Frozen Bloodworm cube nutrition...

[yager]

Hi everyone, I read on Caudata Culture that frozen bloodworm cubes are an excellent source of food for young axolotls. I was wondering though, what kind of nutrients do they actually provide? And what causes the red coloring. Mine love these cubes more than anything but really what do they provide nutritionally?

 

[ianclick]

Hi yager,

Most store bought frozen Bloodworms are usually gut loaded to ensure a good nutritional balance, in a store bought pack you should be getting...

Blood worms, water, vitamins (ascorbic acid, beta carotene, biotin, hydroxocobalamin (source of Vitamin B12), niacin, riboflavin, thiamine HCL), amino acids (dl-methionine, l-lysine, taurine), and trace elements (calcium chloride, potassium iodide, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, magnesium carbonate, and zinc sulfate).

Just check with the supplier and ask for a nutritional analysis, I would say the colour probably comes from the beta carotene but I don't know for sure.

 

[yager]

Thank you ianclick, the brand is San Francisco Bay Brand, and their guaranteed analysis is only crude protein 3.5%, crude fat 0.3% , crude fiber 0.7%, and moisture which i'm assuming is the water 94.5%, do you still think that there is trace elements in this brand or is that all its got?

 

[ianclick]

Hi yager.

I would think so the gut loading is a standard practise but, I am not familiar with the brand you have mentioned.

 

[Darkmaverick]

Hi Yager,

You might like to refer to this comprehensive list showing the nutritional composition of most caudate food type. It is listed alphabetically so bloodworms should be somewhere near the top of the list behind blackworms.

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/foods2.shtml

Cheers

 

[Azhael]

The red colour comes from Hemoglobin. But it also has to be partially from carotenoids...otherwise i don´t see how caudates build up colour when they are fed with these....

 

[SludgeMunkey]

Personally, I have found the SF Bay brand to be a bit lacking. I have had better luck with the Hikari brand of this product.

They too are "gut loaded" with the following:

beta carotene, vitamin B12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized vitamin C), riboflavin, thiamine mono-nitrate, biotin, choline chloride, folic acid, pantothenic acid, inositol, niacin.

Crude Protein Crude Fat Crude Fiber Moisture 6.0% Min. 0.5% Min. 0.9% Max. 89.0% Max.

 

[kenya]

I don't really care for San Francisco Bay either. But I can't ever find the Hikari worms near me.

I love anything made by Hikari, and the SFB worms are like 99% water.

 

[SludgeMunkey]

I tried both brands back when I was breeding axolotls constantly. The axolotls fed SF Bay brand did not develop as quickly or as robust as the Hikari fed tank. I have to agree with the "mostly water" statement also. There are less worms in a cube of SFB compared to Hikari.

I feel that both nutritionally and "bang for your buck", Hikari wins. However, I do use quite a few SF Bay products with out issue.

 

[Jennewt]

For those of us in the USA, we can buy Hikari bloodworm cubes at a good price from the Drs. Foster Smith website. If you buy 10 or more of the gumdrop packs, the price (including overnight shipping) is about the same as buying them from a pet shop. The only caveat is that it's better to order them in the winter, as shipping frozen food at this time of year is dicey.

 

[roobot5000]

I've been using hikari brand bloodworms/brine shrimp for a little over a year now with no problems.
My newts thrive on them and my newest addition [an axolotl] has grown from 2" to 6" in about 4 months.

I've tried breeding the sf bay brine shrimp to no avail and wasn't satisfied with their frozen line.
So I'm another here saying bump it up to the hikari, you won't be disappointed.

Good luck with the hunt.