I need some help

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Ftskayla

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Okay, I live in Minnesota, so night crawlers are hard to come by in the winter. I ordered some online ( my axolotl hadn't had food for 3-4 days because there was a huge fishing tournament so the worms I had (wax worms I think?) were all out when he ran out of food and I panicked )and I figured I could get some dirt from Walmart and figure out what to do from there. (I did a little research as to how to keep them but I will admit I should have done more.) I realized that they aren't going to have any dirt because it's not planting season. They came in this breathable black dirt bag. Does anyone know a thing or two about setting up a place for them to live (like alternatives instead of dirt?)
 
Auntiejude made an excellent post about this a little while ago. Here.

I always just buy the worms from the sporting goods section of walmart.
 
I usually do too, but they don't have them in the winter. IF they have any work at all they are the wax worms
 
Oh wow. I'd be up a river if they didn't carry them in the winters down here #_#

I've been thinking about farming my own earthworms, but it seems so much trouble, and I have no idea where I'd put them. Good luck with yours!


In the mean time, try feeding your axolotls pellets or blood worms. Anything is better than nothing, and those foods are fairly nutritious. Not as good as earthworms, but they're food.
 
You can take a plastic tub and put shredded paper in it. Moisten the paper (not too wet) and place the worms in there. Then you can put some plant scraps from your kitchen in there for them to eat. Make sure to cover the food you put in there with the paper to reduce fruit flies.

Anyway, all you have to do is keep it moist in there and feed them scraps -even tea bags work. As they compost the paper you add more paper. Like once a week it is good to mix things around to get air throughout.

I always use good size, deep, Rubbermaid plastic tubs that you cannot see through. I poke holes in the top and keep the lid on or cracked so they don't get much light. This works amazingly well for me and I have environmental students at the college where I TA use this to learn how to compost with worms. After a while the paper will turn to "dirt" as the worms compost it. Good Luck! :D

Oh and they might crawl up the sides when you start out, but that is normal. As the paper becomes more dirt-like they will stay under it instead.
 
EmbryH said:
Oh wow. I'd be up a river if they didn't carry them in the winters down here #_#

I've been thinking about farming my own earthworms, but it seems so much trouble, and I have no idea where I'd put them. Good luck with yours!
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No backyard/front yard? Laundry? Balcony? I keep mine on the side of the house - darker and cooler than back and front yards. Also it can be an eyesore so it's out of the way!
 
How moist is moist enough? (I don't want to mess it up) also can you keep it inside or does it smell? Keeping it outside really isn't an option. I was thinking about maybe keeping it under my bed (it's pretty cool under there because my room is technically a porch) And as for containers I have a square ice cream bucket that I know I could use, unless it wouldn't work.
 
Ftskayla said:
How moist is moist enough? (I don't want to mess it up) also can you keep it inside or does it smell? Keeping it outside really isn't an option. I was thinking about maybe keeping it under my bed (it's pretty cool under there because my room is technically a porch) And as for containers I have a square ice cream bucket that I know I could use, unless it wouldn't work.
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Moist enough that if you pick it up you could make a solid dirt ball/paper ball, but not so moist that it'll drip - that's the best description for moistness I can come up with. It can smell slightly due to the worms excretions as well as food scraps that you will need to provide for your worms to eat so I wouldn't suggest under the bed. Perhaps the laundry?

That's really strange that your supermarkets don't supply dirt all year around, what about if you want some indoor plants in winter huh!
 
You need at least some soil or compost to start a worm farm. Worms actually feed off the bacteria that rot the food scraps rather than to food itself, and paper doesn't contain the starter culture for this - your worms will not live very long on just damp paper, they will die of starvation.

You also won't have much luck trying to breed night crawlers - you need red wrigglers or tiger worms for a worm farm.
 
I think they might actually e red worms. (That's what the paper said even though when I bought them they said night crawlers.) how much soil do they need? I have the stuff that came in the bag with them. Do you know how long they can live I'm the bag? (I might have to keep them in there until I can order dirt
 
auntiejude said:
You need at least some soil or compost to start a worm farm. Worms actually feed off the bacteria that rot the food scraps rather than to food itself, and paper doesn't contain the starter culture for this - your worms will not live very long on just damp paper, they will die of starvation.

You also won't have much luck trying to breed night crawlers - you need red wrigglers or tiger worms for a worm farm.
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At the university we start them regularly without dirt (just moist paper and food scraps) and they do fine. I have not had a farm that I have started fail yet - the oldest one is going on five years. But yea we use red wigglers :).

The moistness level as mentioned above it moist but not dripping wet. I have the best luck chopping up the food scraps into small bits and putting them in with the paper.

I'm sure there are tons of way to start and keep a worm farm. This is just what I have been successful with personally :happy:.

EDIT: I searched the internet just now to find a technique that is the closest to what we use at the school. This is from another university and it is almost the same http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Redwormsedit.htm. The dirt that you have with them will be enough to put in with the paper. I also forgot to mention that when I do start a new batch I don't clean off the worms - so they go in with a little dirt/compost - but not a lot. It is so easy! I'm sure you will be successful!
 
What kind of paper should I use, and how much? (Also how big should the container be? There are supposedly 100 worms in the bag)
 
You can use newspaper in strips and a Rubbermaid tub that is about this size or so Amazon.com - Rubbermaid 2212CPDIM Roughneck Storage Box give or take.

Go to this link Composting with Redworms
and read it and it gives more detailed info on all the different paper/storage types you can use.

And I say this again- this is just the way we do it at the university that I attend. I'm sure there are various ways to be successful! Good luck.
 
I have a black tub I filled with top soil that I'm keeping some nightcrawlers in until my juvies are big enough to eat them. once a week i'll throw in some fish flakes and shake up the soil a bit. Its really that easy, just make sure they have some air holes and are kept in a relatively cool location. Walmart sells them at 15/$3, any bait shop might have red wigglers which are also a very good option too.
 
Walmart and our bait shops only sell the red worms/night crawlers in spring/summer/(first bits of fall) :( they apparently aren't good for ice fishing. But Thank you guys so much for the help. I'm not really looking to breed them, just keep them alive!
 
You need to breed them to avoid spending more money. Why pay for more when you can leave them be and multiply :D
 
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    with axolotls would I basically have to keep buying and buying new axolotls to prevent inbred breeding which costs a lot of money??
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    @Thorninmyside, I Lauren chen
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