Axolotls are a voracious creature that feeds on any kind of food ranging from plant-based food to animal-based food and their voracious attribute has left several aquarists with a question, how many times must I feed my pet in a week? The answer to the question has left them with another question, how long can my pet go without food?
However, this question is also being asked by tourists who have Axolotls as their pets to know their survival rate without food especially when they are away. Not to worry, this article will do perfect justice to the questions.
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How Long Can Axolotls Go Without Food?
An average adult axolotl can go without food for 2 weeks without shedding any weight as it takes time for it to get its food digested. However, few aquarists recorded their axolotls going for 3 weeks to a month without feeding but they will become unhealthy and be susceptible to parasites and disease and that depends on the type of axolotl, the temperature of the habitat, health condition, and age.
A baby axolotl on the other hand can not survive that long when it comes to not feeding for 2 weeks as they have a fast digestion rate, unlike the adult axolotl. Baby axolotl can survive 3 to 5 days without eating and that is when the food is yet to digest in their stomach but once the food is digested completely, they start to shrink and get weak once food is not forthcoming.
However, their survival rate without eating depends largely on favorable water parameters of a pH ranging from 7.4 to 7.6 and water temperature ranging from 16 to 18 degrees Celcius.
How Often Do My Axolotls Need To Eat?
Axolotls are voracious eaters but they do not eat every time as they stop eating once their stomach is full and that is because it takes time for their food to get digested. However, you need to monitor them closely as some do not stop food because they are satisfied, they stop because of a health condition or environmental stress.
You can feed your adult axolotls 2 to 3 times a week for one hour based on the age of your pet. Anything more than one hour will cause your pet to overfeed ( remember they are voracious) can result in constipation that might lead to impaction and this could endanger the health of your pet.
A newly hatched axolotl needs food for growth so it should be fed twice a day while a baby or a growing axolotl needs to feed once a day.
How Long Can My Axolotls Go without Water?
As parents, the first question we ask our children after eating is if they drank water as some of them can eat without taking water till the next day but it is not the case for your axolotls, they cannot survive without water for more than 1 hour and that is why it is always advised to make sure the water in the aquarium is always clean with the right water parameters and their feces and leftover food be removed every time as that is what they will also drink after eating or at will.
What Happens If My Axolotls Go For Too Long Without Eating?
As earlier said, axolotls are rugged creatures that can survive without food from 2 weeks to a month depending on some previously highlighted factors but it has been discovered by some aquarist that a month is their limit and once they pass this limit without eating, your axolotls will get weak, develop health issues and eventually die.
I know you don’t want to starve your axolotls to death but this could arise because of different things such as axolotls’ inability to eat or you going for a long vacation. However, your pets do not have to die because of these reasons, there are ways to go about this and we will discuss this very soon.
How Do I Know If My Axolotls Are Hungry?
Axolotls are observant creatures that speak with their movement, study their environment, and will always show you signs whenever they are hungry. Whenever they are hungry, they keep staring at their point of feeding, where food comes from most of the time or they become hyperactive.
What To Do If My Axolotls Are Not Eating?
Axolotls are voracious creatures and they can only stop eating due to a few reasons.
– Wrong Water Parameters
Wrong water parameters could bring about stress to your pet and whenever your pet is stressed, feeding will be difficult and even if it feeds, there is a high probability that it spits out the food because of the unfavorable environment especially when the water is hot with a high pH due to the feces of your pet.
All you have to do is to make the water condition favorable for your pet by dechlorinating the water, balancing the pH of the water to 7.4 to 7.6, the temperature of the water to 16 to 18 degrees Celcius and making sure that the water is free of feces and leftover food.
– Digestive Issues
Your pet might decide not to eat as a result of a digestive issue called impaction and this occurs when the food in your pet’s stomach refuses to digest as a result of overfeeding or feeding on hard substances.
You can also check if your pet is bloated, once the result is positive, fridge your pet for a few hours to help the food digest and help it pass out feces, and then it can eat again. However, you must make sure to change its meal to soft foods to prevent endangering your pet again.
– Adaptability
Your axolotl is likely not to eat if it is yet to adapt to the new environment especially if it is a newly bought one from the pet. What you have to do is to give it time but it must not exceed one week, once it is exceeding one week, contact the pet store where you got it from to ask for information on its previous water parameters and adjust the current one to that.
It should start eating after then and if it does not, contact your vet, it could be as a result of other conditions.
– Internal Parasites
When parasites are resting on the inside of your pet, it will have difficulty in feeding and it might even sput the food out immediately or vomit after a few minutes.
Once you notice this act from your pet and you know the food is not hard as they spit out food difficult for them to digest, contact your vet taking along a sample of the pet’s poop or water from the aquarium to know how to treat the condition.
– Food Sickness
Axolotls get sick of eating a particular type of food and they won’t eat that food if you bring it to them again. What you will do is serve them with variety of food, as they feed on different types of food ranging from plant to animal-based food and you can also treat them occasionally with worms.
You can seek counsel from your vet or do a thorough search online to know the variety of food your pet can feed on.
How Do I Feed My Axolotls When I Go For A Long Holiday?
Feeding your axolotls when you are away on a long vacation is simple, all you have to do is just to get an experienced person to help feed and take care of your pets while you are gone. Do not make use of an automatic feeder, automatic feeder or overfeed them before you go as you might end up coming back to meet dead pets as a result of pollution from the leftover food, feces, or impaction.
If you are going for a week or two, put them in a large container in the fridge but do not feed them before putting them as they might also die as a result of fecal contamination.
Conclusion
Axolotls can survive without food for an average of 2 weeks while others can survive 3 weeks or 1 month except for their babies that can survive up to 5 days under the right conditions.
