Anyone who owns an Axolotl has probably wondered what Axolotls are allowed to eat besides pellet food.
Since Axolotls are carnivorous, i.e. purely meat-eating animals, you can feed them earthworms, mosquito larvae, daphnia and of course Axolotl pellets. In the wild, axolotls eat small fish, worms, insect larvae and crustaceans. In the tank, you have a larger food selection.
But can you feed your Axolotl salmon, goldfish pellets or shrimps?
Generally, Axolotl food can be divided into three categories: Live food, pellets, and frozen or raw food. Since Axolotls don’t have fully developed teeth, they can’t chew their food, but swallow it whole.
This is why you should be careful not to feed pieces that are too large, or your axolotl may have trouble swallowing it.
Live food
1. Earthworms
Earthworms* are a standard food for axolotls and an inexpensive way to feed them. Most Axolotl like to eat earthworms and they contain all important nutrients they need.
If you don’t want to look for the worms yourself, you can also start your own small worm farm or buy them. The worms shouldn’t be longer than the torso of the axolotl, so that he can swallow them without problems. Larger worms should be cut up in half.
Earthworms can also easily be breed at home, so you always have fresh live food, here is an guide for earthworm farming.
2. Mosquito larvae
Whether red, white or black mosquito larvae, they are a go-to when feeding young axolotls. Adult axolotls also like mosquito larvae, but feeding them only with mosquito larvae is difficult, because adult axolotls have to eat large amounts of them.
3. Small fish
One of the most natural ways of feeding your Axolotl are small fish. This way the Axolotl can use its hunting instinct and gets a balanced diet. Guppies* and white cloud mountain minnow fish* are good fish to feed.
Be careful: Never feed your Axolotl sticklebacks or other fish that have spines, this can lead to serious injuries. You should also keep the fish in quarantine for some time to make sure they aren’t sick or bring parasites into the Axolotl tank.
4. Dwarf or cherry shrimps
Besides small fish you can also feed your Axolotl with dwarf or cherry shrimps*, if they aren’t eaten directly they can also help to keep the Axolotl tank clean.
Since they reproduce quickly you can easily breed them yourself, some suitable types are e.g. Yellow and Red Fire shrimps. Feeding your Axolotl only with purchased dwarf shrimp would quickly become very expensive, but they make a good snack in between.
5. Small worms
In addition to earthworms, you can also feed your axolotl California blackworms (Lumbriculus variegatus) and Whiteworms (Enchytraeidae). These worms have less fiber than earthworms and are high in protein and fat, so they shouldn’t be used as the main food, but make great foods for young axolotls.
6. Daphnia and Brine Shrimps
Daphnia (water fleas)* are a typical food for young axolotls along with Artemia (brine shrimp)*.
They are easy to raise yourself, have a high fiber content and low amounts of proteins and fats. This makes them unsuitable as a staple food for adult axolotls and they should primarily to young axolotls or as a treat for adult ones.
Here is an article about raising Daphnia and brine shrimp at home.
7. Mealworms
Mealworms* are more suitable as a snack in between, as they are very high in fat and otherwise don’t contain many vitamins or nutrients. They also have a relatively hard exoskeleton made of chitin, which is difficult for Axolotls to digest. If you choose to feed your Axolotl mealworms, it is best to do so infrequently and with a scratched chitin shell.
8. Maggots
Axolotls can also eat maggots*, but these should only be fed as a treat, as they have a high fat content. Since fly maggots often have a hard skin, you can help your axolotl digest them by cutting them open before feeding them.
Pellet Food
Axolotl Pellets
Axolotl pellets* is pellet food that was adjusted to the needs of axolotl, it contains a high percentage of protein and less fat than e.g. salmon and sturgeon pellets. Also, they don’t contain vegetable matter, which the axolotl can’t digest.
Salmon and sturgeon pellets
Most pellet foods that aren’t made specifically for axolotls and don’t have the right mix of nutrients, so if possible, always feed pellets that are tailored for axolotls.
Among the pellet foods that aren’t made specifically for axolotl, salmon pellets* and sturgeon pellets* are also suitable for feeding axolotl because they contain a high percentage of animal protein.
In sturgeon pellets, the vegetable content is higher than in salmon pellets and are therefore less suitable for axolotl.
Ideally, the proportion of pellets should only make up 50% of your axolotl diet to ensure balanced nutrition.
