Do they know when to stop eating?

[akiso914]

I was just wondering if an axolotls know when to stop eating! Mine doesn't seem to get full, she is about a year old and can eat more than a dozen big worms in a sitting, or a couple dozen guppies. I don't usually just dump a lot of food in at once because I know she won't stop until she's eaten all of it! Is this good that her appetite is so strong?

 

[Donna001]

I don't know the answer to this, but I have mixed experiences with my axolotls.
I have 6 axolotls in total. None are completely mature yet. All get fed morning and evening.
The 3 larger axolotls (approx. 25cm) are in one tank. When they are hand fed earthworms or pieces of prawn, they will usually have an earthworm (or equivalent) and then stop. If I put another worm in front of them they don't snap at it, and sometimes will move away.
The 3 smaller ones (approx. 15cm) in the other tank can't eat a whole earthworm, so the worm gets cut in half, or prawn pieces are smaller. 2 of the juveniles (coppers) will eat the equivalent of 1 whole worm. The other (a wild type) will not only keep eating, but comes to the front of the tank, or swims to the surface, to kind of beg for food. This one has been known to eat so much that about an hour later it is sick and regurgitates the majority of the partially digested food. It has grown more than the others, but I have to limit its food to the same as the others to stop it from being sick. I am also a bit concerned that if it keeps growing so quickly it will be too big to be able to share the tank with the other 2 without them being at risk of damage, but then I also worried that if it gets too hungry the result will be the same.
I'll be interested to hear what other people have experienced.

 

[auntiejude]

Most axies stop when they are full, but there are still a lot of adults that upchuck if they stuff themselves. You can't really overfeed a juvie, but adults need their owners to control their food.
If your axie is eating a dozen worms in a sitting she probably needs to cut down a bit, or just be fed once a week. Or try just 2 or 3 worms every other day.

 

[Donna001]

Thanks for the information.
I also feed my juveniles axolotls pellets. They eat them, again with the wild type taking most before the others can. Do you think it's possible that the 2 coppers are smaller because, even though they are offered the same amount of food when hand fed, the wild type will dominate the feeding area when there are pellets down?
With my group of larger axolotls, they eat earthworms and prawns, but are not interested in the pellets. Is it because the pellets are too small? What else can I offer then to make sure their diet is varied enough? Is a mixture of worms and seafood enough, or should I try to find larger pellets that they can be hand fed?
Sorry for taking over the thread with more food questions.

 

[akiso914]

Thanks for the input! I just wanted to hear what other people have experienced.
My juvie has barfed up only once because she ate too much.

 

[akiso914]

Also, Once or twice when i gave her a particularly wiggly worm, she snapped it all up in one go and the worm popped out behind her gill...she really didn't like it and was a little afraid of worms for a day or two after that...Has anyone had this happen before?