A.mexicanum/A.andersoni and snails

[xxianxx]

I have recently noticed a massive amount of snails (greater pond snails and random pond snails)in my A.andersoni tank, I was under the impression that snails formed part of their diet, which is why I allow colonies to exist in the tank. This has never happened in my adult A.mexicanum tanks, they generally wipe them out or keep the numbers so low that I actually introduce them. Has anybody else experienced a lack of snail predation with A.andersoni ?

 

[MarioR]

My A. andersoni prey on snails but they do not eat all of them in their tank.
I also know Axolotls that do not eat snails

 

[xxianxx]

Thanks for the response Mario. I agree that individual axolotls have preferences of food , I had a melanoid once ,who refused to eat earthworms lol. I have five A.andersoni (3.2.0) in the same tank , if a couple didn't like snails I would still expect the others to keep the snail numbers down. Any A.mexicanum tank ,with even a couple of adults , has a very low snail population. I just wondered if high numbers of snails was common in A.andersoni tanks. I have had A.andersoni for a couple of years and have never seen such a large amount of snails and wondered why. Their tank is identical in setup to my A.mexicanum tanks, sand substrate, heavily planted, kalness reactors for filtration and fed worms and pellets.