Feeding baby axolotls mealworms is dangerous because it could cause choking or impaction, as their hard exoskeleton may make swallowing difficult for your pet.
Wild axolotls typically avoid feeding on mealworms due to their high concentration of chitin which could potentially cause digestive issues in their diets.
Axolotls are not used to eating mealworms in the wild
In the wild, axolotls are carnivorous animals and will eat anything they can fit in their mouths, such as crustaceans, mollusks, fish eggs, insects or even worms. Such food generally provides more nutrition and has reduced risks of choking or impaction.
Mealworms are generally not recommended as food for axolotls due to possible contaminants or pathogens present. Furthermore, their hard exoskeletons can easily get stuck between gills or throats of an axolotl leading to infection and possible choking hazards.
To prevent this from occurring, axolotl keepers typically soak mealworms in water to soften them before feeding them to their pets. They can also purchase containers containing earthworms that have been boiled to remove dirt and debris before giving these to their axolotls.
Axolotls can also feed on other live food such as bloodworms, brine shrimp, daphnia (an aquatic crustacean) and strips of beef liver. Sometimes they engage in cannibalism by biting off appendages from nearby family members; nevertheless, their remarkable regeneration abilities allow them to quickly regenerate lost parts.
Mealworms molt several times
Mealworms molt 9-20 times over their three to five month lifespan, enabling them to expand without being restricted by their hard exoskeleton. After their final molt, mealworms transition into their pupal stage before emerging as beetles after emerging from its pupal shell. Mealworms are easily available at pet stores and relatively affordable; making them a fantastic staple food source for your axolotl, providing essential proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals for life.
Mealworms should only be fed to your axolotl shortly after they molt, as this ensures their exoskeleton has fully formed and can be digested easily by their pet. Doing otherwise could result in impaction causing serious health risks for their owner and potentially be fatal for themselves!
Rather than feeding your axolotl mealworms, consider switching to dry food instead. Axolotls tend to prefer dry food over mealworms because it's more palatable. You can find bulk packs at most pet stores. Furthermore, nutritionally balanced dry food makes a better alternative than wild-caught brine shrimp which may carry bacteria. Daphnia are home-cultured algae available from pet stores which make another good protein-rich alternative and should be boiled before feeding to your axolotl.
Mealworms have dangerous jaws
Axolotls possess powerful jaws that they use to catch and crush prey. In nature, these creatures use their keen sense of smell to locate food along the bottoms of lakes and rivers; once they find a suitable underwater prey item they suction it up with their mouths before grinding it up in their stomachs to make digesting it easier.
Feeding mealworms to an axolotl poses the risk of its jaws getting caught and potentially choking itself; this poses an especially great threat for newly hatched axolotls; therefore mealworms should only be used as primary nutrition source until stage five has passed in its life cycle.
Mealworms contain hard outer skeletons that may prove dangerous for axolotls. According to Mealworm Care website, axolotls do not possess the digestive capabilities needed to digest chitin--the substance that forms hard outer skeletons of bugs, worms, and crustaceans--meaning when eating mealworms it could swallow pieces of its hard outer skeleton and choke itself to death.
To reduce this danger, it is recommended to feed axolotls mealworms that have already shed their hard exoskeletons. You should also aim to only feed large mealworms once or twice each month since their mouths may not be capable of holding onto such foods; frozen or dried mealworms would make for easier feedings instead.
Mealworms are not good for axolotls
Mealworms are not ideal food sources for axolotls due to their insufficient nutritional content and long digestion process, leading to health problems in overfeeding situations. Furthermore, they are prone to disease and parasite infestation and should therefore be avoided as much as possible in favor of earthworms, brine shrimps, daphnia (small crustaceans) and lean pieces of beef and chicken; typically frozen or pellet-based diets offer better care and nourishment for your pet's diet needs.
Mealworms should only be fed to axolotls during the molting stage as they cannot digest their hard exoskeleton. Also, dry mealworms could pose serious danger as your pet could bite back at them!
In their natural habitats, axolotls are carnivorous amphibians that feed on insects, snails, worms and even the larvae of other smaller amphibians as well as freshwater crayfish, clams and crustaceans. Therefore, to ensure your axolotl receives all essential vitamins and nutrients it requires an ample diet with varied foodstuffs to stay healthy.
Hornworms are another popular food choice for axolotls. While they can be purchased at pet stores or grown yourself, it's wiser to get them from a fish shop or grow them yourself to ensure they do not contain harmful chemicals or have eaten any toxic plants. Also note that wild caterpillars could contain dangerous toxins which should be avoided as feeders.