Going on holiday soon,

[j0hn_4ll4n@hotmail.com]

IM going on holiday soon for up to two weeks and i need to know the best kind of feeder fish since my axy kinda attacks anyone who puts there hand in the tank and he dosnt notice falling food. I was thinking about tadpoles any ideas?

 

[mik]

Best if you can get some one to pop in once or twice to feed them.

Some tadpoles are supposed to have or be able to produce foul tasting chemicals. (someone with more experience of feeding tadpoles add something if you know better).

Feeder fish could be mollies or guppies. But it is often quoted that feeder fish often bring disease with them (Sorry Leah, not having the arguement with you of how that happens, the likelihood, why or the morality). so you may want to quarantine some before adding to your axie tanks.

 

[rodney]

I use gambusies, but Ive heard guppies are ok as well- pretty slow, easy to catch.

 

[i.]

What about simple 10 cents/piece gold fish? That's what most pet shops sell as feeder. I would definitely quarantine them though. That's what I do and they are often sick straight out of the pet shop.

 

[edward]

I would not suggest using goldfish as they are high in saturated fats. I would also suggest not leaving live gambusia in with any caudate as they have been known to nip the gills until only nubs are left in sirens.

Ed

 

[justin]

If you can find tadpoles this time of year, I'd highly recommend them. My axolotls consumed dozens of wild-caught tadpoles this past spring and almost doubled in size.

I've had great success using wild-caught food as my primary food supply (worms, crickets, tadpoles, grubs...). The worse experience I had was with feeder fish (minnows); they always seem to cause a mild case of 'gill-fuzz.'

 

[kaysie]

feeding wild-caught food (especially other amphibians!) is a VERY good way to disease your animals. These can introduce parasites and bacteria and a host of other illnesses.

 

[jennifer]

I wouldn't give such a broad condemnation of wild-caught food. Most of us have used wild-caught earthworms. And many people use slugs and insects as well. Tadpoles do have a somewhat higher risk, as they may be more likely to carry something that would also infect a salamander. But a lot of people have used tadpoles as food without problems.

I have heard of disease problems with feeder fish, especially ones that came recently from a pet shop. So it may be too late for that option, as they would need to be quarantined.

Two weeks is not very long for a salamander. I would suggest that the axie will be OK without food, especially if you can lower the thermostat and keep it very cool.

 

[justin]

You could try feeding them a little extra before heading out of town. I'm often away on climbing trips and I usually feed the adults 4 times instead of the usual 3 times a week if I'm going to be gone longer than a week. Never had any problems.

 

[kaysie]

I'm not condemning wild food, I'm just saying that you never know what it has in it, especially tadpoles.

 

[pollywog]

This might sound like a dumb comment but would it be possible to put worms into one of those fish feeders that release some food into the tank at timed intervals?

 

[andre]

for as long as the food doesnt stay stucked in the feeder, I dont see anything wrong with using one ... I've been thinking of buyin one myself

 

[jennifer]

I don't exactly know how those feeders look like or operate. If the worms were confined in a small space at room temp, I think they would die. If the worms died in there, you'd be dosing the tank with crud. Dead worms can be deadly.

My vacation motto:
**Hunger is always preferable to foul water**

 

[cynthia]

I plan to continue feeding my axolotls the salmon pellets along with their other foods just incase I did have to leave my house for a period of time. The salmon pellets could be put into a fish feeder.

I am going to cover the bottom of the axolotl tank where the feeder would drop food in with slate (I found some lovely black slate last week), so it is easier for them to find the pellets.

I have had very good luck with these fish feeders:

http://www.petguys.com/-035368002070.html

(That is the cheapest place on the web I have found them.)

I use them constantly on all my aquariums (10) for daily feeding with very few problems.

The battery (AA) lasts about a year.

If the feeder is set to feed 2 times a day it will feed for a week (good fish setting). If it is set to feed once a day it will feed for 14 days.

 

[mik]

On worms, I have had a few that escaped into the gravel. On holding a major clean I found them still alive in the gravel. Worms seem to be able to survive in water for quite a while. Note this isn't a reccommedation only an observation.

 

[cynthia]

I don't think you could use a feeder for live worms.

A drum type feeder wouldn't really work well for axolotl pellets. Drum type feeders just spin and drop in what ever happens to fall out that time around. I have had problems regulating them and have stopped trying to use them to feed my fish, they always seemed to feed to much or not enough.

I have switched to the Fish Mate feeders.

The fish mate feeder
http://www.petguys.com/-035368002070.html
listed here will work for salmon pellets. I use these feeders for both pellets and flakes in my fish tanks. They only feed what you put into the individual slots, but that food needs to be fairly dry so it doesn't stick to the sides.

The only draw back of the fish mate feeders that I have found is that you can position them so they catch to much moisture and that makes the food stick inside the slot instead of falling in the tank. In which case you just have to find a new location on the tank top to set them. Or you can hook an aquarium air pump up to them for constant air flow to prevent sticking.

I really can't say enough good things about these feeders.

(Message edited by cynorita on December 10, 2004)

 

[jenny]

Do big giant fancy goldfish which are about 5 inches long and 4 inches high nip at axy gills?

 

[cynthia]

I have some goldfish that size, they could easily rip the gills completely OFF the axolotl.

I would not put any goldfish in with an axolotl no matter what their size.

 

[jesse]

bull frog tadpoles are usually what you can find at petshops i feed them to my mudpuppy after i quaranteen them, they are god for putting wieght on sals, though i know that alot of ppl might gasp when i say this but ive l;et some transform and get a little big then feel them to my mudpuppy, im pretty sure thAT you cant do that with an axo, but i jsut thought id throw that in there.

 

[jesse]

oh yeah goldfish are definitely fin biters.