Eating sand

[Ashlie]

I've just changed the base for my axolotl's tank from river rocks to sand. There was no problems with the rocks except they're really hard to clean and i've been reading on the forum that most people prefer to use sand on the bottom of their tanks.

Well... it's the first time i've fed my axie, since i put the sand in the tank. I usually hand feed her, then place the remains in a bowl that is burried in the sand.
As she tries to hoover up the stray bits of bloodworm that didn't make it to the bowl and landed in the sand instead, i've noticed she sucks up alot of sand, she then has to spit it out, meaning she ends up spitting the food out too.
It looks as though she is coughing the sand back out. She isn't showing any signs of stress (gills or tail), and she is absolutely fine otherwise. Im just wondering wether this is normal axie behaviour??

I know she cant help sucking up the sand with the food, but is it normal for her to spit everything out? Will she learn to just eat out of the bowl to avoid eating sand, or will she get used to spitting out the sand?

Im worried that she might become frustrated with constantly sucking up sand and she might stop eating. Im a very nervous new axie owner and im really anxious to get things right. Please can someone advise me??

 

[big a little a]

Hi Ashlie

I have sand in my tank too - the easiest thing I find is to use an old jam jar - cleaned out and label removed first though!

When feeding things like live bloodworms, I will pop them in the jar and then fill the jar to the brim with dechorinated water - I then wait for the water to settle and all the bloodworms to drop to the bottom of the jar. Finally, I lower the jar into the water, turning it so that it's on it's side as soon as it is submerged (to stop any worms escaping) and leaving it at the bottom for my axie.

As axie's are little inquisitive monsters, yours should soon come over to explore this new addition to the tank - when she finds the food, she'll soon start associating the jar with dinner time!

Zoe x

 

[Yucca Patrol]

I've seen that my axies are pretty good at holding the bloodworm in their mouth while spitting out the sand. I'm not worried one bit since they seem very good at this.

 

[ianclick]

Hi Ashlie,

Axolotls are used to hunting worms in the substrate and will often dig foe them. I wouldn't worry about the sand eating they will spit it out or it can pass fairly easily.

Good Luck

 

[Markw]

Agreed with everyone. Mine do the same thing. They soon learned to keep the worms in and the sand spat out.

Mark

 

[SUZY]

Hi Ashley !
I feed my axies outside of the tank, but because of plants, many years ago, I have an on going population of snails, that serve as treats in my tank. My substrait is sand as well, and they always seem to eat the sand and never have a problem passing it. I don't think that they mind, as sand/mud is a make up of their naturl habitat.