Axolotl Food: What They Can Eat (And What They Shouldn’t)
So you want to get an Axolotl someday! Excellent decision! I’d also like to own an Axolotl one day.
As responsible pet owners, you and I want to make sure that our Axolotls get the nutrients they need to live the healthiest lives possible. I did some research to find out what these nutrients are, and here is a summary of what I found.
Axolotl Food Types
1. Live Food for Axolotls
First, if your Axolotl just hatched, you have to wait 24 hours before you can feed it. Your baby Axolotl will still be eating its egg sack during this time.
No matter what you choose, it’s likely that your Axolotl will do what comes naturally and take it.
Live Worms
If you want to buy live worms, try to stay away from places like Walmart or online, where the worms might not be as fresh.
If you want to feed your axolotl live worms without making it sick, go to your local pet store.
Pick up a worm from the soil container with a pair of tweezers before feeding your Axolotl.
You don’t want any loose dirt on the worm to get into your aquarium, so wipe it off really well. Your pet might get sick from it!
Use the tweezers to slowly drop the worm into the aquarium and in front of your Axolotl’s face.
It might take your axolotl a while to eat the worm. This is because their teeth are made to crush things rather than shred them. Before the worm is completely digested, you may see it go in and out of the axolotl’s mouth a few times.
Daphnia
When they are young, these tiny crustaceans are easy for your pet Axolotl to eat. If you choose to grow them yourself, they might also be cheap.
Daphnia will give your axolotl the fatty acids, lipids, and vitamins it needs. Everything your Axolotl requires to thrive!If you try to feed these to an adult pet, he or she will probably turn them down.
2. Frozen Foods for Axolotl Pets
Bloodworms
You can get bloodworms at your local pet store. If you have Amazon Prime, they are also very cheap. There are two sizes of this food: sheets and cubes.
Depending on the one you get, make sure it doesn’t get stuck in your Axolotl’s gills when it eats. If this happens, your Axolotl won’t be able to breathe and will drown.
When feeding bloodworms to your Axolotl, make sure they don’t get stuck in its gills!
Bloodworms are a popular choice for Axolotl owners because they are full of vitamins and proteins that will help your pet grow while it is still young.
To start feeding your axolotl, put the frozen bloodworms in water for a few minutes to get them to room temperature.
After the bloodworm has thawed, use tweezers or tongs to place it in front of your axolotl’s face so it can easily reach its food.
But even though this is a popular meal, there is one thing to remember when feeding it to your pet.
Bloodworms leave behind a tiny creature that will take over your tank if you don’t clean the water well.
Your Axolotl is not in danger from these bugs, but they are annoying and often get stuck in their gills. As you clean out their tank, move the decorations around and try to clean as well as you can.
Brine Shrimp
Axolotl owners also like brine shrimp because they are tasty and full of fatty acids and lipids. in addition to vitamins for your axolotl. You can buy them online or at a store near you that sells pets.
This food is only sold in cubes, which need to be warmed up a little with water.
You can also hatch and raise brine shrimp at home.
So, it is fine to feed these to your axolotls alive instead of frozen.
Earthworms
There is disagreement about this. Some people who own baby axeolotls swear by frozen earthworms and the health benefits they bring. It has been discussed whether or not this is the only thing that baby axolotls should eat.
Other Axolotl owners, on the other hand, don’t like to give their Axolotls frozen earthworms because when they thaw, the earthworms get cold and mushy.
If you want to feed your new Axolotl earthworms, you should buy a container full of worms of different sizes. When your axolotl gets bigger and can eat bigger worms, it will be happy.
In some places, you might even be able to buy a lot of earthworms online.
It can be cheaper to do this than to buy small containers from pet stores over time. Just be sure to buy them from a website you can trust first.
3. Pellets for Axolotl Food
The easiest food to find at your local pet store or exotic pet store is probably pellets. When choosing a type of pellet, be sure to read the list of ingredients on the back of the box.
Choose a pellet that has a lot of protein and not much fat. Look for foods with at least 40% protein as a good rule of thumb.
There are two kinds of pellets that you can feed your axolotl:
Sinking pellets
Larger Axolotls should only eat pellets that sink slowly. You might have noticed that Axolotls are happy to just sit at the bottom of their tanks and hide.
