Weaning

Z

zach

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At what stage will baby axolotls start to accept non-live food? I have think I've heard after they have back legs but I am not sure. Also, are there any techniques anyone can recommend to get them to start accepting non-live food?

thanks,
Zach
 
wiggly worms (yeah i know still alive)!! cut up small enough to fit in their mouths. i have no experience in breeding so cant help you with the other questions
happy.gif
blood worms go down well too
 
Which non-live foods are you considering? Frozen bloodworms are easy to train them on, as soon as they are large enough to swallow them. Since you are in the US, you may be able to find a local source of live blackworms, these are a great growth food.
 
I want to get them started eating salmon pellets... could I break them into small pieces and try those? I also can try to get frozen/dried brine shrimp.

-Zach
 
mine have just become totally fed on frozen blood worm and they took to it straight away and they LOVE it. at first i chopped it up a bit before i fed them but now not as much. i had an eye dropper and held it directly infront of their mouth and they just ate it. now they will eat it off the floor (which is great for me!!) i started it when they started looking a bit big for brine shrimp i think their back legs were stumps on some and half formed on others. it is so good not having to worry about brineshrimp any more. i guess th pellets could work in the same way just put it right infront of their face. mine sorta ignored the blood worm for a while until they realised it was fod so u might have to keep at it with the pellets or use bloodworm to start them on non-living food and introduce the pellets later... ah so much writing... lol ill stop.
 
5{ck legs are mostly formed, and sitll no luck... I have been trying small pellets, but after they dont eat them after a day, I just give them daphnia. Should I hold out longer? Will they go for the pellets if they are hungry enough?

-Zach
 
If they are hungy enough and pellets are the only food presented to them they will eventually eat them. Have you tried hand-feeding?
 
Jordan, this isn't true. Some animals just don't recognize pellets as food, and therefore may never eat them, even if they're starving.
 
You could try holding it with tweezers right in front of their faces and wiggling them an tiny bit, this is how i trained mine to eat none live foods
happy.gif
 
Leaving uneaten pellets in the tank until they are hungry enough to eat them sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. 1. It will not take long at all to foul the water. 2. Only offering pellets in the hope of weaning would soon lead to an underfed animal.

That said I got my axies onto pellets by dropping the pellets so that they passed their nose, their own automatic reaction was to snap them up. They did this and spat them out every time for several weeks. I then removed the pellets after 5 minutes to prevent fouling of the tank and fed and alternative food. Eventually all 3 started eating the pellets.

I only use the pellets as part of their diet though, they still get earthworm and prawns occasionally supplemented with frozen blocks of bloodworm or daphnia or brine shrimp. They also still enjoy live bloodworm but I only feed these as a change and for the sheer joy of seeing my otherwise snappy eaters delicately sniffing round for the bloodworm and hoovering them up.
 
how big are they now? you might just have to wait until they are bigger (if they are small) Keep trying something will have to work.
 
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