Earthworms

[Kendra01]

Hey everyone! Thanks for the responses on my last thread Gubster recently ran out of his smaller European night crawlers... I thought his last batch was as big as they get! Oh boy was I wrong... I went to PetSmart to get him some critter food because it was the closest store to where we were shopping. Needless to say I was surprised when the employee brought out worms that were the size of my pinky. Does anyone feed their axolotl's bigger worms? I just don't want him to choke or refuse because it's to big. I'll post a picture for reference after this. How many pieces should I cut it into? For now I just did 1/3 of the worm and he took it eagerly with no problem (he's a pig) however when I tried to offer the other pieces I saw VERY strange behavior coming from him.. He refused it! Is that small part of a very big worm enough to fill him up? He used to eat a full sized worm from the European night crawler package I got at Canadian Tire. I feed him every day (even though he's 9-12 months) because I got him and he was a little neglected from the pet store. He was super skinny so I increased his diet and now he's back to normal weight (head the width of his body) Should I lessen his feedings to every second day now? He always seems hungry, whenever I get out of bed in the morning he swims to his tank very eagerly for food... I don't want to feel like I'm abusing him by not feeding him when he's hungry LOL. Any input is great!

 

[Kendra01]

These are his new worms

 

[Kendra01]

This is the size of one of his old worms

 

[AnimeDan]

Axolotls are opportunity feeders and as long as their stomach is empty they’ll eat even if they don’t need to. My Axolotl buddy once ate so much that he threw up because he stole his tank mate’s dinner. on the other hand most axolotls will stop eating once they are full so him refusing the rest likely just means he was full. He may also not like the new worms as well. My little dudes love red wigglers but Buddy spits night crawlers out when I try and feed them to him. Just like people axolotls have preferences.
I’d definitely suggest cutting him back to every other day if he’s reached normal weight as you don’t want him getting too fat. Axolotls digestion slows down as they reach full grown to the point where they can even go a week to two weeks without eating if they have eaten enough before hand. I wouldn’t recommend going that long without feeding him but you don’t need to worry about it being abuse just because you are going a day or two between feeds.

 

[Kendra01]

Thanks for the feedback! Hopefully he doesn't hate me or you for his new-found diet LOL. He seems to love night crawlers. He snatches them up no problem, however I wouldn't mind adding something new to his diet so thank you for the suggestions! He also gets occasional treats such as; superworms, frozen blood worms and frozen brine shrimp and he is bowl trained!