{"topic_id":"exotic_nutrition_axolotl","category":"exotic-pet-nutrition","context":"---\ntopic_id: exotic_nutrition_axolotl\ncategory: exotic-pet-nutrition\ntitle: \"Nutrition of axolotls and other amphibians (Merck): live prey, supplements\"\nlang: en\nsource: \"Merck Veterinary Manual — Environment and Husbandry for Amphibians (first-hand server-rendered HTML, stripped to text; retrieved 2026-07-29 via curl -A Mozilla/5.0)\"\nsource_file: pdf-raw/merck/amphibians_husbandry.txt\nsource_type: veterinary_reference\ndate_parsed: 2026-07-29\ntokens_estimated: 165\nverification: C1_substring_match\nclaims: 3\nsource_document: \"Merck Veterinary Manual, Environment and Husbandry for Amphibians\"\ncitation:\n  authority: \"Merck Veterinary Manual\"\n  title: \"Nutrition of axolotls and other amphibians (Merck): live prey, supplements\"\n  url: \"https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/amphibians/environment-and-husbandry-for-amphibians\"\n  retrieved: \"2026-07-29\"\n  ref: \"Merck Veterinary Manual (first-hand HTML, stripped to .txt)\"\n  doc_type: \"professional veterinary reference (first-hand English text)\"\n  needs_review: false\n---\n\n# Nutrition of axolotls and other amphibians (Merck): live prey, supplements\nSource: Merck Veterinary Manual article \"Environment and Husbandry for Amphibians\" (first-hand, retrieved 2026-07-29 via curl, HTML stripped to plain text). All bullets are exact verbatim substrings of the cited source_file and C1-substring verified.\n\n## Diet for axolotls and other amphibians\n- `feed on invertebrates, including earthworms, bloodworms, black worms, white worms, tubifex worms, springtails, fruit flies, fly larvae, mealworms, and crickets.`\n- `Some amphibians feed on vertebrates and require live minnows, guppies, goldfish, or neonatal mice or rats.`\n- `Vitamin and mineral supplements are necessary to prevent nutritional disease. These are commonly administered by gut loading insects, using commercially available diets high in calcium or by coating insects with powdered, multiple-vitamin preparations that include vitamin D 3 and calcium (also known as dusting).`\n","sources":["exotic-pet-nutrition — Nutrition of axolotls and other amphibians (Merck): live prey, supplements (retrieved 2026-07-29)"],"source":{"authority":"exotic-pet-nutrition","title":"Nutrition of axolotls and other amphibians (Merck): live prey, supplements","url":"https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/amphibians/environment-and-husbandry-for-amphibians","retrieved":"2026-07-29","ref":"","doc_type":"official PDF","source_document":"Merck Veterinary Manual, Environment and Husbandry for Amphibians","verification_file":"pdf-raw/merck/amphibians_husbandry.txt"},"source_document":"Merck Veterinary Manual, Environment and Husbandry for Amphibians","source_file":"pdf-raw/merck/amphibians_husbandry.txt","tokens_estimated":165,"generated_at":null,"tip":"Use /api/v1/topics to discover more topics. /api/v1/nutrient for precise single-point queries. /api/v1/cross_compare for 2-3 standard comparisons."}