Can axolotls eat mealworms? mealworms are among the readily available pet foods, but are mealworms the right food for axolotls? Join us at All Amphibian to explore this issue together.
Can axolotl eat mealworms?
In answer to this question, we can say yes, axolotls can eat mealworms, but this is not good food for them. In nature, worms are not part of the food of axolotls because they have a completely different diet. But if you give them edible worms, they will eat them.
You should pay special attention to the diet of axolotls because they are sensitive animals. Their diet should be varied and should provide them with the necessary nutrients. But mealworms do not have high nutritional value, and mealworms are slow-digesting food for axolotls and may suffer from digestive problems.
Can we give mealworms to axolotls?
A lot of people feed axolotls with mealworms.
Mealworms are very easy to get because you can get them at all pet stores. Also, you may not find more suitable food for axolotls. You can feed mealworms to your axolotl, but there are some important things to consider.
Mealworms are not perfect food for your axolotls. If you decide to give mealworms to your axolotl, it is better to combine them with other foods. Also, it is not recommended to give mealworms as food to young axolotls. Because eating mealworms is dangerous for them and their body are not developed to digest mealworms. It is best to only feed adult axolotls mealworms along with other food.
Why mealworms are not good for axolotls?
In general, mealworms are not good food for axolotls for two reasons. First, mealworms have a slow-digesting exoskeleton on their body surface. And second, because of their low nutritional value, which we will explain separately.
Slow digestion
Axolotls have small teeth that are not designed for chewing. Therefore, they swallow their food and digest the food in their stomach. For this reason, they can only eat soft foods.
Mealworms have a slow-digesting exoskeleton on their body surface that is made of chitin. This skeletal layer is very slow to digest for axolotls.
If you give mealworms to the axolotl, you will see that it cannot digest this hard exoskeleton and It will be excreted from their body along with feces because the axolotl cannot digest chitin.
The chitin may block the intestines of the axolotl, and that may cause impaction, which is very dangerous.
Nutritional value
In general, mealworms cannot provide the nutrients needed by axolotls. They contain large amounts of fat and little protein and lack calcium, minerals, and vitamins.
Many people give their axolotl mealworms regularly, which is very harmful to them. It is just like if a person only uses fast food for his nutrition. This causes problems in their body.
How to feed mealworms to axolotls?
Mealworms are the larval stage of a type of cockroach called the black cockroach. At first, they are inside an egg, and then they emerge from their eggs as mealworms and start growing.
Their lives at this stage will last ten weeks, and they are constantly changing and molting. Sometimes they do this even up to 20 times. This skin is the hard skeletal layer.
If you want to give mealworms to your axolotls, it is better to give mealworms that have just molted and have soft bodies. It is also very easy to recognize them.
When mealworms molt, their body color is bright and transparent, and you can easily separate them from the others. Also, it is better to give the mealworms together with other food to provide the food needed by axolotl.
Another thing to pay attention to is the mealworm’s jaws. Because chewing this worm is famous, they have dangerous jaws. It has even been seen in cases where they chewed their way out of the body of an animal.
So give them to your axolotl if you have removed their jaws because they can seriously hurt the axolotl.
What food is good for axolotl?
Axolotls have a larval stage when they hatch. In the first 24 hours, they do not need food because they feed from their egg sac. Then they are ready to eat. You must feed live food to the baby axolotls because the baby axolotls’ sense of smell is not yet complete, but they can detect movements around them.
The best food for them at this time is micro worms, live daphnia, and baby brine shrimp. When axolotls grow up and their hands and feet are formed, they have small teeth. Now should be fed soft foods.
When the arms and legs of the axolotls are complete, they start to move and are very active. They move according to their instinct to hunt. At this time, you must separate the smaller axolotls from the larger ones because a lot of cannibalism has been seen among them during this time.
When axolotls reach 3 months old, you can give them worms like earthworms, bloodworms, blackworms, and waxworms, but it is still too early to give them mealworms. Foods that are more difficult to digest, such as worms, can be slowly added to the food of axolotls at 18 to 24 months.
After 24-month axolotls’ digestive system and teeth are fully formed and they can eat a variety of worms and foods; you can give them mealworms, but in compliance with the things we have mentioned.
In general, the food of adult axolotls is divided into three categories:
- Live Foods
- Frozen Food
- Pellets
Adult axolotls can survive without food for up to 2 weeks and you can feed them once every two days, but baby axolotls can only last a few days without food and need to eat once or twice a day. Foods that are suitable for axolotls and can be found at pet stores include:
- Waxworms
- Shrimp
- Earthworms
- Nightcrawlers
- Grub pie
- Dendrobaena Worms
- Waxworms
- Pellets
- Feeder Fish
- Daphnia
- Red Wigglers
Don’t forget that you should never overfeed an axolotl throughout its life because it will cause digestive problems. Also, there should be some fine and soft sand in the axolotl tank because they swallow some sand with their food which helps in digestion. Coarse sand and gravel can damage them.
Conclusion
Mealworms are among the prepared foods that are easily found in pet stores and are easy to find. Many people use these mealworms to feed their axolotls. In nature, axolotls do not feed on worms and have a different diet.
However, axolotls have a huge appetite for them. But mealworms are not good food for axolotls, and in some cases, they are even dangerous for the health of axolotls.
Mealworms are the larval stage of the black cockroach. They have a slow-digesting exoskeleton which is made of chitin. Because axolotls do not chew their food, their stomachs are unable to digest chitin.
For this reason, The exoskeleton may accumulate in the intestines of the axolotl and cause choking or intestinal impaction, which is very dangerous. Also, mealworms do not have high nutritional value and are not considered complete food for axolotls.
Mealworms molt several times before they turn into cockroaches. Suppose you want to give them to your axolotl. When they molt and have lost their exoskeleton is the best time.
You can easily recognize newly hatched mealworms because their color is completely transparent. Also, the jaws of mealworms can damage the axolotl. It is best to remove their jaws before feeding them to the axolotl so that the axolotl does not get hurt.
For young axolotls, mealworms are not good food at all because their digestive system is weak to digest mealworms. Axolotls have their diet in different life stages and you should pay attention to them.
FAQ
Can axolotls eat mealworms?
In nature, mealworms are not among the food of axolotls, and they have a different diet, but still, axolotls have a good appetite for mealworms.
Can we give mealworms to axolotls?
Mealworms are available at most pet stores and are easy to find. Many people feed mealworms to axolotls, but they are not good food for axolotls.
Why mealworms are not good for axolotls?
Mealworms have a skeletal shell made of chitin, which is difficult for the axolotl to digest, and they usually excrete it in their feces. It is also possible that this exoskeleton obstructs the axolotl intestine. Also, worms do not have a high nutritional value for axolotls and you shouldn’t feed axolotls only with worms.
How to give mealworms to axolotls?
Mealworms molt several times until the end of their larval period. When they molt and lose their exoskeleton is the best time to give them to axolotls. They have a white and transparent color that can be easily recognized. Mealworms have dangerous jaws that can harm the axolotl. It is better to separate their jaws as well.
What food is good for axolotls?
The food of axolotls is divided into three general categories. Live foods, Frozen foods, and pellets. When axolotls have just hatched, we should give them live food such as micro worms, baby brine shrimp, and live daphnia. At the age of 3 months, you can give worms such as earthworms, waxworms, bloodworms, and blackworms. At the age of 18 to 24 months, add foods that are more difficult to digest to their food. Foods that you can give to axolotls are: Shrimp, Grub Pie, Nightcrawlers, Waxworms, Pellets, Feeder Fish, Earthworms, Red Wigglers, Daphnia, and Dendrobaena Worms