How to turn an axolotl into an ambistoma

AXOLOTL AND AMBYSTOMA

Ambystoma - axolotl - ambistoma
M. Zatravkin Moscow Regional Pedagogical Institute named after. N. K. Krupskaya Department of Zoology

One of the first Spanish travelers said: “Near the city of Mexico in the lakes there live fish with soft skin and four legs, similar to the legs of a lizard; these fish are about a cubit long and an inch thick. They are called axolotls . This animal. amazes with its unusual and strange appearance. Its meat is similar to eel meat, healthy and tasty, it is eaten fried, boiled and baked.” Who is an axolotl? What kind of animal is that? The answer will probably surprise many. It turns out that this is the larva of the amphibian animal Ambystoma . But if the axolotl is well known to aquarists, few people know the adult animal, the ambistoma.

Ambystoma belongs to the order of tailed amphibians (Urodela, or Caudata). The family Ambystomatidae includes 5 genera, 28 species. Originates from North and Central America. The axolotl appeared in Russia back in the last century and by the end of it was widespread among aquarists.

The body is long and thick, like a newt. The head is very flat, the muzzle is flattened, the mouth is wide. On both sides of the head there are three tufts of hairy gills. A translucent straight ridge stretches along the body. The axolotl has two pairs of legs, the front legs have four toes and the back legs have five. It feels good in an aquarium (this was noted by Zolotnitsky), requires almost no care and can live even in muddy water containing little oxygen.

Photo of axolotl

From time to time it rises to the surface of the water for air, although it can do without it and breathe oxygen dissolved in the water. In an aquarium, the axolotl prefers to retire to dark corners, leads a sedentary lifestyle, and can stand in one place for hours without moving at all. It gets used to people quickly and sometimes takes food directly from people's hands. Axolotls are fed with large bloodworms, pieces of raw meat and fish, earthworms, mollusks, and insects.

Animals are very voracious and often try to swallow more food than fits in their throats. They regurgitate unswallowed food. Hungry axolotls can attack small fish, newts, and tadpoles (the latter can be used as food in the spring). It happens that they eat off each other’s gills, tails, paws (all eaten body parts quickly regenerate), or even even attempt to kill their fellow creatures. Axolotl reproduction was first observed in 1865. at the Paris Botanical Garden.

It usually occurs in April-May. Fertilization in axolotls is internal. The female captures the spermatophore laid by the male with her cloaca, and then lays fertilized eggs in several stages - 20-30 pieces each, up to 500 eggs in total. During this period she is very restless. The male is slow and lazy.

Reproduction can also be induced artificially at any time of the year. To do this, you need to keep the axolotls for 2-3 months in an aquarium without soil and plants, with some lack of oxygen, and then transfer them to good conditions. In an aquarium where axolotls breed, plants and stones are needed, to which the female glues eggs - large (up to 4.2-5 mm in diameter), transparent, with a black dot of the embryo. They should be removed from the aquarium immediately, otherwise they will become prey for the males and will be completely destroyed.

It is recommended to keep fertilized eggs in a 20-liter aquarium along with plants placed on the bottom. Zolotnitsky (1890) advises incubating them on a baking sheet filled with water and covered with glass on top; there should be plants in the water, mainly elodea. The optimal temperature is 18−20°C. The water should be changed once every 3-4 days. Eggs must be periodically inspected and dead (clouded) eggs must be removed. It is not necessary to remove dead eggs in an aquarium. The incubation period lasts 3-4 weeks. Then the shell bursts and the young larva emerges from the egg.

Its length is up to 25mm. It is equipped with gills, but there are no legs yet. The hind legs appear after 1-2 weeks, the front legs only after 3-4 months. The body of young individuals is light green in color, with black spots. The larvae must be well fed, otherwise they develop poorly and grow slowly (sometimes growth stops altogether). You can’t overfeed them either - this can lead to their death. Feeding begins with “live dust” and ciliates, then cyclops and daphnia are included in the diet (initially small, later large) and, finally, they switch to small bloodworms. Grown-up larvae can be fed in the same way as adult axolotls. The larvae usually reach their maximum size in the second year of life. Axolotls rarely turn into adult axolotls.

When transitioning to a new stage, the axolotl begins to increasingly rise to the surface of the water for air. At the same time, its gills gradually become smaller and finally disappear altogether. The leathery fin fold of the tail also disappears. The axolotl turns into an adult ambistoma and emerges from the water. An adult animal returns to the water only during the breeding season, and then returns to land. This transformation can also be carried out in captivity.

