Bloodworms as primary food for an Axolotl?

Hi, new axolotl owner here with a pretty simple question. The shop I got my Axolotl from sold me a pack of bloodworms as food for it, but I've heard that those may not be a particularly good daily food for an axolotl and are better more as a "treat". As a massive snowstorm has just rolled into our town I can't really go out and buy any sort of worms or pellets to use instead of them. So are there any potential issues with feeding my Axolotl bloodworms daily? It seems to be doing well but I just thought I would make sure.

 

Bloodworms are a good food for axolotls, you have live I assume?

Personally I don't feed my axololtol Bloodworms very often..
I prefer earthworms as I do find Bloodworms get everywhere and make the water dirty quickly if uneaten one's aren't removed.

Live river shrimp are a great treat. Other possible foods include frozen such as mysis shrimp.

The juvenile axolotls where I work get fed bloodworm every other day. No issues with them on that diet.

 

you have live I assume?

No, frozen.

Live river shrimp are a great treat. Other possible foods include frozen such as mysis shrimp.

Noted, I'll see if my local petstore has them.

 

No, frozen.

Noted, I'll see if my local petstore has them.

Frozen bloodworms are OK as well but not as good as live. I would defrost in a cup of tank water and then strain into net and ditch the water.

Feeding with tongs might make things easier with mess on the bottom of the tank...if your axo will take from them.

If you can get a culture of earthworms going that is the best staple food for axos IMO. Won't cost you much in the long run unlike live foods from stores.

 

Frozen bloodworms are OK as well but not as good as live. I would defrost in a cup of tank water and then strain into net and ditch the water.

Why should I defrost in a cup of tank water? Is there some sort of potential contaminant within the frozen bloodworms that might cause issues? I have just been letting them defrost in the tank.

As for earthworms, I'll look into getting a culture of those set up.

 

Correct.

There is potential for ammonia and nasty stuff in the frozen cube water. It may be unecassary to worry but I've heard the water they breed blood worms in is not nice.

I used to defrost the cubes in the tank and never had issues but I'd rather not take a risk now I've heard otherwise.

 

Duly noted, I'll keep in mind to defrost in a separate cup when I feed it next.
Do you have any solid resources for starting an earthworm culture? I wouldn't even know where to start with that lol.

 

You should be able to order a starter kit online. I think the worms I got were dendrobaena. Night crawlers are another type I hear are popular.

A 20l container with a lid, small ventilation holes and small drainage at the bottom is what I used. The bedding was shredded paper and then added vegetable matter to decompose as food. I did have to add a little water to stop the culture drying out.as was stored in shed.

Now I collect worms from my garden compost as the culture eventually needed restocking.

I don't advise using worms from the garden unless your absolutely certain no chemicals such as pesticides have been used.