The axolotl is an amphibian that stays in the water. They are classified as Mexican salamanders and are also known as “walking fish.” An axolotl lives all its life in the water, despite having fully formed legs.
Axolotls make great pets, and much attention should be paid to their feeding, as the main factor determining their health condition is the right time to eat and the right portion to feed them.
Juvenile axolotl feeds every day. However, adult axolotls feed at least 2-3 times per day because they long to digest their food. This article will discuss and show you how to feed your axolotl fish and not to overfeed them properly.
How Often to Feed an Axolotl?
Axolotl feeding solely depends on its age, just like you are not expected to eat much food at an old age. Young axolotl needs a lot of feeding to help their growth; however, an old axolotl that has stopped growing would only need little food or they become unhealthy or overweight.
Axolotl takes a lot of time to digest their food. You only have to feed them 2-3 times a week or give them tiny bits of food frequently. The weather determines how much food your axolotl needs. During hot and humid conditions, their food digests fast enough, while during cold weather conditions, it takes longer. Overfeeding your axolotl can lead to constipation and digestive problems in your pet, which is unhealthy, so you must be conscious while feeding your pet.
You will learn about your pet’s feeding when you give them food, which they reject. Once they reject the food, they take it out of the water to avoid contamination.
How Often Do Baby Axolotls Eat?
Baby Axolotls can be fed twice a day by giving different menus so that the axolotl will get used to different menus. It is not advisable to give food such as pellets or dead prey. Live food is highly recommended for baby axolotls because of their dull sight, and moving food will help them trace
Can You Overfeed Axolotl?
Yes, you can overfeed your axolotl. Axolotl does not need much food because they take a long time to digest its food. Overfeeding your pet will make them prone to diseases.
To know if you are overfeeding axolotl is to compare the head and the belly. The head and the belly must be the same size. If the belly ends up bigger than the belly, it is an obvious sign that you are overfeeding your pet. Axolotl should only be fed when hungry, and they should not be force-fed as this could lead to critical health conditions as being overfed is susceptible to disease and shorter life in your pet.
Baby or juvenile axolotl cannot be overfed because it enhances their growth. Adult Axolotl stops eating when they are full. When they don’t stop eating, they will regurgitate their food. The recommendation for adults is 1-2 earthworms daily.
| Life stages | Recommended time |
| Hatchling | 2 times a day |
| baby | 2 times a day |
| Juvenile | Once a day |
| Subadult | Once a day |
| Adult | 2-3 times a week |
Does Axolotl Get Hungry?
No, they don’t get hungry. They might go days or up to three weeks without eating, provided the water temperature is 60F.
What Do Axolotls Eat?
Experts recommend pet owners that the Axolotl natural diet should be replicated. It feeds on small fish, cricket, brine shrimp, insects, mosquito, larvae, slugs, worms, snails, and tadpoles.
Being carnivorous, Axolotl can eat any small prey that would fit into its mouth. They trace their food through their nasal and suck in their prey with water using vacuum force because they have no teeth.
In captivity, Axolotls eat Earthworms, blood worms, lean pieces of beef, chicken crickets, tuna, pellet, feeders, frozen shrimps, and insects. As a pet owner, you must be careful about what to feed your pet because they are susceptible to parasites if fed less quality food.
What Food Should I Avoid Feeding Axotol?
Avoid feeding your fish the same thing repeatedly, as this could cause nutritional deficiency problems for your pet.
Juvenile fish, however, cannot feed on worm yet because their head is still small and might choke them.
These are lists of things you should avoid for your Axotols;
- Oily and fatty foods.
- Please do not feed them anything with a hard exoskeleton, as it would not digest
- Please do not give them food bigger than their mouths because they swallow and can’t chew.
- Avoid feeding carbohydrates and protein; they take a long while to digest.
- Please don’t feed them with plants, as a plant-based diet will provide no nutrition to their growth.
- Avoid feeder fish with parasites, as they could easily be transferred to your pet.
Are Axolotls Cannibals?
Axolotls can cannibalize each other when kept together, especially when they are babies. It depends on the size. If one is bigger than the other, the big one feeds on the other one’s limbs or nips on the body parts.
Axolotls can, however, grow back their limb because they can regenerate their body parts. They are cannibalistic by opportunity, not by choice. If they become too hungry, they can nip on their siblings.
How To Feed Pet Axolotls?
Axolotls do not have teeth to chew or tear up their food. Axolotls suck their food because of their small teeth, so their food needs to be small or cut into small pieces, making it digestible.
To feed pets, use long tweezers to ensure less mess and a cleaning technique. Take note tweezers should not have sharp edges that could injure your fish.
Substrate for the tank should be natural, as gravel could injure your fish, and swallowing sand substrate does not affect your fish.
Why Are My Axolotls Not Eating?
Axolotls lose their appetite for different reasons;
1. Temperature
It might be the temperature change, their food takes very long to digest during cold weather, and they eat less.
2. Water quality problems
Remember, your pet needs to gulp water as it eats. There might be a water problem. High rate of ammonia or a foul smell from uneaten food. Change the water.
Axolotls are aquatic pets sensitive to water quality; if the water quality is bad, they will refuse food. It is advisable to remove food they don’t eat from the tank and test the water consistently to change it when necessary.
3. Diseases
Your pet might be reacting to a reaction causing loss of appetite. It is best to consult your doctor in this kind of situation.
4. New environment
Another reason your pet is not eating is that it is new to the space. Give it time to adapt.
Conclusion
In conclusion, knowing the best food to give your axolotls at different life stages will help your pet live long. Paying attention to your pet’s feeding is important.
If you are new to Axotols or just got them, I advise you to give them a small quantity of food and study how they eat for a while before becoming an expert in the field.