Young larvae at an age when they already have front and hind legs must be placed in such a position that they are forced to come into contact with atmospheric air. Professor Weisman first tried to do this in the last century, but he never managed to bring his idea to life. A few years later, the famous naturalist Marie de Chauvin obtained an ambistoma from an axolotl. In her experiment, part of the aquarium was filled with water so that the axolotl could only dive into it in one place. When crawling, he often had to come into contact with the surface of the water and atmospheric air. There was wet moss in the dry area of the aquarium.

Keeping at home

Back in the middle of the 19th century, domestic hobbyists, as well as collectors, began to actively breed these unique amphibians, unpretentious to the conditions of their detention, as well as to food. In addition, they reproduce well. They are very popular and are happily kept in captivity, since their behavior does not cause any concern to their owners.

Interesting fact! These animals were kept in large numbers in various laboratories, where research was carried out on them and experiments were carried out on the subject of tissue regeneration.

Choosing an aquarium

It is quite natural that the size of the aquarium depends on the number of individuals that are supposed to be kept. In fact, it is better to keep each individual in a separate container, since adult individuals get along quite poorly with each other. This is especially true if these creatures are of different ages. Stronger adult males often bully their smaller and weaker counterparts. They can inflict many wounds on them, and sometimes they simply eat their younger fellow tribesmen.

Important to remember! Individuals of different sizes should not be kept together. If it is customary to keep them together, then they should be of the same age and approximately the same size. In this case, the aquarium should be such that it is spacious.

A container with a volume of about 50 liters is suitable for keeping two young axolotls. As you grow older, you should increase the volume of the container, eventually bringing the volume to 100 liters.

Aquarium equipment

In order for a newt to feel comfortable in an aquarium, it is necessary to create living conditions for it that are close to natural ones, and not simply by releasing the animal into a container of water. These unique creatures love to have a huge amount of cover to hide in, as well as some ground. Therefore, there are some factors to think about.

Priming

The presence of soil is necessary because they cling to it when they move from place to place. The absence of this leads to stress, and ulcers may appear on the paws. In this case, the presence of sand, and even more so small pebbles (gravel), is undesirable. They constantly swallow them, which leads to problems in the digestive system. Stones that animals cannot take into their mouths in the aquarium will not hurt.

Shelters

The presence of shelters in the aquarium will play a dual role: firstly, they will decorate the aquarium, and secondly, they will create a comfortable living environment for the pet. The number of shelters should be such that there is enough for all individuals with a reserve so that each larva can find a house for itself. The most important thing is that all objects inside the aquarium do not have sharp edges, since the skin of these creatures is very delicate. In the aquarium you can place:

Wooden elements.
Various ceramic figurines.
Stones of different sizes.
Arches.
Pots.
Coconut shell halves.

Aquarium placement

These amphibians are more active at night, so very illuminated places are not suitable. In addition, you should not place the aquarium near noise sources such as a TV or computer. There is no need for a backlight lamp either.

Axolotl is tame. Aquarium for a new pet | Axolotl in aquarium.

Water requirements

Naturally, it is better if there is clean water in the aquarium, although this does not matter for axolotls. Rather, this is important for the owner, because who is interested in looking at an aquarium in which the water is dirty, which does not allow observing the life activity of such “newts”. If you use noisy external filters, this will create some discomfort for your pets, since they work constantly, creating noise. The best option is to use an internal filter with a sorbent inside, which works with low water movement. Despite the non-critical conditions, it is better to keep the aquarium clean by regularly (daily) removing food debris and adding fresh water. A complete water change will be needed a couple of times a year, if you keep it clean.

Important information! It is very important for axolotls to create the correct temperature regime, since the larvae do not feel comfortable even at a water temperature of 21 degrees - it is too warm for them. At higher temperatures, the larvae can get sick and even die.

The aquarium should have a thermometer, which will allow you to control the water temperature, which should be between 13 and 20 degrees. When the room is hot, you will have to take measures to cool the water. This can be done using a plastic bottle in which water is frozen in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator. By empirically monitoring the water temperature, you can determine how often you should replace your water bottle. In fact, during the summer, it is permissible to move axolotls to live in a basement or cellar.

Care and maintenance

With the right approach to the problem, caring for axolotls does not contain anything complicated. Care comes down to organizing a proper diet, removing leftover food every day, and also monitoring the temperature of the water.

