What do Axolotls Eat?

Axolotls are definitely a unique pet. They are neotenic salamanders, which means that they never go through metamorphosis, and they keep their juvenile features throughout their entire lives. Like most amphibians, they start their lives underwater, but since they never morph into having adult characteristics they continue to live underwater for their whole lives, which can be up to 15 years. They also have a remarkable ability to regenerate body parts. They can regenerate limbs within a few months, and they are even able to regenerate parts of their brain and spinal cord. They only originate from one lake complex in Mexico, Xochimilco, where they are critically endangered. Luckily axolotls in the pet trade today are captive bred, so keeping them as pets does not impact how many are left in the wild.

All of these facts may make it seem like axolotls would be an advanced animal to keep, but they are surprisingly low maintenance. Of course, you have to maintain a tank to their specific needs and keep it clean, but they are pretty easy to take care of at feeding time. There are only a few staple foods that should make up an axolotls diet.

Worms

Worms are the most nutritionally complete food you can give your axolotl. They make a great staple food, and your axolotls will be perfectly healthy if this is what you feed them every day. Nightcrawlers and red wrigglers are the most popular choices, but some axolotls don’t like red wrigglers because of their bitter taste. You can also get black worms or blood worms. These are slightly more difficult to come by but they are perfect for feeding young axolotls and they make a good treat for adults. If you are feeding a young axolotl you can also cut up a worm for them. If this makes you terribly uncomfortable, there are other staple foods to choose from.

Pellets

These are the most common choice for people who are squeamish about feeding live food. The most important thing to look for in a pellet is that it has enough protein. Axolotls are carnivores, and their diet should be made up of mostly protein. It is also handy to have a pellet that sinks. They will hang out at the bottom of their tank most of the time, so they won’t be likely to find their pellets if they are floating at the top. Sinking pellets made just for axolotls are available. Sinking salmon pellets and Hikari sinking pellets are also good choices. Not every axolotl will go for these, I have one that will eat them and one that won’t, but they are handy to have.

Live Food

Axolotls will eat, or try to eat, any fish or shrimp that you keep in their tank. That doesn’t necessarily mean that feeding them live fish is a good idea though. Feeder fish are known to nip at their gills and they also can pass on parasites to your lotls. Most types of shrimp except for ghost and cherry shrimp have a hard exoskeleton that axolotls are unable to digest. Some keepers like to feed ghost shrimp or guppies, but it is a good idea to quarantine them first, and it does come with a bit of risk.

These are just the basics of what you can feed your axolotls, and it is by no means an all inclusive list. Some people have had luck feeding Repashy Grub Pie that they poured into worm shaped molds. I can see this being a great option if you have a young axolotl and you are like me and you really don’t want to cut up a worm, but they won’t eat pellets. There are also options like daphnia cultures for axolotls that just hatched and things you can feed as treats, but these are just the basics for a new keeper that wants a healthy, well-fed axolotl.