Questions on feeding Axies

[Kerry1968]

Hello, I am the proud owner of two beautiful 3 month old white Axolotls. I have had them for just over 24 hours! The lady I bought them from kindly provided me with some earth worms for their food, but they have eaten nearly all the worms now and I have been out worm hunting for more but haven't found any. I looked up what foods Axies eat and saw somewhere that they eat bloodworms, I bought some freeze dried bloodworms, but they have shown no interest at all. I wondered if there is anything else I could offer them that is quite easy to get hold of? I thought about meal worms, the type you can buy live in pet shops for feeding wild birds, I don't know if they would be suitable, I know I read about the hard shells of some insect larvae is unpalatable for Axies. The two I have seem to like live food best and I'm struggling to think what I can give them. I don't have a garden, so the earth worm thing is a bit of a problem! Hope you can help, thank you, Kerry.

 

[gr33neyes]

Hello Kerry, welcome to the world of axolotls.
You could try them with some slugs and snails. You have to remove the shells from the snails though so if you are squeamish you may want to avoid that one, I must admit its usually a last resort for me lol.
If I find I can't get my hands on any earthworms then I turn to my freezer where I keep chunks of frozen fish, liver and prawns. These are fed more as treats then anything as a day or two of leaving my earthworm patch alone is usually long enough for the worms to invade again.
You could also try getting some live bloodworm. My two go mad for it and I rarely find any bloodworm left after an hour or two.
Another thing I give mine if I come across them is woodlice, they can't scuttle away fast enough before the axies have them.
If you decide to give the frozen liver and prawns a go be sure to defrost them first and cut them into small pieces as your axies are only babies.
You have to be careful with feeding them mealworms. You need to either remove or crush the heads as their pincer teeth can easily damage the axolotls stomach inside.
Another food some keepers give is feeder fish. These can be such fish as white cloud minnows and guppies. The fish either have their own breeding tank and once babies appear these are fed live by throwing them in the axie tank or they are kept in the tank with the axies and left to defend themselves and possibly breed.
If you are buying feeder fish then they need to be quarantined for 30 days in a separate tank/container before you add them to your axolotl tank.
Hope this have given you some ideas and be sure to ask any more questions you have.

 

[digger]

If you dont have a garden you can always try an angling shop for earth worms, this is where i top up my supply.

 

[Kerry1968]

Thanks for all your help, I have now found a company online that posts earthworms for pet food. This is great because I don't need to worry about whether they are safe for my Axies (any bacteria etc) also as I'm getting quite a few I'll be able to set up a wormery and hopefully breed the worms to keep my little Axies happy! The biggest bonus is that the worms are small so I won't need to cut the worms up (YUK I hate that bit) as long as the worms don't get too big too fast!! Happy me, happy Axies!!

 

[Jacquie]

...I have now found a company online that posts earthworms for pet food...The biggest bonus is that the worms are small so I won't need to cut the worms up (YUK I hate that bit) as long as the worms don't get too big too fast!! Happy me, happy Axies!!

Well done! :lick:

I ordered my worms yesterday after being corrupted by certain members on this forum.

The smallest amount I could order was a packet of 250 earthworms - Vader, Leia and Eowyn (my axies) have their work cut out for them but I'm sure they'll make me proud.

A) I hope they are small like yours Kerry.

B) I hope my grandmother doesnt open the package thinking it's an early present for her - boy will she be surprised eh?! I forgot to warn her....

Cheers Jacq.

 

[R4pture]

Thanks for all your help, I have now found a company online that posts earthworms for pet food. This is great because I don't need to worry about whether they are safe for my Axies (any bacteria etc) also as I'm getting quite a few I'll be able to set up a wormery and hopefully breed the worms to keep my little Axies happy! The biggest bonus is that the worms are small so I won't need to cut the worms up (YUK I hate that bit) as long as the worms don't get too big too fast!! Happy me, happy Axies!!

Hiya
Just to ask a couple of questions as I also have three axies

1) please could you tell me what that company online that sends you earthworms also the price.
2) I am currently feeding the axies frozen bloodworm. How many should I be feeding them I'm worried about feeding them to little or too much
3) where is the cheapest place to get a wormery to breed worms as the cheapest I have seen is well over £30 - £80

 

[Kerry1968]

1) please could you tell me what that company online that sends you earthworms also the price.
2) I am currently feeding the axies frozen bloodworm. How many should I be feeding them I'm worried about feeding them to little or too much
3) where is the cheapest place to get a wormery to breed worms as the cheapest I have seen is well over £30 - £80

Hello there, the worms I bought cost me £10.95 for .25kg
At the moment I feed my two twice a day 2 small worms each, any more than this and they don't eat them. Mine are still babies though and need to be fed more often than adult Axies, so it depends what size yours are.
As far as I know, correct me if I'm wrong, Axies are fine to be fed on earthworms alone and that they are a 'complete' food, so you don't need to worry about lacking in anything nutritionally.

 

[R4pture]

1) please could you tell me what that company online that sends you earthworms also the price.
2) I am currently feeding the axies frozen bloodworm. How many should I be feeding them I'm worried about feeding them to little or too much
3) where is the cheapest place to get a wormery to breed worms as the cheapest I have seen is well over £30 - £80

Hello there, the worms I bought cost me £10.95 for .25kg
At the moment I feed my two twice a day 2 small worms each, any more than this and they don't eat them. Mine are still babies though and need to be fed more often than adult Axies, so it depends what size yours are.
As far as I know, correct me if I'm wrong, Axies are fine to be fed on earthworms alone and that they are a 'complete' food, so you don't need to worry about lacking in anything nutritionally.

Thank you.

my axies are about 3 - 4 inches long

can you please tell me where you get those worms from? (website link)

where is the cheapest place to get a wormery to breed worms as the cheapest I have seen is well over £30 - £80

 

[digger]

I just use a big bin with a lid, fill it with some soil and weeds, bit of old fruit and veg, chuck in some earth worms from the angling shop and off you go.

 

[Kerry1968]

Hi there again!
I sent you a private message Rapture, as I'm not sure about the policy here regarding 'advertising' companies on the net! Hope you've found your message now, good luck with the worm thing!! Kerry