You should always remember that water dragons have no bones and their body is quite soft and delicate, so they must be handled with care. If you need to transplant a dragon into another container, you should use a soft net made of soft fabric. Dragons attacking each other, as a rule, occurs when there is a lack of food supply. Therefore, animals should be well-fed, but they should not be overfed. The reproduction process requires taking certain measures, which will be discussed a little later.

What to feed an axolotl

Ambystoma larvae, like all amphibians, are predatory animals, so to feed them you should use animal food in the form of bloodworms, which aquarium fish feed on.

Important to remember! You should not give food in excess, since animal food left uneaten in the aquarium quickly pollutes the water in the aquarium.

In the absence of bloodworms, the larvae can be offered an earthworm, pieces of fish or shrimp, mussels, insects, but without wings. These types of food create a number of problems when feeding, since axolotls prefer live, moving food. Granulated food for predatory fish may be suitable for feeding the larvae. Slowly descending, they create the appearance of movement, so the predator tries to grab it until they reach the bottom of the aquarium. In no case should you feed the larvae animal meat, since the amphibian digestive system is not designed for this. Food that has fallen to the bottom of the aquarium can be removed immediately, since the dragons will not see it, since their eyes are directed upward. If you immediately clean the aquarium, this will prevent spoiling the water in the aquarium in the future. If non-live food is used, it is better to offer it to pets using tweezers or feed axolotls by hand. Their jaws are designed to hold food objects, so the food is absorbed whole with the help of a wide mouth. So that the food has time to be digested in the larva’s stomach, it is fed once every 3 days. The larva will eat as much as food is offered to it, stocking up on food for future use, so it is very important to stop in time. Axolotls survive without food for 2 weeks, or even three: these are quite tenacious larvae.

Axolotl breeding

These creatures reproduce without problems in captivity; all that remains is to distinguish the male from the female. To do this, you need to turn the animal over and evaluate the cloaca area. If it is more convex and as if swollen, then it is a male. Females do not have this feature, but they are not much wider than males. The beginning of the mating season is characterized by an upward change in water temperature. In captivity, this factor is easy to achieve at any time of the year.

Interesting moment! Before the process of reproduction, the larvae need to be kept for several days from hand to mouth at a water temperature of about +10 degrees, and separately. Then they are placed together in a container with water heated to a temperature of +18 degrees.

To carry out the mating ritual, the larvae will need a lot of space, so a spacious aquarium will never hurt. The male releases seed into the water, and the female lays unfertilized eggs or sucks up clumps of seed with her cloaca. After about a day, the female will begin to hang eggs on various objects or plants in the aquarium. After this, it is better to remove the male from the aquarium, otherwise he may eat the entire clutch of eggs. It is better to maintain the temperature at the limit, about 20-21 degrees. When whitish or gray eggs appear, they must be immediately removed from the aquarium so that they do not infect other eggs.

After 2-3 weeks, from the pea-sized eggs, fry similar to fish are born. The body length of these fry is a couple of centimeters. The fry do not yet have limbs, which appear at different periods of time. After 1 week, the hind legs appear, and the front legs only after 3 months. The offspring that are born are first fed with ciliates, then with daphnia, small bloodworms, and also with special food for fry in a concentration of 1:4. As the fry grow older, they are gradually transferred to feeding with adult food. Eggs and fry need clean water for their development, which should be changed every day.

The female can be inseminated 2-3 times a year, but males can be used much more often to reproduce their own kind. At 10-11 months of life, the larvae become sexually mature, although the peak of fertility occurs at the age of 2-3 years. Having reached the 6-year threshold, individuals reproduce much worse.

How to turn an axolotl into an amblystoma

Axolotl can be purchased in stores that sell aquariums, fish for aquariums, etc. Most of all, it resembles a newt, but is much larger, reaching five inches in length.