Because of this, axolotls are not like fish in that they don’t swim to the top of the tank to get their food at the surface of the water.
Sinking pellets work so well because they go to the bottom of the tank.
Smaller Pellets
Your younger axeolotls should eat small pellets because their lips are too small to chew big pellets.
Like an adult Axolotl, your juvenile Axolotl will spend most of its time at the bottom of the tank. This makes it a little harder for you to feed them small pellets.
Small pellets have a hard time getting to the bottom. Here’s what you should do:
Now that the pellets are wet, they should sink more easily, and your axolotl will happily eat them at the bottom of the tank.
Best Commercial Food for Axolotls
I think that live foods, such as earthworms, will be enough for most adult axolotls.
But I know that it’s not possible for a person to always have it on hand. So, in times of trouble, it’s best to switch to commercial food, as long as you can trust the people who make it.
I’ve made a list of the best commercial diets for axolotls that are high in nutrition for your prized Mexican walking fish.
1. Invert Aquatics Soft Pellets
These pellets are made for small amphibians like axolotls. They are high in nutrients and water, which makes it easy for your axolotl to eat without getting stressed.
The salmon-flavored pellets are high in protein and are good for both young and older axolotls. As was already said, the pellets have 45% protein and 18% fat, which makes them a great food for axolotls.
The main problem is that if you don’t clean your tank well, it can make your tank dirty.
So, be careful when you feed your axolotls and take away any leftovers as soon as they are done eating.
2. A Lotl Axolotl Food
If your axolotls enjoy earthworms, A Lot Axolotls pellets might be for them.
3. Organically Grown Earthworms
People usually use these organically grown worms as bait for fishing or as compost for gardens or trash, but you can also feed them to your lovely axolotls of different sizes and ages.
The bag has 50 strong, healthy earthworms that were raised on a farm. What do you like best?
You can add these worms to an existing worm farm and feed them to axolotls when you need to.
A few unlucky reviewers got a bag of worms that died on the way. After that, happy customers were surprised to find a lot of live worms.
4. Blackworm Cubes
If you’re not sure what to feed your axolotl, these blackworm cubes are a good choice.
There are tubifex worms, freeze-dried brine shrimp cubes, freeze-dried beef heart cubes, California blackworm small cubes, California blackworms and beef hearts, California blackworms and mysis shrimp, California blackworms and colour bits, and California blackworms and spinach.
Because they can get pretty big, I suggest breaking the cubes into smaller pieces and feeding your axolotl from the top of the tank.
It does work!
5. Salmon Pellets
Your axolotls will want more of these pellets because they are good for them and taste good. They are also good for both young and old axolotls.
If your axolotls are less than 5 inches long, I suggest smashing the pellets before serving, and you’ll be fine.
I worry about the mess it makes, but axolotl owners can get used to it because it tastes good and is good for them.
What do axolotls eat naturally?
In the wild, axolotls eat anything they can find and swallow, such as insects, small crustaceans, worms, fish, and small amphibians.
The most important thing is to eat a lot of protein. In captivity, you should feed your axolotls foods that are high in protein and low in fat, like live brine shrimp, live daphnia, bloodworms, blackworms, and nightcrawlers.
What Not to Feed Your Pet Axolotl
Most of the time, axolotls are happy to eat whatever you give them. A few things don’t follow this rule.
Axolotls, for example, often mistake the gills and tails of other axolotls for live worms or anything else of the same kind, and they have been known to bite off the limbs of other axolotls.
Here are the three worst things you can feed your axolotl:
Anything with a Hard Exoskeleton
For example, mealworms are often fed to other exotic pets, but you shouldn’t give them to your axolotl.
Mealworms have chitin, which is very hard for an axolotl’s stomach to digest and break down. This chitin is what makes up your axolotl’s hard exoskeleton, which makes things hard for its stomach.
Preserved or Processed Meats
I think this one should speak for itself. Particularly since even small amounts of these foods have an effect on people.
Any food that has been processed in a factory has chemicals and preservatives that can be very bad for your axolotl’s health.
Feeder Fish
Some Axolotl owners may not agree with me putting this one on the list, but there are many good reasons why you shouldn’t feed feeder fish to your Axolotl.
So, if you want to keep your axolotl near other animals like fish, you should think again.
