Feeding your axolotl
Appropriate axolotl diet
You are going to want to feed your axolotl mostly staple foods, treats are ok on occasion. All of our axolotls are raised on solely live foods, we believe this is the best food for them. However we do occasionally offer non-live foods as a treat. Keep in mine that transitioning from live to non-live foods may take a bit of time for them to adjust.
- Staple foods:
- European nightcrawlers - these are different from Canadian nightcrawlers, they are smaller and less messy. Your best bet to buy any type of live worm is a business who sells live fishing bait or a pet supply store. We do offer these on our website now! You can purchase them for local pickup or shipping. Worms are shipped on the same days as our Axoltols are, Mondays and Tuesdays.
- Earthworms - do not get them from outside! They can carry parasites and or contaminates unsafe for your axolotl.
- Red wigglers - these do produce a bitter slim that may cause your axolotl to spit them out. If your axolotl does not like them can cull them before feeding (run warm water over the worms so that they are no longer alive and can not produce this.)
- Live black worms - you may be able to find these at a pet supply store, but most commonly they need to be ordered online and shipped to you overnight.
- Salmon pellets made especially for axolotls - If you choose to feed pellets, ensure that they do not contain land animals or an abundance of plant material. These also can contain low levels of iodine, and iodine has been found to cause some axolotls to morph when fed in large quantities. We advise using this as an occasional meal, not an everyday food, live worms are always going to be best for your axolotl. We do sell these on our site as well!
- Repashy grub pie can also be used, but I will warn you it can be messy.
- Treats:
- Blood worms
- Brine shrimp
- Wax worms
- Butter worms
- Black soldier fly larvae
- Raw shrimp
- Raw salmon
- The below chart can help guide you as to how often you should feed your axolotl and what is acceptable.
Feeding Side notes:
- It is always good practice to remove any uneaten food before it fouls up the water, pellets and non live foods need to be removed sooner than live foods. Most worms will stay alive in the water for a fair amount of time before they die and mold.
- If you start noticing extra cloudy water or a lot of detritus worms or snails in your tank it is a sign you may be over feeding. It is a good idea to cut back the amount of food you are feeding your axolotl, the uneaten food is a major cause for these things and not to mention can negatively effect your water parameters.
- Some axolotls eat more than others, so you will need to feel out your axolotl and adjust feeding accordingly.
- If you choose to feed live worms, which we highly recommend, having a worm farm is a great investment. A fellow breeder sells worm farms on her site: