earth worms

stuandjoy · Oct 30, 2008

We'd like to try our axie with worms and wanted to check a few things first.

1. can we just use worms from the garden?

2. if yes, whats the best way to store them?

3. will we need to use tweezers to feed them to our axie?

We live in the Scottish highlands so it gets rather cold outside! We're not keen on keeping them in the house but we do have a garage they could be kept in.

We're new to this so any help/advice would be great.

Thanks.

Kaysie · Oct 30, 2008

1.) yes, as long as you don't use pesticides or fertilizers. If you're in close proximity to other people, keep in mind that THEY might use them, and earthworms can travel.

2.) use a deli container, or a large yogurt cup. Put some dirt in from your garden, and put the worms in. Then put them in the fridge (or an unheated garage). The worms will slow down, and they won't eat. They should keep for weeks.

3.) that depends. Some axolotls are really... not smart when it comes to finding food. Tweezers allow you to hold the worm in front of the axie without sticking your whole hand in the tank. However, some axolotls will easily find worms that are just dropped into the tank.

Neke · Oct 30, 2008

Worms from the garden should be fine, so long as they haven't been in contact with pesticides or anything. I live in a unit, so I bought mine instead of digging them up and I keep them in an ice cream container with some shredded newspaper, the dirt-ish stuff they came in and some occasional scraps. I was worried about having stinky worms in the house, but its really just a container of dirt. If you want something bigger, you could look at making a small worm bin and keeping it in the garage.

Check these out if you want
http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=53465
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Easywormbin.htm

Sometimes I use tweezers for feeding, especially if the worms aren't that wriggly (I cut them). Usually I just chuck them in front of my axie and she pounces on her own - some are better at hunting out food than others though I think.

[Edit] Too fast for me Kaysie

stuandjoy · Oct 30, 2008

Thanks guys, we'll give it a go. My over enthusiastic hubby is out in the rail/hail digging now!!!

coichards · Oct 30, 2008

I 'purge' my earthworms before feeding them to my axies.

This simpally mean getting the worm, putting it in some water and letting it sit for 10-20 mins before feeding. this help in getting all of the gunk out of the worms system before feeding, and remember that whatever you feed the worms you are feeding the axies, (but purging helps)

hamplanet · Oct 31, 2008

I like to drop whole worms in and let my axies hunt them! Its really interesting to watch. I just dig'm up as i need them.
Re the tweezers- I got some plastic chop sticks a while back for hand feeding my youngster and found they work really well. They're much longer than most tweezers so you can get to the bottom of the tank without getting too wet and they're plastic so you don't have to worry about your axies hurting there mouths on them when they snap at them. I couldn't recomend them more.

Aquatic · Nov 2, 2008

I'll try the "purge" method. That's a helpful idea. My axies go nuts for earthworms.

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