Earthworm question?

Just a quick earthworm question! From this forum I've discovered that these guys are a great staple diet for axies. Just wondering though how I feed them? I guess I need to rinse them before indroducing to the tank, would this get rid of any parasites? Also if theyre big do I dare say- cut the little live wigglies up first?
Feel guilty even at the thought of it :sad: would they still wiggle?

binkiesbuns said:

Just a quick earthworm question! From this forum I've discovered that these guys are a great staple diet for axies. Just wondering though how I feed them? I guess I need to rinse them before indroducing to the tank, would this get rid of any parasites? Also if theyre big do I dare say- cut the little live wigglies up first?
Feel guilty even at the thought of it :sad: would they still wiggle?

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I don't know about the parasite aspect - I would expect it to get rid of anything on the outside, but I honestly don't know if earthworms can get internal parasites. I asked a lot of questions before buying any worms + only buy them from people I consider to be trustworthy. I've only ever dug up earthworms twice I think, when my wormery crashed.
It's still a good idea to rinse them either way, to remove any soil e.t.c. + help keep the tank cleaner
As for the cutting them up, if your axies haven't had earthworms before, I'd recommend cutting them up with a pair of scissors (I have a pair that I use only for cutting worms, although all of the axies I have at the moment are now eating whole worms). When changing from bloodworm (for babies / juveniles), I cut the worms into mouth size pieces, then gradually increase the length. For adults who aren't accustomed to wroms, I just cut them into 3 or 4 pieces, as they seem to rather enjoy a bit of a wrestle with their food I reckon that axies who are used to eating earthworms can easily tackle a worm of around the same length as them (that's the size when the worm is stretched out), though I haven't noticed a recommended size anywhere.
And, will the worms wriggle? Hell yeah! I bought some plastic tweezers for feeding my corn snakes + when I started feeding my 1st axies worms, I used a new pair of tweezers for the axies + they come in really useful for holding the worms while chopping them up too
With some worms that have been chopped up, they need a soak before being fed to the axolotls - they can produce a foul tasting slime as part of their defense + it can deter the axies. I have also found that the worms I dug up from my garden produced a LOT more of this goo + needed to be soaked for longer + rinsed a lot more than the 1s I bought from eBay + my local fishing tackle shop. That's just my opinion though + would probably vary by worm species + location
Hope some of this helps :happy:

Earthworms are chock-full of nematodes (as are humans!), but parasite transmission between worms and salamanders isn't all that common.

Ta for asking this question as I to want to move on from bloodworms to earthworms but have no idea how to handle them (sometimes I wish I was 5 again when nothing scared me and I'd play with them like a piece of rope) to be honest I'm a little bit put off by the fact I'd have to keep wriggles in the house and prep them so much and handle them before feeding :/ I knew about rinsing from the soil but had no idea about the slime! Is that their blood? How do u know when to take them out after rinsing? Also silly question: when u cut the worm does this make it two worms that could survive separately? What if u feed them whole? Will they still release the slime?

I'm planning to order some from wormery after my holidays it's a reputable shop and as they are bred in captivity does that minimalise the risk of getting parasites and other nasties?

EEVEE84 said:

Ta for asking this question as I to want to move on from bloodworms to earthworms but have no idea how to handle them (sometimes I wish I was 5 again when nothing scared me and I'd play with them like a piece of rope) to be honest I'm a little bit put off by the fact I'd have to keep wriggles in the house and prep them so much and handle them before feeding :/ I knew about rinsing from the soil but had no idea about the slime! Is that their blood? How do u know when to take them out after rinsing? Also silly question: when u cut the worm does this make it two worms that could survive separately? What if u feed them whole? Will they still release the slime?

I'm planning to order some from wormery after my holidays it's a reputable shop and as they are bred in captivity does that minimalise the risk of getting parasites and other nasties?

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The slime isn't blood (they have red blood as far as I can tell from chopping + soaking them). It's a bit like some frogs / toads making foul tasting slime to deter predators I guess. And, there are some large wormy type things in the ocean (can't remember the name, but have seen them on T.V.) which can produce so much slime they become really difficult for a predator to keep hold of.
Again guess work, but I wouldn't expect the worms to produce the slime when fed whole, unless it gets triggered by being bitten, but then hopefully the axies will have swallowed them before noticing. You can soak them whole if you want to though. I'm sure someone here will be able to tell you which types of worm produce the slime (I tend to soak all of mine as soil removal anyway, so have never paid much attention to which worms do + which don't)
I don't think there is a particular amount of time to soak them for - I just bung them into a tub, shower them as I add the water + leave something on top so they don't escape, LoL! If the worms are chopped, you can see the slime easily - I rinse them every time I return to the tub if I see slime + then leave them to soak a little longer. Sometimes it's 2-3mins, and for extra slimy worms it can be maybe 10mins, but I fill in that time with water changes or poop-scooping, or letting the dog out for a wee / feeding him, e.t.c.

You don't have to have wrigglies inside your house - you could have your wormery outside if you prefer. I don't know whether captive bred worms still have parasites, but in my mind (no scientific fact here, LoL!) it means they're less likely to pick up anything extra.
And, no you don't get 2 worms if you cut them in 1/2 - you either get 2 pieces of worm that die, or you get 1 worm that survives but with a bit missing + a piece of worm (think of cutting an arm or leg off - we'd survive without it, but the limb wouldn't survive by itself)

Whenever I've fed worms I've either dug them up or fed ones I got from the pet store. I just dig them out, put them in a container of water to get all the dirt off and then drop them above Alex. Alex munches them up without a problem. I'm glad I've never had to cut them up, I feel bad sometimes just letting them wriggle in the water and then letting Alex eat them, I don't know if I'd be able to cut them

I think it's the worms from compost bins that are the ones that release the slime,I feed my axolotls compost worms whole and they eat them(though to be fair I don't know much about worms,just that I steal mine from my parents compost bin).
I stick mine in a little ramekin of decholrinated water for a bit then drop them in the tank,it's more of hope to drop the worm before the axie goes for the tweezers and misses said worm type game in my house!
Anyone else find that once their axies have switched to worms that as soon as your hand is in the water they think it's food?!


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I use worm from my worm farm, all different sizes, I use a glass turkey baster. the axies jump it when it has blood worms in it even, I just suck one worm up at a time, lower the baster into the water and hover it above the axie's head gently squeezing just a bit of the worm out, the axies usually snap at it. Sometimes the small ones go in one gulp. If they happen to drop it and dont pick it up again, I just suck it up again and repeat holding it above them. They quite often eat 4 or 5 worms each and more if they are small. Must video it and put up some stills. Only ever cut the worm if its really long.

I have been using earth worms for a number of years now and have never had any problems using them. My axies positively love them. I buy them from a fishing tackle shop. they come in a tub full of earth and will last me about two weeks and cost about £3.50. very reasonable.