Keeping worms in fridge- the secret??

Is there a secret to keeping nightcrawlers alive in the fridge? Mostly mine do OK but sometimes they don't, and I can't figure out why. I'm not talking about the issue of one dead worm poisoning all the rest, I know about that pitfall.

Like you, i´ve had mixed experiences. Sometimes they do very well and last for ages, others they are all dead and spoiled in a few days tops.
I´m also curious to see if someone else has something to say because i can´t figure out what the trick is, either. I have a feeling that correct humidity levels may be critical but it´s barely a hunch.

That is part of my hunch too but I have tried to adjust the humidity and I think that might only be a part of it.

The only time I have problems is when I try to add moisture to the dirt they come in. I don't know why, but this makes them die on me. Of course drying out also makes them die, so I agree with the hunch that humidity is important.

I would like to know what the "dirt" is that they use in commercially-sold nightcrawlers. It works OK, but I wonder if there's a better substrate for storage.

I agree with Jen, mine usually only die if they get too wet or if there is a clump of grass in the cup with them (has only happened a few times). I've also had poor luck with the "flats" of 500 worms so I just separate them out into deli cups so as to not risk losing the entire group. They can be kept on lightly dampened coconut husks in the fridge.

Jake said:

They can be kept on lightly dampened coconut husks in the fridge.

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I tried that but it didn´t work either. I think it was too wet, though.

There was one time that worked incredibly well, it was Lumbricus terrestris and they lasted for well over a month (close to two). I think that time i had just a bit of soil and plenty of leaf mulch. However i repeated the "experiment" and that time it didn´t work.

Wet newspaper (black and white, no colors!) is the trick.

Get them out of that soil they come in and rinse them off, fast.

Shred some old newspaper (I use my trusty Sludge-O-matic Blender), soak it in water, squeeze out all the excess.

Then place the worms and the damp, fluffed shredded newspaper in a ventilated Tupperware-type container and call it good.

Damp paper towels work well too, but I found the newspaper is best.

Longevity in storage depends on two factors: The age(size) of the worms, and how long they have been sitting around before you bought them.

Temperature is also key, you will find they do better in the back and bottom of the fridge, or in the crisper drawer.

Target temperature for storage is 35-38F.

I must have gotten the humidity levels very wrong because i tried newspaper once and it was a huge failure. I´ll give it another go, though!

I've kept them in multiple kinds of fridges, and I've never had the worms die out on me. The ones I pick up from outside I keep in a container of layered soil, leaf litter, and wet pine needles (where they came from), and this works out just fine. But keeping them in the dry not-soil that they come in when bought from bait stores keeps them alive the same amount of time. My fridges are very old, and the most I know is that they're probably under 40 degrees. My worms keep for weeks.

I'm considering starting to order worms by box of 500, so I want to be sure to have the bedding right. I can't seem to find any info online - everything about worm bedding is talking about compost worms, and that's a whole different ballgame.

Interesting that Johnny recommends shredded newspaper. I have noticed that some worm retailers offer worms packed either in dirt or in shredded paper, but I wasn't sure why. Hopefully a standard paper-shredder will work for making suitable shredded paper.

Keep mine in the fridge, sealed ventilated tub they come in from the bait store. They come in a mix of soil and some shredded paper, when they start to dry out I give them a couple of squirts from a mister bottle (just happens to be declorinated mainly ) keep for months. Just don't push to the back of the fridge else they tend to freeze. So in the new fridge I keep them in the door. Am experimenting at the moment, have put some shredded paper in one of the normal tubs (in the gap created from removing some worms for food, and them having processed some of the mud stuff) again about four sprays with my mister on the paper. They have been like that over a month now (in fridge) I see them crawling/wiggling up and dragging paper down.
Same thing with my other worm except have transferred them to a larger tub, and put that out in my kitchen, and I am putting in all the leaves that come. Off my plants including tank ones.
If they don't carry on thriving I have a least found a great way of getting baby java ferns, as I threw two leaves in the worm pot, and they now have miniature ferns growing.