In addition, he retains gills for his entire life, which stick out in the form of bushes on the sides of his head. This animal comes from America, but in our country it breeds well in aquariums and reproduces easily. It has long been known that axolotls, under some poorly understood conditions, undergo great changes in the structure of their bodies and turn into another animal, which is also found freely in America. This other animal is called Amblystoma. This transformation consists of the fact that the axolotl’s gills disappear, as happens when a newt larva transforms into an adult state. In addition, light spots appear on his skin, and his tail turns from flat, paddle-shaped, to more or less round. Thus, it has long been known that the axolotl is nothing more than an amblystoma larva, but a larva capable of reproducing. It is remarkable that amblystoma itself cannot reproduce. Until recently, it was believed that it was difficult to force an axolotl to turn into an amblystoma in an aquarium, so those observers who succeeded in this considered it their duty to notify about this in special journals. For such a transformation, a special aquarium was set up, in which axolotls could walk onto land along the flat bottom. Recently a new method has been discovered by which every axolotl can easily be made to turn into an amblystoma. To do this, the axolotl must be fed raw thyroid gland from a bull or goat. This gland can be obtained from butchers upon request, but you can replace it with the so-called thyroidin. This is a drug prepared from the thyroid gland. It can be bought at a pharmacy. It comes in the form of a powder that should be given along with the meat. A thin slice is cut out of the meat, 0.02 to 0.05 grains of thyroidin are poured into it, this slice is wrapped and given to the axolotl, holding the entire lump with tweezers. This medication should be given once a day and no other food should be fed. In 5-6 weeks the axolotl will turn into an amblystoma. Very small axolotls, however, do not transform.

The thyroid gland is very important in the life of animals. It is believed that axolotls in aquariums do not turn into amblystoma for the reason that their thyroid gland is underdeveloped. In humans, overdevelopment of this gland causes a painful condition called goiter. It is expressed in the formation of a tumor on the neck, which sometimes reaches the size of a human head. Damage to the thyroid gland causes a disease in humans called myxedema. It is expressed in mucous swelling and usually ends in death.

If damage to this gland occurs in childhood, then the child becomes an idiot. And finally, this gland has some amazing property of promoting the transformation of the axolotl into an amblystoma. A painful condition caused by damage to the thymus gland (even idiocy) can be cured if the patient is transplanted with the thyroid gland of a monkey or even a goat.

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Description of the axolotl

Mature individuals can grow up to 45 cm in length, but most often their size does not exceed 25-30 cm. The amphibian weighs about 300 grams. The animal's rounded, somewhat elongated body is covered with delicate skin. The water dragon has 4 legs, and its flat and long tail makes it an excellent swimmer. On the large, wide head, small black eyes and a wide, constantly smiling mouth stand out.

Dark axolotls are found in nature. Individuals with golden yellow, yellow-brown, black, pink or white colors are bred in aquariums. There are also albinos with red eyes.

Features of the axolotl

Unlike most other amphibians, which can live both in water and on land, the axolotl always remains in the water. It feeds on crustaceans, insect larvae, small fish and their eggs.

These “smiling” amphibians are extremely popular both among aquarists for their cheerful appearance and unpretentiousness, and among biologists as model objects (mainly for their amazing ability to regenerate). If he loses, for example, a leg, he can easily grow it back. Even lost parts of the heart and brain can be restored! This property makes the Mexican salamander extremely interesting to scientists.

Another amazing feature of the axolotl is that while physically remaining a “child,” it becomes ready to reproduce. The secret of “eternal childhood” lies in neoteny, that is, the ability to reach sexual maturity and reproduce at the larval stage.

An axolotl can remain in the larval state throughout its life. But if unfavorable conditions suddenly arise, for example, a pond dries up, the larva moves to the next level of development, i.e. transforms into an adult ambystoma. Within a few weeks, the external gills disappear and the color and shape of the body changes.

The fact that axolotls can mature became known in 1863 in Paris, when several individuals of the Mexican salamander were released into the pond of the botanical garden. After some time, a French zoologist discovered that one of the axolotls had turned into an animal similar to a salamander. Since that time, neoteny has been the subject of close attention of scientists.

You can turn an axolotl into an ambistoma artificially by lowering the water level and increasing the amount of soil in one part of the aquarium. This will force the animal to leave the water and move to a drier environment. Another way is to inject the hormone thyroxine or add it to the amphibian’s food.

But keep in mind that introducing an axolotl into metamorphosis without the help of a herpetologist is dangerous. Such experiments most often end in the death of the larva.

The uniqueness of the Mexican axolotl: neoteny

The first thing that interests scientists so much about this amphibian is, of course, the ability to remain in the larval stage - neoteny - all its life, and at the same time reproduce and survive. Usually a larva, fry, or cub is a defenseless and vulnerable creature. Nature gave the axolotl a chance to live in a young form without the need to grow up quickly. Why and for what purpose remains a mystery.

