Reddit reviews Aquatic Foods Inc. Rangen 3/16" Salmon Pellets, Soft Moist Sinking Pellets for Axolotls, Shrimp & All Fish 1-lb

1. Axolotls are usually about 10+ inches long when they are an adult
   
2. He needs to be fed earthworms
   
3. Keep him in a tank alone with no other fish or snails.
   
4. Is the tank cycled? Do you know how to cycle? Or what a cycle is? I will help you + explain if you need me to. Cycle needs to be 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and less than 40ppm of nitrate at all times. If it is not, or nitrates rise. You can kill him/give him chemical burns which is probably why his gills look bad/short. Chemicals burns can burn gills off and no cycle can stress them into being suseptible to disease and bacterial infection.
   
5. Does he have any hides? Axolotls do NOT have eye lids, they need dark places to hide. Do not invest in a lighted tank. Also tank needs to also be kept under 70 degrees. Preferably 60-64 degrees. Get a fan + thermometer and point fan water to cool it via evaporation if you haven't already.
   
6. Yes this is a waiting game. His gills look very very pale. They shouldn't be this pale at all. They should be red or bright pink. He looks sickly. But if he's eating still, then that's a good sign.
   
7. Based on his size he should be able to eat at least half an earth worm daily..until he is 10+ inches long he should be fed daily. After he bulks up and is older, he can be fed a whole earth worm every other day.
   
8. Sand is bad for any baby axolotl. They will eat it and it will basically constipate them to death ( impacted). Gravel is a terribly idea as well because they will eat it and get impacted and die. Anything double the size of their head is usually okay, so huge rocks are okay as long as they are smooth and have been cleaned properly. Sands a mess anyway though. You have to wash it, it can have gravel mixed in and sometimes comes with bacteria ( I got a bad batch before with gravel mixed in, and a couple hundred at the vet I finally saved my axies life. We believe the sand had a bad bacteria in it. . ) Also fake plants, mine tried to eat fake plants. So that was a nope.
   
9. Reptile tweezers. If you have a Petco/PetSmart near you I recommend fluval tweezers..They are black with grippy red tips. Usually near snake stuff. You "hand " feed him with these. Wiggle a earth worm in front of him and he'll snap the food right off of it. I recommend getting some earth worms. Walmart sells live ones in the fishing section fridge if you are in the US. He looks like he could eat at least a half of one. Id start by cutting one in 4 pieces, and try and see if he can eat two of the pieces ( yes this is gross but it's the most nutrition for them. Blood worms/shrimp are treats usually once or twice a week at most.) You can also get repashy meat pie ( it's basically meat jello mix) and feed him. I recommend getting a small super small ice cube trays online and freezing repashy if you go this route. Also you can do axolotl pellets to feed him too. But once again, worms are gold for them. Any pet store should have a jar of repashy meat pie in the reptile section. I can't find it on Amazon for you. I tried. But I have the link to the pellets. Maybe a teaspoon of these daily at his current size? I fed mine these off of a plastic spoon. They sink but axolotls don't usually go for unmoving food. So you gotta wiggle the spoon a bit tilt hey suck the food of it.
   
10. He needs at least a 10 gallon tank, but a 20 would be best for space for him.
    
    Please reply back if you have any other questions. I will answer you best I can.
    
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0787T25J1/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549782616&sr=8-1&keywords=axolotl+pellets&dpPl=1&dpID=61VlsfZaI2L&ref=plSrch
    
    
    
    
    

https://www.amazon.com/Rangen-Salmon-Pellets-Sinking-Axolotls/dp/B0787T25J1/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1522788502&sr=8-2&keywords=axolotl+pellets

These are good pellets. I supplement mine with theses. One of mine hates them, one likes them. Its hard to feed them though since mine are used to hand feeding with tongs so I bent a plastic spoon and drop them into the spoon and kinda hover it near the axolotl to get her to eat them. She loves them, and they smell like the best cat treats ever, if you have cats, be sure to get a tupperware to put these in, otherwise your cats will tear through the bag.