Starving axolotl

[Poor unfortunate soul]

One of my smaller axolotls (pretty sure he's still a juvie.) Is super thin. I usually feed them the little frozen bloodworms as treats and earthworms from my back yard as a good meal. At one point, worms were hard to find, so I started using up my reserve of bloodworms. However, the darned things never sunk to the bottom, and only my bigger axi swims up to grab what didn't sink. Now the little one is starving to death, and I'm scared. I found a big heap of earthworms yesterday, cleaned them and put them in. The bigger axi went hunting for them like usual but the little one seemed to have no interest in hunting. I held some worms in front of him and he ate, but im worried that it's not enough. I'm also worried he won't be interested at eating every day, because that's not how starving works in people. Ik what he should look like healthy, but I want to know what I should do. The tank has cold water, recently cleaned.

 

[wolfen]

use frozen brineshrimp/krill/mysis (any frozen food that is meat based) to give a more balanced diet, being a juvenile he may respond more to live food, try shrimp or live bearing fish ie.. guppies/mollies/platties, also chopped de-shelled frozen prawns can be tried.

 

[Autistic Catholic]

from what i read, it sounds like you're trying to feed them at the same time and hoping that both will eat the same amount which is highly unreliable. they really should be fed so that you can monitor that both are eating sufficiently.

 

[Poor unfortunate soul]

from what i read, it sounds like you're trying to feed them at the same time and hoping that both will eat the same amount which is highly unreliable. they really should be fed so that you can monitor that both are eating sufficiently.

I understand that they won't eat the same amount, but the younger one is literally starving to death. He's thin, and im trying to nurse him back to health with the supplies that I have because supplies for them isn't easily accessible. Especially since I have no room for spending money.

 

[Autistic Catholic]

I think you're misunderstanding what I'm saying. This is what you wrote in your original post:
"I started using up my reserve of bloodworms. However, the darned things never sunk to the bottom, and only my bigger axi swims up to grab what didn't sink."

Do you not see how unreliable a feeding method this becomes, especially for your now starving axolotl? Animals have a natural survivalist instinct so when you're feeding them in such a way where both are going to have to hunt, one is going to get more to eat than the other which ends up with one starving. You need to use a different method. Hand feed them directly or use tongs. Because the little one is clearly eating.

 

[Autistic Catholic]

Basically, when you feed them, don't just put a single bloodworm cube at the top of the tank and hope that both will end up eating the same amount because that is clearly not happening. Feed them one at a time. Give one food and have him eat until he's sufficiently fed. Then feed the other one. The method where you just put food in the tank and have them both hunt for it has led to one having a happy course and the other starving because he's not able to keep up with his bro.

Try doing that and you might be able to fix your problem.

 

[wolfen]

you said "The tank has cold water, recently cleaned" what do you mean ie.. weekly water change, full tank empty and clean etc..
what are your tank levels ie.. temperature, ph, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, kh and gh if possible.
sometimes water parameters can be off but only one axolotl seems affected.

 

[Poor unfortunate soul]

One of my smaller axolotls (pretty sure he's still a juvie.) Is super thin. I usually feed them the little frozen bloodworms as treats and earthworms from my back yard as a good meal. At one point, worms were hard to find, so I started using up my reserve of bloodworms. However, the darned things never sunk to the bottom, and only my bigger axi swims up to grab what didn't sink. Now the little one is starving to death, and I'm scared. I found a big heap of earthworms yesterday, cleaned them and put them in. The bigger axi went hunting for them like usual but the little one seemed to have no interest in hunting. I held some worms in front of him and he ate, but im worried that it's not enough. I'm also worried he won't be interested at eating every day, because that's not how starving works in people. Ik what he should look like healthy, but I want to know what I should do. The tank has cold water, recently cleaned.

Update on this post. Thanks for everyone's answers, ill take into account on their feeding methods.