Due to the peculiar structure of the thyroid gland, the little monster gets by with virtually no iodine. This lack is reflected only in difficulties with transformation. The axolotl becomes a full-fledged Mexican ambistoma only in certain cases: under the influence of external hormones or when there is a lack of water. If conditions do not require a fundamental change in appearance, neoteny can live for many years without taking on an adult form. The lifespan of a larva is almost no different from how long axolotls that have turned into ambistos live: they can live up to 20 years (in a home aquarium - up to 15). The main thing is suitable conditions (especially in captivity).

Keeping a Water Dragon

An adult axolotl will be comfortable in an aquarium with a volume of at least 40 liters. 3-4 water dragons will fit perfectly in a 100-liter container. The aquarium is installed in a cool room and should not be exposed to direct sunlight.

There are two things you should not do when keeping axolotls: keep your pets in close quarters and overheat the water. Elevated temperatures are detrimental to them. Under natural conditions, they live in cold mountain lakes, so the water temperature in the aquarium should be about 18-20° C.

Important: temperatures above 24° C can lead to illness and death of the amphibian. If the apartment is too warm, you will need a cooling system.

Since aquatic dragons are very sensitive to the purity of water and its oxygen saturation, filtration is necessary in the aquarium and aeration is desirable. Partial water changes should be carried out at least once a week.

Axolotls require hard water to keep them. Soft, and especially distilled, is absolutely not suitable for them. Ordinary tap water is pre-settled for several days or purified using special conditioners (for example, Avera). The pH value should be in the range from 6.5 to 8.

An amphibian's home needs soil - without it, the axolotl will not feel very comfortable. As such, it is better to use pebbles no smaller than 1.5-2 cm in size. The salamander does not particularly need live plants, but you can decorate the aquarium with artificial ones.

Interesting Facts

As a result of crossing axolotls with different genes, it was possible to obtain a species on the body of which, under the influence of a fluorescent lamp, luminous spots and patterns appear.
The Aztecs used water dragons to make medicinal potions.
In their natural habitat, representatives of different species of amphibians do not interbreed, but when kept in captivity they are capable of producing offspring.
Axolotls are listed in the International Red Book as an endangered species.

Feeding the axolotl

The axolotl, despite its outward meekness, is a predator, and quite picky in its food. The first days of their life, the larvae feed on yolk reserves, and then move on to small crustaceans. Next they are fed with cyclops or daphnia, and later small bloodworms and tubifex are added.

Grown-up dragons happily eat beef and veal liver and meat (they should be cut into pieces and bones, tendons and fat removed from them).

Animals do not take food from the bottom. You need to move long tweezers in front of their muzzle, in which a treat is clamped. They give as much food as the water dragon will eat.

The diet is varied with earthworms, fish, crickets, tadpoles or newborn mice.

Adult axolotls are fed every other day, juveniles - daily.

Reproduction of water dragons

Axolotls reach sexual maturity at 10-12 months. By this time, males acquire a cloacal swelling at the base of the tail. In females there is no such swelling or almost no swelling.

The female lays eggs 2-3 times a year, males can be used more often. The couple is seated together in the evening and left overnight. If the partners are attractive to each other, they begin mating games. Their fertilization is internal, although there are no special copulation organs. Fertilization occurs as follows: the male places on the ground from 1 to 20 transparent gelatinous pyramids consisting of sperm, and the female, floating above them, draws them into the cloaca. After a few hours, she begins to lay eggs on the leaves of aquatic plants. There can be up to 800 eggs. The eggs hatch into larvae.

Sexual differences and reproduction

By the end of the first year of life, “aquatic dinosaurs” are able to continue their race. How to determine sex: Females have a more rounded body, while males have characteristic swellings around the cloaca. When these features become noticeable, axolotls are ready to mate.

It is not difficult to organize breeding of axolotls at home. It happens that the process starts without any stimulation, but if a constant temperature is usually maintained in the aquarium, it should be changed regularly within the parameters acceptable for the animal:

Reduce the length of daylight hours and bring the temperature closer to the upper limit of 21°C;
Then increase the length of daylight hours and reduce the temperature to the lower permissible level of 19°C;
Repeat regularly.

Reproduction easily occurs in a community aquarium, if there is no one else in it besides axolotls. If smiling amphibians have neighbors, it is better to transplant the pair into a spawning tank. The male releases spermatophores, which the female collects using the cloaca. This way the eggs are fertilized. As a result of a simple “spawning”, it ends up on the leaves of plants. It is recommended to transfer these plants to a separate aquarium or return the pair home, leaving the eggs without parents.

