Axolotl Refusing to Eat Earthworms

[Chak]

This isn't really an illness (at least not to my knowledge), but my lovely axanthic who is old enough to eat earthworms just isn't interested. She seems disgusted by them. She won't take bloodworms, either. I would use blackworms because that's the only thing she accepts but nobody in my area has them. I've chopped the earthworms really small, tried everything I know, but she just won't eat them. I'm not sure what to do with her. I don't want to keep her on a blackworm diet.

 

[JoshBA]

Do you know what kind of earthworm you're feeding? I ask because worms of the genus Eisenia (e.g., red wigglers, European nightcrawlers) excrete a fowl-smelling liquid (sort of like rotten lettuce). In my experience, some species will outright reject these worms. But it is strange that your animal also rejects bloodworms...

How long are leaving the food in the tank? It's possible that your axolotl just needs some more time to identify the worms as food, as it's presumably using scent as opposed to movement to locate the chopped up earthworms and frozen bloodworms. The blackworms likely stimulate immediate feeding because they're already wiggling around. Maybe try leaving the food in there for a bit longer - they can take a little while to locate dead food, especially if they're already well fed.

 

[GulfCoastAxolotls]

This isn't really an illness (at least not to my knowledge), but my lovely axanthic who is old enough to eat earthworms just isn't interested. She seems disgusted by them. She won't take bloodworms, either. I would use blackworms because that's the only thing she accepts but nobody in my area has them. I've chopped the earthworms really small, tried everything I know, but she just won't eat them. I'm not sure what to do with her. I don't want to keep her on a blackworm diet.
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JoshBA is correct about the foul smell. Many species of redworms will secrete this type of bitter slime that most axolotls find unappealing. Rinsing the worms in hot water or blanching them will typically fix that problem.

In my experience, axolotls that have been fed blackworms have a much harder time transitioning to other food types than those that haven't. It's like feeding them potato chips and then offering them salad. They just don't want it. It generally takes letting them go hungry for a bit to get them to finally accept other food. Ive had multiple that i've had to do that with to get them off the blackworms (raised on them by other breeders) and now that they've transitioned to the european nightcralwers, they have no problem accepting pretty much anything. It did take about 2 weeks of offering food and them refusing before they finally ate it. Most healthy, well fed axolotls can easily go that long with no food so don't panic about them taking some time to come around.

 

[Chak]

Do you know what kind of earthworm you're feeding? I ask because worms of the genus Eisenia (e.g., red wigglers, European nightcrawlers) excrete a fowl-smelling liquid (sort of like rotten lettuce). In my experience, some species will outright reject these worms. But it is strange that your animal also rejects bloodworms...

How long are leaving the food in the tank? It's possible that your axolotl just needs some more time to identify the worms as food, as it's presumably using scent as opposed to movement to locate the chopped up earthworms and frozen bloodworms. The blackworms likely stimulate immediate feeding because they're already wiggling around. Maybe try leaving the food in there for a bit longer - they can take a little while to locate dead food, especially if they're already well fed.

Red wigglers is what we feed them. We get him in a tub and lately just been leaving him for a few hours with it. One time overnight with earthworms and bloodworms. Ate none of them.

 

[GulfCoastAxolotls]

Red wigglers is what we feed them. We get him in a tub and lately just been leaving him for a few hours with it. One time overnight with earthworms and bloodworms. Ate none of them.

He may just need time to get hungry enough. Just keep offering the red wigglers and don't give him the option of the blackworms. If you do, he'll just keep holding out for those. Try the rinsing in hot water trick to remove the bitter coating and see if that helps, but it may just take some time.

 

[Chak]

He's finally took some! It took a while but he took two today.

 

[Chak]

He may just need time to get hungry enough. Just keep offering the red wigglers and don't give him the option of the blackworms. If you do, he'll just keep holding out for those. Try the rinsing in hot water trick to remove the bitter coating and see if that helps, but it may just take some time.

also the hot water does help a lot!

 

[GulfCoastAxolotls]

also the hot water does help a lot!

perfect! glad to hear it