Red wigglers

[LizStreithorst]

This is how I keep mine.  Mine are in the fish room year round so I can harvest worms year round, but other folks do it differently.

[PaulineMi]

Since I will be getting some red wigglers from you Liz would you please explain what is in those containers?

Thanks.

[LizStreithorst]

If you're getting a new culture they'll come in their own compost with some undecomposed food.  But they need dirt, too.  Any old dirt will work.  I've used sob soil and top soil.  Potting soil is less good because it doesn't have the grit in it that the worms need do digest their food.  DON'T use anything with fertilizer.

You really should chop the food up.  Sometimes I do, and as you can see, sometimes I don't.

They eat anything organic.  They LOVE horse shit but I also feed fruits and veggie and flower waste, tea bags, coffee grounds, and egg shells.

When you first get a culture I suggest giving them dirt and a good feed and leaving them alone for 3 weeks so they can get comfortable in their new digs.  That will allow them to lay eggs and give the eggs that arrived with them in their compost time to hatch.

[LizStreithorst]

When I'm ready to separate worms to feed, I fork a bunch of them into a sweater box.  I have a couple of small container at hand to put the smaller ones that I feed the fish.  The breeder worms and really tiny ones I toss into another culture that I have going.

[LizStreithorst]

This worm is a breeder.  See the lighter colored band around it toward the left?  It goes into the culture that's waiting for it.  It's too big a worm to feed anyway.  The fish don't care for them much if you chop them up.

[Mugwump]

..... besides, you'd miss the 'tug O war'  ....my larger fry play with them before eating.....it's crazy....

[LizStreithorst]

It's hard to tell from the pic, but these worms are much smaller and don't have the band that indicates breeding age.  They're the ones I feed.

[PaulineMi]

Thanks Liz.

Jon...I know what you mean about the tug-o-war.  I had N. brevis fry that would do that with live blackworms.

[LizStreithorst]

Don't be downhearted if your fish don't take to them right away.  They will never have seen them and they won't recognize them as food.  Once they figure it out the red wigglers will be their favorite treat.

[Mugwump]

..excellent explanation, and presentation, Liz.....thank you

[EdKaz]

But they need dirt, too.  Any old dirt will work.

Does it need to be "dirt" they are kept in?
What about using  the sporting goods variety shredded newspaper type "worm bedding"?

[ilroost]

Thanks Liz

[LizStreithorst]

But they need dirt, too.  Any old dirt will work.

Does it need to be "dirt" they are kept in?
What about using  the sporting goods variety shredded newspaper type "worm bedding"?

My understanding is that they need the grit in the dirt to properly digest their food.  That's what I've read and that's how I do it.  What I've read could be wrong but it works. 

Starting out with a culture, I'd use 1/4 part  plain dirt to 3/4 worms but less or more dirt will work.    Shredded news paper works fine as a food.  I used to feed it all the time.  They like torn up cardboard even better.  They like to get in the little "worm holes" in between the outer pieces.  Nothing get's them going like horse poo.  I always offer to send some when the receiver doesn't have access to it.

I forgot to mention this and it's VERY IMPORTANT!  The culture should be kept moist but not wet.  An established happy culture appears to make moisture rather that use it up (strange, but true).  I wish I could describe the right texture.  It's just something you need to get a feel for on your own.  But unless you either totally drown them or let them dry hard as a rock some will survive.  They're very hardy.