Round bellies....normal?

[Aquamom]

Hi all,
I'm trying to learn more about my wonderful axolotls. I've had them for about 6 months and they were approx 4 inches at that point. Ive noticed in the last 2 months their bellies are getting rounder and fuller. They are fed frozen (thawed) bloodworms about a cube each every other day and a pellet, ( large cichlid), each the days in between. About once a week I switch out the bloodworms for 1-2 earth worms, depending on size. And fast one day a week. Is this too much?

How large should their abdomen be? I am unsure of their sex at this point.

 

[auntiejude]

Do you know the make-up of the chiclid pellets? If they contain seaweed product I would stop using them, or at least switch to an axolotl specific pellet product.

Your axies should be on earthworms most of the time anyway now, it's the best nutrition for them.

As a rule of thumb an axie's belly should be as wide as it's head (whe viewed from above) but you have to remember that they are all different shapes and sizes just like people. Females tend to get rounder, males tend to stay slimmer. If you feel they are way too fat cut down what you're feeding, maybe skip a day here and there, or reduce the daily amount.

 

[Aquamom]

Thanks for the response!!
I checked the cichlids pellets and the don't have seaweed but seem to have a lot of grains, (ex., rice, wheat) seems unnatural for me to give these. I will start giving more earth worms and cut these out. I have searched for axolotl pellets and can't find them here in ontario.

Here is a pic of them To see their size. I'm going to post in the breeding section soon to see if anyone can help me sex once I get better pics..

 

[Morrison]

Looks normal to me. They look like round female axie bellies

 

[EmbryH]

Your axies look like girls, so they will naturally be rounder.

That being said, it's worth asking: what method do you use to feed them? If they're feeding straight from the bottom without a feeding jar, they could be sucking up some substrate, which could make their stomachs expand more than they should. If you feed them on the substrate and you don't have a feeding jar, I'd start using one immediately as consumption of substrate is dangerous.

Otherwise, I'd say they're pretty normal. If you feel like they're a bit too round, just skip a day in their feeding routine.

 

[Aquamom]

I hand feed them or use tongs. Some bloodworm fall to the sand and I do see them hunt them and get a mouthful of sand. They seem to spit most of the sand out but I do notice black color in their abdomen sometimes which I thought might be sand, or stool. I'm thinking of taking the sand out. Any thoughts on other substrate or bare bottom. Just want to do what's best for my axies

 

[EmbryH]

You'd be able to keep your sand if you switched them from blood worms to earthworms. Honestly, I'd rather you do that than remove the sand, because earthworms are more nutritious, cleaner, easier, and in some cases cheaper. If you hand fed them earthworms, they wouldn't hunt fallen food fragments in their tank and swallow substrate.

Plus, sand is just so nice to have in a tank. I really feel like axolotls prefer it to bare glass because it can be softer and give them more traction. Plus it helps with your tank's bacterial ecosystem, it's easier to have plants, it's easy to clean, and it looks nice too. (Best pro of all: they leave tiny adorable footprints! I love it!)

Some people are big on blood worms, but I could never do them myself. Seems like more trouble for less benefit to me.

If you're really concerned with them swallowing substrate and you want to remove the sand, do so, but I wouldn't say it's necessary for the safety of your axies. (they're gorgeous, by the way!)

 

[Dipsy66]

They look like my girlies....nicely rounded but not excessively fat! :happy:

 

[evaamuir]

I have two axolotls, a male and a female. Although both are fed the exact same diet the female is a lot rounder than the male. It doesn't sound like you are overfeeding your axies so it could just be that they are both female and have a naturally rounder shape