How often should I be feeding a 7” Axolotl who is under a year old?

[Chadillac]

I’ve read a ton of conflicting things when it comes to feeding my axolotls. I’ve read you should feed them as much as they will eat, feed them just one worm a day, feed them once or twice a week. I’m worried I’m either going to end up over feeding or under feeding.

Currently I’m feeding one worm each day. He (or she) poops less frequently than I thought they would (once a week roughly) but shows no signs of constipation or distress. Water measures are all right where they should be, with 25% water changes once a week.

If anyone has any advice or guidance on this I would very much appreciate it.

 

[Murk]

It's almost impossible to accidentally overfeed axolotls.

As long as they show interest in food and are willing to put in effort to come get it, you aren't overfeeding.
Once they've had enough their interest in the food will decrease and they won't approach food anymore, or they'll even swim away.

It's not necessary to feed an adult axolotl every day, but it won't hurt.
Since this one is "under a year old", how often you should feed at a minimum depends on their specific age. If they have four legs, you don't necessarily need to feed every day anymore.

But you can. Feeding less than once a day is just a matter of convenience.

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Often when people notice negative effects when they feed more (and hence think "I must have overfed!") what they're actually seeing is the impact of food on water quality. Uneaten food and poop all lead to more ammonia.
If you have an uncycled (or unproperly cycled) tank, feeding more or more than necessary can lead to water quality issues. But that's not a problem of "overfeeding"; it's a tank maintenance issue.

All in all, feed as often as is most efficient to you:
- As long as the axolotl is nice and chubby (belly as wide as their head, or even slightly more if they're very young)
- If they're not interested in the food, don't force them.
- Keep an eye on water quality.

 

[AMurry24537]

A heads-up though, not all axolotls will self-regulate. It's rare, but I have one who would literally eat himself to death if he could. I monitor how much food I give him based on his weight (like Murk mentioned, the widest part of the body should be able the same width as it's head). I usually feed mine every other day and switch back and forth between worms and pellets. Please also bear in mind that both worms and pellets come in different sizes depending on the type/brand. For a little while, it'll probably be trial and error. If you notice your axolot is a little skinny, you can gradually start feeding more and less if it looks too chubby.

 

[Murk]

A heads-up though, not all axolotls will self-regulate. It's rare, but I have one who would literally eat himself to death if he could.

Oh, really? That's interesting - never heard that before!

Good to know.

 

[AMurry24537]

Oh, really? That's interesting - never heard that before!

Good to know.

Yep, I call him my little piggy. He does this little swim move when I'm about to feed him and basically every time he sees my walking around his tank, he starts doing "the wiggle" in the hopes I'll give him food, even if he just ate a gigantic worm 20 minutes before

 

[ArpTheAxolotl]

Yep, I call him my little piggy. He does this little swim move when I'm about to feed him and basically every time he sees my walking around his tank, he starts doing "the wiggle" in the hopes I'll give him food, even if he just ate a gigantic worm 20 minutes before

Oh my i can imagine that happening

 

[Dr. Phil]

I've been exclusively feeding my axolotls (for three years now) composting worms from my worm bins - the species of worm is Eisenia fetida, sometimes called 'red wigglers' or 'tiger worms'. They are considerably smaller and thinner than many other kinds of 'earthworms' - certainly nowhere near as large as nightcrawlers. Mine will easily eat four or five of these a day. When I am gone for months at a time during the summer I have students who take care of them and feed them only a couple times a week. They certainly look a little smaller when I get back, but otherwise seem healthy. I alwys try to fattem them up and feed them as much as they want prior to leaving for extended periods.