New food options?

[heather]

When I went to the pet store the other dayI saw some interesting food options. They had frozen mysis shrimp in theses little cubes, so i bought those thinking maybe the larvae will like it but they didnt... so i tried them on my adults and boy did they like it! they ate it still frozen!
I also saw live silk worms, wierd little things...actually they were pretty big. I didnt buy any of those.

Has anybody heard anything bad about frozen Mysis shrimp or Live Silk worms??

 

[cynthia]

Heather - Two years ago I was given a "free sample" of freeze dried mysis shrimp when I ordered some fish food flakes.

The fish loved them, I crumbed them up as treats. They had a strong smell, do the frozen ones smell strong too?

As I recall mysis shrimp are a favorite food of captive bred sea horses.

 

[heather]

Nope, hardly smelly at all.
On the package it says that the shrimp are in a Nutrient solution of some sort...nutrtious treats!

 

[brian]

Mysis shrimp have been available over here for years. They are the standard food to feed captive seahorses (after you wean them off live). I'd imagine they would be pretty good for axies. I know my fish love them.

Silkworms are relativly new to the market, only having been widely available for 2 or 3 years. They are incredibly nutritious, and animals go nuts over them. My Bearded Dragon will take 4-5 at a time, often in one mouth full. They can be quite large though, so you may want to be careful about the size you feed them.

(Message edited by brian on March 27, 2005)

 

[heather]

I know you have to chop the heads off meal worms. Would it be necessary with these guys?

 

[jarred]

I never thought of silk worms as a food for axolotls. Could they be used as a staple?

 

[brian]

No need to cut heads off. They don't have very strong jaws.

 

[elisheba]

i think silk worms are fatty (and expensive

so i wouldn't use them as a staple.

 

[heather]

my axos dont like em any way

 

[brian]

Silkworms may look fatty, but their fat content is actually very low. They are excellent live foods for any animal that will take them.

 

[josh]

I feed my axies chicken breast for food he love it so much you think it's ok to do that what do you guys thinmk fo that.

 

[josh]

I feed my axies chicken breast for food he love it so much you think it's ok to do that what do you guys think of that. and also live worms out of the ground too

 

[cynthia]

Josh - I would not feed the chicken breast because of Salmonella.

The earthworms are a great choice and are a good staple food as are salmon pellets. Add variety to its diet with an occasional cricket, grasshopper, small piece of fillet fish.

Take a look at http://www.axolotl.org/feeding.htm

for more info

 

[josh]

Cynthia Gardner - Could you tell me more about this salmonella with the axolotls? Usually it is raw and frozen and i thaw it out just before i feed it to him. I have been feeding him that cause my girlfriend has had an axolotl longer than me and she feeds it to hers. I really did not know there was anything wrong with that. I looked at the feeding page, but i did not see any information about chicken. I certainly do not want to make my axolotl sick.

 

[cynthia]

Josh - I have never seen any information on anyone feeding chicken to axolotls. Raw chicken is a common source of salmonella. I have no idea if axolotls would be at risk of "food poisoning" from salmonella like people are. This brings about my reluctance of chicken as an axolotl staple food.
Obviously axolotls would never encounter a filet-o-chicken in the wild

If anyone has any info on chicken as axolotl food I hope they post it here.

this link http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/ency/salmonella_food_poisoning.jsp
has info on salmonella.

 

[brian]

The only thing I feed chicken to is large, arboreal monitors, because they'd be eating bird in the wild. The risk of salmonella is just too high otherwise. I'd also avoid feeding large quantities of bird or mammal meat to any amphibian because it's not something they would eat naturally, which makes it very hard on their systems, especially kidneys and liver.