Baby axolotls and earthworms.

[HayleyK]

My babies are about 4 months old and between 1.5 - 2 inches in length. I've never dealt with babies. I got them on Friday. They seem to eat fine on minced up bloodworms however my bigger axolotl decided he wasn't having an earthworm day. To avoid going back outside to put the worm back in the worm farm I cut it up into baby bite size pieces. Then it dawned on me maybe they can't handle different food yet, like human babies.

So my question is, is/was it okay to feed them like 2mm sized earthworm bits?

 

[FireStar]

My babies are 5cm, 5.5cm and 7cm.
Today was their First Worm Ceremony.
They had very small whole worms since I was digging out worms from my garden to feed Saturn and Aries anyway, and I'm too much of a wuss to cut them up.

They were scared when I was holding the worms with my fingers, but coming out of a dropper they rushed over to eat them :lick:

Anyway, long story short. They should be ok as long as you slowly switch from bloodworms to earthworms

 

[auntiejude]

My babies are about 4 months old and between 1.5 - 2 inches in length.

Thats very small for 4 months, mine are 2-3" at 2 months. You should usually reckon on an inch per month until they get to 6 months/6 inches, then they slow down a bit.

Size is really the only factor for axies, if it fits in their mouths they will eat it. I have mine on bloodworms and chopped earthworms - just small worms cut into 10mm long pieces..

 

[HayleyK]

The guy I bought the two off had about 50 in a 4 foot tank, some where quite large. Some from the same batch were 10-12 cm already. I have a feeling he just dropped food in the tank and left the lotls to it, and obviously there are always runts and I think these never got enough food.

My babies are so small they struggle with normal blood worms I have to sit there chopping them up. Either they're too small or they're not used to eating them, or at all. They seemed to really like the earthworms should I just feed them earthworms for now or do they still need bloodworms?

Edit: they both have uneven gills, one sides larger than the other and my golden has longer front and back legs on one side than the other. Is that normal?

 

[EmbryH]

Edit: they both have uneven gills, one sides larger than the other and my golden has longer front and back legs on one side than the other. Is that normal?

It sounds like, being runts, they likely got their gills nipped a bit. As far as the uneven legs go... that's rather odd. It sounds like it could be anything from genetic, to underfeeding, to the product of being nipped at.

When I had my juvie, I just fed her pellets until she was big enough to handle a worm. If they can physically eat it, earthworms are very nutritious and good for growth. Just make sure the pieces are small enough