Picky eaters

[lauren]

Anyone else come across a picky axolotl? Mine spits out waxworms, ignores bloodworms, and hates everything else live or previously alive. But he eats pellets and has grown from 4 to 6.5 inches in the 3 months I've had him. He's a real wierdo

 

[michael]

I mostly feed salmon pellets. If I get an axolotl that doesn't go for them I use earthworms. Usually the picky ones will go for the worms. I prefer to feed salmon pellets. They have a good nutritional make up and are cheaper than most foods.

 

[heather]

I have good luck wiht salmon pellets also, my larger axols will not touch them, I think its because i have the smaller kind and its hard for them to find them, lol. My little axol loves em though, he likes worms but I cant get ahold of the ones small enough for him, so he gets pellets instead, fine with me, I find them easier to deal with!

 

[katherine]

My big axolotl, Barry, is really picky. He shakes his head if I try feed him something he doesn't want. It is funny, like a person shakes his head. I feed him pellets and frozen axolotl food but he wont touch either of them if he doesn't feel like it. My little guy, Taco, wont eat pellets but loves blood worms and frozen axolotl food. He is the opposite to Barry and bites anything in his tank. Barry wont eat worms and just ignores them writhing around. Barry loves catching pellets that float by his head but Taco will only eat what I hold out for him and wont search around the tank for food.
Yep they are both picky things but with so much personality!

 

[mik]

I go with mr Shroms advice. I use earthworms as a staple they love 'em.

 

[john]

For adults I feed pellets about once every 2 or 3 days. They're kept in the teens Celsius so that's fine for them. Michael Shrom was kind enough to send me some pellets! Thanks again Mike! Once a week each adult will get a whole red earthworm each. They usually eat the red earthworms without issue.

 

[mik]

I am using an alternaitve schedule to yours John.

I keep my big tank in the garage. Water temp has been at 14C for weeks now. So I now feed my adults a largish earthworm (dendrata - don't know any more latin stuff on worm species) every other day and once a week a few pellets.

When they were in house at temps of 20C I used to feed every day as worms for 2 days and anything else (pellets, waxworms, mealworms and so on)the third day.

 

[cynthia]

I have really good luck feeding the soft salmon pellets. They are very convenient.

I recently acquired 3 young axolotls. 2 wild type and 1 gold albino. They are close to the same age, but one of the wild types was easily an inch longer when I got them.

They all "like" the pellets, but to different degrees.

The gold one is by far the best eater and it shows, it is quickly out growing the larger wild type.

The other wild type was the smallest (and most chewed up) when I got them. It is growing very fast and has regenerated its missing limbs and gills at an amazing rate.

This week I started cutting an earthworm into 3 pieces and they share it for "breakfast" every other day. The large wild type will rarely eat the pellets now that it gets worms. The other 2 still accept the pellets with no problem.

I do catch an occasional insect and feed it to who ever "looks starving" lol at the time. None of them have rejected these offerings.

I was hoping to keep all of them eating pellets along with their "other foods" because they are so easy to use and they have grown so well on them.

 

[kezzy]

i just got an axolotl off a friend, and he's fully grown. The aquarium is the right temperature and everything, we have him in with some gold fish. We attempt to feed him little shrimp and prawns, and we've tried to feed him pellots. However, he wont eat them and would rather attempt to eat our goldfish but he can't get the gold fish because they're too fast. So what should we do now? we don't want him to starve.

 

[rheann]

Hi Kezzy,

You should never keep Axolotls in with Goldfish. Your goldfish will eventually try and nibble off the gills of your Axolotl, and they could injure him badly or kill him.

I actually just got another Axolotl (making 6 total) from a pet store a few weeks ago that was kept in with gravel and goldfish. he was suffering terribly from anchorworms which made him so weak and pale. I just learned tonight that he is STILL suffering from them and I have to get medication to get rid of them. The first time I tried pulling them off with tweezers but that apparently hasn't worked.

