Like any other creature in the Minecraft, Axolotl also depends on food to enter the Breeding state. But they rely on eating Tropical Fish. And unexpectedly, you can’t feed them dead fish directly, you have to feed live fish.
axolotl only live Tropical Fish in buckets. Therefore, you first need to capture Tropical Fish and then feed them to Axolotl. But you can’t just throw Tropical Fish into the pool and feed them, Axolotl will attack and kill them. They won’t eat those Tropical Fish, you need to hold the Tropical Fish bucket and right click on the Axolotl to feed them.
Get Tropical Fish
tropical Fish are the most common fish species in the game. They have a high Spawn rate in large rivers and oceans Spawn by nature.
as for the capture part, you can use Fishing Rod. Or, you make a Boat, then go to the middle of the ocean and use Water Bucket to find and capture them (see GIF above). If you don’t like Water, make sure to make a Potion Water for breathing under the Water in advance.