If the fish in the Axolotl tank are supposed to be Feeder Fish, you shouldn’t feed them to the Axolotl because they can make the Axolotl sick or give it parasites.
(If you really want to feed your Axolotl live fish, you should put the fish in quarantine for at least 30 days.)
Vitamin B deficiency can also happen if your Axolotl is exposed to this for a long time and eats it often.
If your axolotl’s vitamin B levels are not maintained, it may develop anemia.
Good Treats for Axolotls
Like any other pet, you would want to give your axolotl treats now and then.
Axolotls might like these treats:
- Ghost Shrimp
- Prawn Meat (Be careful to avoid the shell)
- Tubifex Worms
- Guppies (if properly quarantined)
- Cherry Shrimp
- Whiteworms
- Daphnia
People who own axolotls are strongly advised not to feed them “people food.” Instead, when you feed your axolotl, stick to foods that they would eat in the wild.
Don’t forget that a reward is just a treat.
Review
So, let’s quickly go over everything!
You can feed an axolotl one of three kinds of food.
- Live Food
- Frozen Food
- Pellets
There are two sizes of pellets: small and large. Which one you feed your axolotl will depend on how big it is.
Don’t feed an axolotl anything with a hard shell or anything that might be called “human food.” These things will be hard for its stomach to break down.
Make sure that the snacks you give your axolotl are not part of his or her regular diet. This could lead to problems such as shortages and other issues.
Lastly, if you want to feed your axolotl by hand, make sure your hands are clean and free of anything that could make your axolotl sick.
Also, if you want to feed your pet live worms, you should wash them first. This will get rid of any extra dirt that could make your pet sick or make the tank look like it hasn’t been cleaned.
You might also want to get tweezers or a turkey baster so you don’t have to use your hands to feed your axolotl.
FAQs
How many bloodworms should I feed my Axolotl?
Most people who own an Axolotl follow the “Two Minute Rule.” This means you should feed your axolotl as much as it can eat in two minutes. Some people, though, do this feeding for an hour instead of five minutes.
How long can you go without feeding an Axolotl?
Once your axolotl is fully grown, you should feed it every two to three days using the “Two-Minute Rule” to make sure it doesn’t get too much food. Your axolotl’s stomach should be about as big as its head.
What live fish can Axolotls eat?
If you want to feed your Axolotl feeder fish, you should put the fish in quarantine for 30 days first. If you don’t, you’ll make your axolotl sick, which would make no one happy.
Can an Axolotl Choke on Food?
The food they eat does make them choke.
This is because these animals usually eat their food in its entirety. You might wonder why this happens, especially since axolotls have teeth.
In reality, your axolotl’s teeth aren’t very sharp and aren’t very deep. This makes it hard for them to tear or bite food into small pieces. This means that the axolotl’s teeth don’t grind its food. Instead, they hold it in place.
This is why Axolotls like to chew their food and then swallow it all at once. Since this is the case, if the food you give your Axolotl is too big, it will swallow it and could choke. If the size is too big, it could make your Axolotl feel sick.
Still, we suggest giving your axolotl smaller pieces of food, but make sure they are not too small. In the second case, the food could get stuck in your axolotl’s gills. This will make it hard for it to breathe.
Why Do Axolotls Eat Each Other?
Axolotls can eat each other if they live in the same aquarium.
First, an axolotl may eat the tails or even the gills of another axolotl because it thinks they are live worms. In other situations, if two Axolotls are kept together, one can bite the limbs of the other.
Axolotls, in particular, go through a stage where they eat each other. Most of the time, they grow out of this stage when they are 6 inches long. Not everyone grows out of cannibalistic behavior.
If a young axolotl grows up with other young axolotls and eats them, it is likely to keep this cannibalistic behaviour for the rest of its life.
Why Do Axolotls Stop Eating?
Because of its environment, your axolotl may stop eating or eat less.
Constipation is another reason why your Axolotl won’t eat. In other words, your axolotl is probably sick if it stops eating. If it stops eating for a long time, you should talk to a vet or someone else who knows how to care for axolotls.
I have been working in animal shelter for the past six years and I have been raising the puppies of different breeds. I have had experience in training the puppies in obedience, agility, and other dog sports.
My main objective is to train the puppies to become good family pets. They should be well-behaved and trained to be loving, loyal, and obedient.
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