.

Good luck with your axolotl!!
Click to expand...

I can use turtle pellets right at 4"?

How much should I expect to pay for bloodworms or black worms? I found some online for like $20 for only 24 worms.
 
Turtle pellets float & its thought that gulping food at the surface can cause excessive floating. Buy proper axolotl pellets.

$20 for 24 black or bloodworms? Could you link me to that site please?

Typically in Tucson blackworms are sold in "portion" cups for about $2. I would imagine that makes two or three meals for a small axolotl. For baby axolotls - its a lot of meals. A "portion" looks like the little disposable condiment cups you get with your meal. Not the ones from the taco stands with hot sauce, those are half the size.

Bloodworms are not sold alive in USA - not here that I've seen. Some fish shops still call black worms "bloodworms" but its a misnomer.

Bloodworms are sold in blister packs from a freezer for $4 - 6 roughly. Depending on the size and quantity.
 
I can't find the site again, but I just google'd "but bloodworms" and that is what I found.
 
There is a post on mail/internet order blackworms in the live food sections. It is a bit of a pain to order that way as they do not have proper web purchasing set up, but the price is a good deal.

It is really hard to get live blackworms in a lot of places. Here in Nebraska, none of the pet stores have even heard of them.
 
I found a local pet store that sells frozen brine shrimp, but it was like $30 for the package, how much do I need and how much should I pay?
 
$30 for frozen brine shrimp? Its $17 for 2lbs so that must be for $4 of frozen brine shrimp.

You won't need that much unless you're rearing a few dozen larval axies.

Lets start over... what size axolotl are you getting?
 
ferret_corner said:
$30 for frozen brine shrimp? Its $17 for 2lbs so that must be for $4 of frozen brine shrimp.

You won't need that much unless you're rearing a few dozen larval axies.

Lets start over... what size axolotl are you getting?
Click to expand...

I am still looking for places that sell them, I might just get one from that WARDS place.

I am thinking he will be around 3 inches?

How much brine shrimp do you feed them at this size/age? How long would 2lbs last me?
 
Hi!

My Axie is about 4 1/2 inches. At the moment he has a frozen block of bloodworm every two days, but I'm about to introduce him to earthworms.

A blister pack of 24 cubes costs me £3.75!

Cheers, Mike.:cool:
 
Can I use earthworms when I first get him? Just cut it into smaller parts when I feed, like 1 inch portions?
 
Why are you concerned about cheap? Blackworms sold by portion at the fish shops aren't very expensive? If you're getting your axolotl from a breeder - they will most likely have pellets to sell?
 
Hi!

Earthworms are an excellent source of nutrition as are the blackworms.

I agree with Sharon - don't try and cut corners and risk the health of your Axolotl.

Cheers, Mike.:cool:
 
ferret_corner said:
Why are you concerned about cheap? Blackworms sold by portion at the fish shops aren't very expensive? If you're getting your axolotl from a breeder - they will most likely have pellets to sell?
Click to expand...

Do they sell blackworms in the US at fish stores?

I did not think I could use pellets with a juve?

I am not concerned about cheap, I just can't afford to spend $40+ on food each month, that is more than I spend on myself, I live off of like $10 a week for groceries right now. I am not poor, just conserative with my money.
 
Hi Josh,

I'm from Japan, I was born there, I've lived all over and currently live near Tucson AZ. I've lived in Phoenix too.

Yes, live blackworms are available here in the US. Phx has a much larger petstore population to shop from than Tucson - so break out the phone book and start calling.

Like I said I'm all for saving a buck. My local fish store has sales for buy one get one free or half off for its frozen fish foods and I make sure to stock up then.

I got 2 blister packs of bloodworms & $3 worth of crickets - came to $11. Because I feed such a wide variety of foods those packages of bloodworms will probably last a couple weeks at the LEAST more than likely it'll last me a month. So I figure each package cost me about $3.50 (cause I didn't get a detailed receipt, just my debit reciept which only has a total).

SO, if you get 3 portions of blackworms @ $2 per portion thats $6 + $7 worth of bloodworms + a $5 or $8 bag of pellets = $18 or $21 worth of pet food that will last maybe 2 months?

A baby axy @ 3" needs to be fed daily. Its better to overfeed and clean up excess food, than to feed to little with these guys. If you're not willing to do this, I think maybe you should look for a different pet.

That is just my opinion. Maybe there are others who don't agree but thats how I've raised over 24 baby axies from 1" to 8"+ without losing a single baby - except one to an accident.

I fed them daily until they were about 6" long and were slightly plump looking. I didn't keep records so I don't know how long that took.

I'd really like to see another axy lover join us here, but I'd also like to see them succeed.
 
I feed my axie, Mudkip, garden worms.

They come from the garden and cost nothing.

Once a week I go into the garden and dig about 20 worms up. Then I put them into a bucket of soil in my kitchen. Every few days I take 3 or 4 out and put them into a clean plastic box, so they excrete a lot of the soil inside and dont replace it. Then after 2 or so days I take the worms out then wash them in a very mild soloution of dettol, then I rinse the poor things thoroughly. Then I let my Mudkip om nom nom them.

Like this-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-EGnLKTMbw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D385qkSPEeQ
 
On that last point - sorry to steel your thread PhxJosh - but do you have to do all that to your earth worms or can you just run them under a tap to get all the gunk and dirt off them then feed them straight to you Axie? I have been digging my earthworms up from my garden and placing them in a worm/compost farm (serves two puprose - (1) Axie food and (2) plant food!) and digging them back up when I need them and rinsing them off before feeding Noir! Does it harm the Axie to eat them 'as is'? I'm really really new at this, when I got Noir the pet shop guy just told me that he had been hand fed from a pup and didn't take food that didn't wriggle so he just fed him earth worms and he didn't mention anything about cleaning them so throughly?!

Sorry PhxJosh :eek: - Back to you!
 
Hi S.J!

I know it's been advised to soak the earthworm in fresh dechlorinated water for 30 minutes, which makes them excreet any 'gunk'.

Cheers, Mike.:cool:
 
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