What Do Axolotls Eat in Minecraft? Finding Their Food

Axolotls only eat Buckets of Tropical Fish in Minecraft. That’s the only food that works on them. Other raw fish variants in the game won’t work when it comes to feeding Axolotls, which is often confusing for new players.

Minecraft Axolotls are fan favorites since they’re cute and they also fight on your side underwater. Axolotls come in different colors too, including a bright blue variant. It’s notoriously rare and if you manage to find one, make sure to take a screenshot.

In this article, we’ll be breaking down exactly what Axolotls eat in Minecraft, where to find their food, and how to use it to grow your own Axolotl family.

What Exactly Do Axolotls Eat in Minecraft?

Minecraft Axolotls will only eat a bucket of Tropical Fish. This might surprise players used to feeding other animals in the game, like horses and also pigs, which eat a few different food items.

A Bucket of Cod or a Bucket of Salmon won’t do anything for Axolotls, it has to be Tropical Fish, and it has to be in a Bucket. It’s similar to how Axolotls eat in real life, so we can’t be too mad at Mojang for keeping everything accurate.

How to Get Buckets of Tropical Fish

You’ll need an empty Bucket and a Tropical Fish to get a Bucket of Tropical Fish in Minecraft. Here’s the full process:

• Craft a Bucket first.
  • You need 3 Iron Ingots, arranged in a V-shape on a Crafting Table.
• Find Tropical Fish in warm ocean biomes.
  • Look for Warm Oceans and lush coral reefs.
• Scoop up a live Tropical Fish with your empty Bucket.
  • Right-click (or the equivalent interact button) on the fish while holding the Bucket.
• Mind your inventory spaces.
  • Because buckets don’t stack.

If you’re hunting Axolotls at the same time, head to a Lush Cave. That’s the only biome where Axolotls spawn naturally, and it’s usually not far from water sources where you can also catch your Tropical Fish.

How to Breed Your Axolotls and Find the Rare Blue Variant

To breed Axolotls in Minecraft, you need to feed two of them a Bucket of Tropical Fish each while they’re near one another. This also gives you a shot at the rare Blue variant.

Once you’re holding a Bucket of Tropical Fish, nearby Axolotls will start following you. Baby Axolotls will follow adults too.

Here’s how the breeding process works:

• Feed one Axolotl a Bucket of Tropical Fish.
• Feed a second nearby Axolotl a Bucket of Tropical Fish.
• A baby Axolotl spawns between them.
• Each parent needs a short cooldown before it can breed again.

As for color, the baby Axolotl usually inherits one parent’s color at random. But there’s also a small chance, 1 in 1200, that the baby turns out Blue instead. Blue Axolotls can’t spawn naturally in the world, so breeding is the only way to get one.

So if you’re chasing that rare Blue color, breeding as many Axolotl pairs as you can is the only way to go.

If you’ve been a part of Towny, SkyBlock, or casual PvE servers in Minecraft, you may have run into an Axolotl farm of perfectionists. Despite playing in various online servers featured on MineRank, we could never get our hands on the blue variant, but we have witnessed its greatness in single player mode.

Why You Should Keep Your Axolotls Well Fed

Feeding your Axolotls also helps them grow up faster and makes them stronger allies in combat.

A baby Axolotl takes 20 minutes to become an adult. Feeding it a Bucket of Tropical Fish speeds that up, cutting 10% off the remaining growth time with each use.

Beyond growth, Axolotls are genuinely useful in a fight. If you take down a mob that an Axolotl is actively fighting, it removes your Mining Fatigue and gives you Regeneration for a few seconds.

This teamwork moment is even tied to its own achievement, “The Healing Power of Friendship!”, which unlocks the first time you get healed this way.

Important Facts Every Axolotl Owner Should Know

For starters, Axolotls in Minecraft don’t starve. You don’t need to feed them constantly just to keep them alive. Food is only necessary for Axolotl when it comes to breeding and speeding up growth.

Another thing we can flag is that Axolotls sometimes “play dead” when they take damage underwater, dropping to the ground and regenerating health for a few seconds. If you feed one while this is happening, it won’t snap out of the animation right away.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Feeding Axolotls

The biggest mistake players make is trying to feed Axolotls straight out raw fish instead of a Bucket. The fish have to be tropical and they have to be in a bucket.

Also, Axolotls attack Glow Squids, but that doesn’t mean Glow Squids are food. Axolotls hunt several aquatic mobs as part of their normal combat behavior, but only a Bucket of Tropical Fish will work on them as food.

Start Building Your Aquatic Army

Feeding Axolotls comes down to a Bucket of Tropical Fish. Catch your fish in a Warm Ocean, bring it back to your Axolotls in a Lush Cave, and you’ve got everything you need to breed, grow, and strengthen them.

If you’re planning to breed lots of Axolotls, it’s worth setting up a small pond near your base stocked with Tropical Fish. That way, you’re never far from a fresh Bucket when you need one.

Have you been lucky enough to breed a Blue Axolotl yet? Tell us how many tries it took in the comments!

Axolotl FAQs in Minecraft

Why can’t I feed my Axolotl in Minecraft?

Axolotls only accept Buckets of Tropical Fish as food in Minecraft. If you’re trying to feed them other loose fish, cooked fish, or any other item, it won’t work.

How do you tame an Axolotl in Minecraft?

Axolotls can’t be tamed in Minecraft. You can lead them with a Lead, or make them follow you with a Bucket of Tropical Fish.

How rare is a Blue Axolotl in Minecraft?

Blue Axolotls are very rare in Minecraft because they have a 1 in 1200 chance of appearing when breeding two Axolotls. They can’t spawn naturally in the world.

How do I keep Axolotls alive in Minecraft?

Axolotls need water at least 2 blocks deep within 16 blocks of them, or they’ll wander on land and eventually die from exposure. They don’t need to be fed to survive.

How do you breed an Axolotl in Minecraft?

You can breed Axolotls by feeding two of them Buckets of Tropical Fish.