Frozen or raw food
Many of the live food species such as mosquito larvae and brine shrimp are also available in frozen form, but you should make sure that no “snow” has formed in the package, as this can indicate an interrupted cold chain.
Frozen food for axolotl:
- Brine shrimp
- red mosquito larvae
- Daphnia
Foods that should never be fed to axolotls
Even though axolotls eat many different foods, there are some foods that you should never feed them.
1. Food with hard Shells
Since axolotls only have very blunt teeth and swallow their food whole, you shouldn’t feed animals that have a hard shell, as this can cause injury to the digestive tract. These animals include hard-shelled snails, crabs and also mealworms, which is why the latter should only be fed rare and squashed.
2. Processed Meat
Even though Axolotls are purely carnivorous animals, they should never be fed processed meat such as sausage, salami, bacon and the like.
Any piece of meat that has been smoked, canned, salted, cooked or processed in any other way is very unhealthy for axolotls.
Fatty meats are also not suitable for feeding to axolotls.
3. Vegetables and Fruits
Since Axolotls only eat meat, they will show no interest in vegetables or fruit. You should also make sure that food such as pellets don’t contain a high percentage of plants, as Axolotls can get digestive problems from this.
Can Axolotls eat pinky mice?
No, Axolotls shouldn’t be fed with pinky mice. Besides not being a natural food source for them, mice are too fatty for Axolotls and the bones can cause digestive problems.
Do Axolotls eat algae?
No, since Axolotls are carnivorous, they don’t eat algae, neither small floating micro algae nor larger filamentous algae.
Can Axolotls eat salmon filets?
In principle, feeding raw salmon once won’t likely have any negative consequences for your axolotl, but you should still not feed salmon to your axolotl.
For one thing, salmon has a high fat content, which can lead to digestive problems. However, the greater danger is that your axolotl will ingest too much iodine by eating salmon.
Excessive levels of iodine can cause Axolotl to undergo metamorphosis into their land-dwelling form, you can learn more about Axolotl metamorphosis in this article.
Although the likelihood of reaching a level of iodine that triggers metamorphosis by feeding saltwater fish is very low, it is best to avoid it to be safe.
How do you feed axolotls?
Live food, such as earthworms and small worms that can be easily grabbed, can be fed with the help of long tweezers* by holding the food in front of the axolotl’s mouth or dropping it in front of them. Smaller live foods such as Artemia and Daphnia can be placed in the water in front of the axolotl using a turkey frying syringe*.
When feeding Artemia and Daphnia to baby axolotls, you can also place the young axolotl in a shallow dish of water to help it find its food.
Frozen food can be fed inside the tank from a bowl with higher walls so that the food doesn’t spread all over the aquarium.
Pellets can also be offered with tweezers, or you can let them sink to the bottom in front of the axolotl.
One hour after feeding you can remove the leftover food from the tank. This way the water quality is not unnecessarily burdened when the excess food starts to decompose.
What do baby axolotls eat?
Immediately after hatching, baby axolotls feed on their yolk sac for one to three days, after that they need live food. Young axolotls only eat live food until they are about 2,5 inches (6cm) long. After that they can be slowly introduced to pellets.
Daphnia and small brine shrimps are especially good live foods for them. Click here for a complete guide to feeding freshly hatched Axolotls until they reach adulthood.
How can you tell if an Axolotl is underfed or overfed?
As a rule of thumb, the axolotl’s body shouldn’t be wider than its head. Males can be thinner and females can be rounder.
An underfed axolotl can be recognized by the fact that it is skinny, but in general, overfeeding rather than underfeeding is usually a problem.
Do axolotls eat their babies?
A reasonable question if you know about the cannibalistic tendencies of axolotls. And indeed, axolotls will eat smaller axolotls if they get hungry or the babies swim in front of their mouths.
That’s why you should make sure that you only keep axolotls together that have a similar size. Also, axolotls usually eat their own eggs if they aren’t removed from the tank.
How long do axolotls survive without food?
Healthy and adult axolotls can survive a fasting period of up to 2 weeks without problems, but you shouldn’t let them go hungry for longer than that.
Conclusion
When feeding your Axolotl you have a wide choice and besides pellets you should make sure to give adult Axolotls live food and earthworms every now and then to ensure a balanced diet.