Incubation takes a long time: 2-3 weeks. Depends on the water temperature. Amphibians do not have the concept of “fry”; larvae up to 1 cm in size hatch from the eggs. The first week is spent settling into a new environment; there is no need to feed them: the babies feed from the yolk sac. Then you can start feeding with the usual starter food for fish fry: daphnia, brine shrimp, and live food mush.

It is interesting to watch the development of newborn axolotls. It takes three weeks for the hind limbs to begin to appear. By this period, the baby has already grown to 2.5 cm. By the end of the first month, they are already amphibians of almost typical shape, up to 5 cm in size. At 3 months, the axolotl is considered to have formed neoteny.

Features and habitat of ombystoma

In appearance it resembles a lizard known to many people, and in American countries it was even dubbed the mole salamander. They live in forests with high humidity, which have soft soil and thick litter.

The main part of the individuals included in the class Ambisto is located in North America, the southern part of Canada. The family of these lizards includes 33 different types of ambistomas, each of which has its own characteristics.

The most popular of them are the following:

Tiger Ambystoma.

In the photo is a tiger ambystoma

In the photo there is a marble ambistoma

Ambystoma yellowspotted

Mexican Ambystoma

Pictured is the Pacific Ambystoma

Having looked at the photos of the Ambist that were listed above, you can see significant differences between them.

Ambystoma character and lifestyle

Since there are many varieties of ambistos, it is natural that each of them has its own character and way of life. Tiger ambysts prefer to sit in burrows throughout the day, and at night they go in search of food. Very nimble and timid, sensing danger, they prefer to return to the hole, even if they are left without food.

Marbled ambistomes are secretive, preferring to create burrows under fallen leaves and fallen trees. Occasionally they settle in abandoned hollows. Yellow-spotted salamanders prefer an underground lifestyle, so they can only be seen on the surface of the earth on rainy days. At the same time, these amphibians do not create housing for themselves; they use what is left after other animals.

All species of these amphibians live in burrows and prefer to hunt in the dark. This is due to the fact that they cannot tolerate excessive heat; the optimal temperature for them is 18–20 degrees, in extreme cases 24 degrees.

They have a rather specific character, because they love loneliness and do not let anyone near them. The sense of self-preservation is at a high level. If ambistomes fall into the clutches of a predator, they will not give up until the last minute, biting and scratching him. In this case, the entire struggle of the ambystoma will be accompanied by loud sounds, somewhat similar to a squeal.

Compatibility with other fish

Ideally, ambystoma larvae are kept in a separate monospecies aquarium. It is very difficult to choose neighbors because:

Most fish require higher temperatures than the axolotl;
Small and slow fish will be eaten;
Large predators will quickly deal with the soft, defenseless neighbor, even if he is called an aquatic dinosaur;
Other amphibians are incompatible with the axolotl in nutrition;
Reptiles (turtles, snakes) will most likely interfere with axolotls, and axolotls will interfere with them.

Some aquarists who had experience keeping ambyst larvae claim that the amphibians lived with them in almost a three-liter jar, easily cohabited with cichlids, and so on. Situations and the degree of adaptability to conditions are different for different representatives. But among competent aquarists, the most important principle is known: in the aquarium it is necessary to create conditions that maximally replicate the natural habitat of the inhabitants. This applies to everything: not only water parameters and bottom design, but also neighbors. Fish, amphibians, and reptiles should live in comfortable conditions, and not experience constant fear or thirst for hunting. Therefore, it is better not to populate an aquarium with axolotls even with goldfish, which are sometimes recommended.

Ambystoma nutrition

Ambystomas living in natural conditions feed on the following organisms:

Ambystoma larvae in natural conditions consume the following foods:

Those people who keep Ambistoma in an aquarium are recommended to feed it with the following food:

lean meat;
fish;
various insects (worms, cockroaches, spiders).

An axolotl larva should be fed every day, but an adult axolotl should be fed no more than 3 times a week.

What does it eat in nature?

The basis of the axolotl's diet is food of animal origin. They hunt fry and small fish, amphibians, and look for snails and crustaceans at the bottom. Axolotls have poor vision, so when searching for prey, they focus primarily on movement. The water dragon sucks up the caught victim, swallowing it whole, and then grinds it with its palate and small teeth for a long time. Due to their slow metabolism, animals can eat once every few days, and in the absence of food they can starve for longer periods of time.