Question: What do you raise to feed your axolotls?

[Niels D]

Axolotls eat snails and mollusks in the wild. If you read through the topics regarding to this subject on this forum you'll see that a combination with the snails I'm talking about do not cause any problems. The only threat is the chance that a really large specimen gets stuck in the mouth of an axolotl.

 

[Niels D]

Check this topic:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...general-discussion/87586-snails-axolotls.html

 

[Boomsloth]

I've been trying to do some research on what the native species would've been in the original habitat of axolotls. I understand that their diet in the wild consisted mainly of small fish, worms, snails, and crustaceans. Would species like the mexican dwarf crayfish fall into this category ?

 

[xxianxx]

I've been trying to do some research on what the native species would've been in the original habitat of axolotls. I understand that their diet in the wild consisted mainly of small fish, worms, snails, and crustaceans. Would species like the mexican dwarf crayfish fall into this category ?

Idk about that species of Cray but if you search old threads some US keepers trap crays to use as axolotl food, prekilling them and using the tail, other keepers use live declawed baby crays.

 

[auntiejude]

I've been trying to do some research on what the native species would've been in the original habitat of axolotls. I understand that their diet in the wild consisted mainly of small fish, worms, snails, and crustaceans. Would species like the mexican dwarf crayfish fall into this category ?

They may be suitable as food, but they are not native to the axolotl lakes. Since axies eat shrimp I can't see why they wouldn't be able to handle crayfish of a suitable size, but I think I would be worried about the claws.

 

[Boomsloth]

Idk about that species of Cray but if you search old threads some US keepers trap crays to use as axolotl food, prekilling them and using the tail, other keepers use live declawed baby crays.

This species will only get to about 3.8cm, are relatively peaceful, and I'm only asking to see if this would have been part of their natural diet. I'm not really considering using them as a food source since they cost $10 each haha. I just want to figure out the specific species that inhabited the lakes along with axolotls.

They may be suitable as food, but they are not native to the axolotl lakes. Since axies eat shrimp I can't see why they wouldn't be able to handle crayfish of a suitable size, but I think I would be worried about the claws.

That's what I've been trying to figure out. The mexican crayfish is found along the central and western side of the mountains in mexico and the axolotls look to be right at the bottom of their range. The crayfish live in water from 15-25C and are nowhere near as aggressive or territorial as other species. My largest axolotl (~15cm) could easily fit the one crayfish I have in its mouth. I had two crayfish but the ghost shrimps I had with them attacked it when it molted.

 

[OliviaGrace99]

I raised my Axolotls on Crickets until I recently found out that they had almost no nutritional value .
I searched for Earthworms in my garden a few days ago (there have been no chemicals or pesticides used) and they seem to like the worms !
I own some pellets but haven't tried them yet .. I'm thinking of trying some pellets tomorrow .
I think it's always best to vary their diet .
Just like you and me , we don't like to eat the same foods and flavours each and every day . So I am planning to feed them a combination of Crickets , earthworms and pellets