Most Axolotls will eat Earthworms. You can get these from bait shops or petstores. Don't get the kind that look like earthworms that have big spines on them. They could harm or kill your Axolotls because they have a very nasty bite. They are called Bloodworms, but aren't the little bloodworms they sell as live fish foods at stores. The spined bloodworms they sell at bait shops.

As soon as you can move your Axolotl to another tank or container. A gallon ice cream bucket or even a food safe container will work until you get another tank set-up. Make sure the tank is pre-cycled before you put your Axolotl in it. Or, if your tank is big enough you can put in a tank divider to keep him separated from the goldish.

I also wouldn't feed your Axolotl any feeder fish from petstores. Petstore fish carry nasty parasites and diseases.

Bloodworms and blackworms also work as good food for your Axolotls.

Let us know how he does

Also we here at the forum love new Pictures of Axolotls! If you have any, please post them

 

[kezzy]

but dont axolotls just grow back their gills and things anyway?
because on internet sites it says its fine to have him in with goldfish? we dont just have alittle tank, its like a 250 gallons aquarium. i really have no idea lol.

 

[sin]

Nice to know other ppl have picky eaters, i've been trying to feed one for the past two weeks, with everything from pellets to live blood worms, frozen ones, feeder fish and today i bought some dried shrimp, soaked them until they were nice and soft and both of mine have been scoffing them down and coming back for more.

 

[rheann]

No, it's a really bad idea to keep them with the gold fish. If your tank is that big, why not get a tank divider and just separate them. If you have just one Axolotl, all he really needs is about 10 gallons of room.

Axolotls have a difficult time defending them selves against goldfish and larger predators. Axolotls getting bitten by other animals, i.e goldfish or Axolotls, or any other animal can lead to infection or fungus problems. Axolotls really aren't able to defend themselves from Axolotls. They can swim or nip back, but the goldfish will always find a way to snack on the axolotl. Which ever site you got that information from wasn't very informative.

The little Axolotl that I got from the petstore recently got so sick from the goldfish that he was with. Sometimes I wonder if he will live into the next month. He never moves around. His gills were nearly all nipped off and he's alone in a quarantine tank. Even if your goldfish are healthy, they can still cause health risks to your little buddy.

I have a 60 gallon tank that will soon be ready to set up and will cycle it for a good 30 days and test it before I put my Axies in it. If the new guys lives and I can get rid of all the parasites he will move into the tank with them once I know he is healthy.

I think your best option would be to get a tank divider. They sell these at most petstores, or if you live in the united states or Canada, you can order one from this site:

www.bigalslonline.com

Also, www.axolotls.org this site holds loads of information, especially the forum about Axolotls.

 

[rheann]

Sin Sister, have you tried Earthworms? Most Axoltols love these.

They also provide good nutrition and make a great stable, though other things like bloodworms, blackworms or shrimp can also be offered when feeding earthworms, and of course, Crickets for snacks

 

[kezzy]

oh no. i hope hes o.k. hes fully grown..so maybe hell be o.k. i'll have to move him out. are they ment to move around at all? because mine just sits there and doesn't move.

 

[rheann]

He should be ok if you put in a divider or move him into another tank. If you move him into another tank, make sure to cycle the tank first and in the meanwhile you can keep him in a food safe container like an ice cream bucket and either use a large veggie strainer or the lid to the bucket with wholes poked into it to keep it covered.

Or the tank divider also works well too. It will keep the goldfish out of his side, and him out of their side lol.

Adults don't move around much, but they do like to swim around a bit. When they don't move period and act stressed, then that's a bad sign.

 

[kezzy]

how can u tell if they're stressed?

 

[laura]

It depends what kind of stress, but usually their gills stand really upright and if its heat stress then they get white spots on their heads.

The best place to find out is at http://www.axolotl.org/. I found that there is heaps of information on there to look at.

Good luck

 

[jordan]

Also, to see stress, their tails will curl at the end. All the sites others recommended were great and you should definitely read them.