firedreams
2010 Research Grant Donor
- Joined
- May 31, 2009
- Messages
- 243
- Reaction score
- 7
- Points
- 0
- Location
- Toronto, ON
- Country
- Canada
- Display Name
- Lydia
Hi all,
I was recently lucky enough to add 3 Ambystoma Mexicanum juveniles (currently approx. 5 months old) to my collection of Caudates. Upon seeing what enthusiastic and opportunistic eaters they are, I have become a tad paranoid about the possibility that they might unexpectedly exhaust my live food supply in the dead of winter, and so have been researching pellets as an occasional dietary supplement / emergency food source. While I do have access to commercially available newt/salamander “bites”, I suspect that a homemade pellet would be healthier (and also, frankly, I am keen on controlling exactly what goes into the food that I feed to my axolotls). After looking over the recipe for Johnny’s Axolotl Pellets, I decided to try my hand at making my own pellets. Instead of following Johnny’s recipe to the letter (I didn’t want to make * that * many pellets, and I did not have access to all of his ingredients), I elected to create my own recipe, inspired by his. Here it is:
Ingredients:
85 large crickets (place in freeze 1 hr before blending)
25 wax worms
10 butter worms
2 dozen night crawlers
2 dozen red wigglers
1 package frozen blood worms (defrosted)
1 package frozen tubifex worms (defrosted)
2 cups frozen “salad shrimp” (defrosted, rinsed and soaked in dechlorinated water for about 2 hours)
1 tbsp calcium powder
2 unflavoured gelatin packets (dissolved in 2 cups of dechlorinated water, and heated to a boil)
Instructions:
Blend all ingredients in electric blender until mixture has the consistency of thick gravy. Using an icing dispenser (or a zip-lock bag with a small hole cut into one corner), dispense mixture in long lines onto cookie sheets covered with wax paper. Let mixture dry in the sun, or in an oven set on warm. Do not dry too much! Ideally, the mixture should be the consistency of chewed bubble gum (minus the elasticity). Cut the lines of mixture into small bars, approximately 1-2cm long and 1-2mm wide. Spread the bars out on a wax paper covered cookie sheet and place them in the freezer for 3 hours. Remove from freezer, and divide the frozen pellets up into freezer bags and return to freezer. (Pre-freezing on the cookie sheet will prevent the pellets from freezing together in a giant ball when placed together in a freezer bag). The pellets should be good for at least 1 yr in the freezer.
All of my Axies seem very pleased with these pellets. I also offered one to my adult P. Chinensis – a notoriously picky eater – and even he was happy to take one! I do not intend these as a replacement for live food, but hope that they can be a nutritious occasional supplement.
Attached are pictures of the process.
I was recently lucky enough to add 3 Ambystoma Mexicanum juveniles (currently approx. 5 months old) to my collection of Caudates. Upon seeing what enthusiastic and opportunistic eaters they are, I have become a tad paranoid about the possibility that they might unexpectedly exhaust my live food supply in the dead of winter, and so have been researching pellets as an occasional dietary supplement / emergency food source. While I do have access to commercially available newt/salamander “bites”, I suspect that a homemade pellet would be healthier (and also, frankly, I am keen on controlling exactly what goes into the food that I feed to my axolotls). After looking over the recipe for Johnny’s Axolotl Pellets, I decided to try my hand at making my own pellets. Instead of following Johnny’s recipe to the letter (I didn’t want to make * that * many pellets, and I did not have access to all of his ingredients), I elected to create my own recipe, inspired by his. Here it is:
Ingredients:
85 large crickets (place in freeze 1 hr before blending)
25 wax worms
10 butter worms
2 dozen night crawlers
2 dozen red wigglers
1 package frozen blood worms (defrosted)
1 package frozen tubifex worms (defrosted)
2 cups frozen “salad shrimp” (defrosted, rinsed and soaked in dechlorinated water for about 2 hours)
1 tbsp calcium powder
2 unflavoured gelatin packets (dissolved in 2 cups of dechlorinated water, and heated to a boil)
Instructions:
Blend all ingredients in electric blender until mixture has the consistency of thick gravy. Using an icing dispenser (or a zip-lock bag with a small hole cut into one corner), dispense mixture in long lines onto cookie sheets covered with wax paper. Let mixture dry in the sun, or in an oven set on warm. Do not dry too much! Ideally, the mixture should be the consistency of chewed bubble gum (minus the elasticity). Cut the lines of mixture into small bars, approximately 1-2cm long and 1-2mm wide. Spread the bars out on a wax paper covered cookie sheet and place them in the freezer for 3 hours. Remove from freezer, and divide the frozen pellets up into freezer bags and return to freezer. (Pre-freezing on the cookie sheet will prevent the pellets from freezing together in a giant ball when placed together in a freezer bag). The pellets should be good for at least 1 yr in the freezer.
All of my Axies seem very pleased with these pellets. I also offered one to my adult P. Chinensis – a notoriously picky eater – and even he was happy to take one! I do not intend these as a replacement for live food, but hope that they can be a nutritious occasional supplement.
Attached are pictures of the process.