Again they have been going about a month.

Before both pots were in the fridge a couple of months.

I'm glad I took a peek at this thread before attempting to wet the soil in my Worms' containers. Although I might have to give Lolly's misting idea a try.

When,I have flats of 500.Ikeep the light on so they don't crawl away!

Gavin

I ordered a box of 500 canadian nightcrawlers. I put them in a big tub in the fridge. On one side is the paper bedding that they came in. On the other side is a mix of coir, top soil and shredded leaves. These bedding materials were recommended by the place I got the worms from. Interestingly, after 2 days, all the worms are still staying on the side of the bin with their original paper bedding. Are they too lazy to move around, or do they have such a strong preference?

Still the same result. The worms are doing fine, but they all stay on the side of the tub with the paper bedding. I tried confining some of them in a smaller container with just the coir/soil/leaf litter mix and they all got stringy/soft in a few days. Clearly this bedding isn't working.

I tested the pH of both of the bedding mixes. Both are around neutral.

So... any other ideas? I want a "natural" type of bedding that will keep the nightcrawlers healthy. I don't like feeding paper-fed worms to my amphibians, I worry about what chemicals might be in the paper.

I've been getting Canadian nightcrawlers from Carolina supplies. I tried for some time to keep them in a soil/coir/leaves mix in the fridge, with so-so results. Then I decided to use the bedding they came in - simple sphagnum moss. I added more sphagnum to a larger box, made it fairly moist, and kept them in there.

Surprisingly, they did much better than in the soil mix. They stayed alive longer and looked plump and pink and muscular. Some lived in there for months. In the soil mix, they'd always seem kinda limp and listless, and then they'd die.

I know it's counter-intuitive since sphagnum is supposed to be acidic (I didn't test it), but there it is.

Some time ago, however, I decided not to buy sphagnum again because it's not sustainably harvested. When my last bit runs out, I might try some local tundra moss instead...

I ended up getting a case of night crawlers individually packaged and have been usign them. So far only two of the containers contained dead ones, and I've been using almost two months now.

I have been using a product called Magic Worm Bedding I got at my local sporting goods store. It has worked great for me, hardly any dead worms. It is apparently organic and not made from ground newspapers. Box also says it holds 20X its weight in moisture, has great moisture control. It is darker than paper beddings so maintains natural color of environment, and doesn't pack so worms can travel easier through it. Just have to add water.

From magic Products in the USA.

Hope that helps

Old but interesting thread, so here is how I do.

I my keep lobworms in a 20L bucket at the bottom of the fridge with 2st10x50cm ventilation holes in the lid. As substrate I use 20cm deep mix of crushed leaves/plantation soil/playsand and on top a piece cardboard as I place food under.The worms keep fresh for months like this. I only moistens the substrate every two-three weeks. Much easier to keep alive than I thought.

I just want to point out, that the amount of space you give the worms is very important. If you just keep them in the little cup they come in, they're going to die. They need atleast a square inch of space per inch of worm.

The soil they come in, most of the time, is hibiscus. It will usually say on the packaging, otherwise assume it's hibiscus. And you don't have to worry about the worms eating the paper, they don't eat it. Worms only eat dirt, the whole purpose of other things like leaves, twigs and egg shells is to provide decomposition in the soil. They eat bad soil and leave good soil. The reason they stay by the paper is because the paper is cooler and more moist.

I keep mine in a 15 by 11 by 4 inch tupperware. The lid is dark with breathing holes evenly dispersed. The soil is a mix of the hibiscus they come in, organic potting soil and shredded newspaper. The only time I ever moisten the soil is when I first get them. The soil tends to stay quite moist on it's own. I also make new bedding everytime I get new worms.

I've never had a worm die on me and they even survived a trip from Colorado to Las Vegas where temperatures went to the 80s. Although, a couple did end up with yellow scabby spots on their body. I had asked in another thread about it, but would anyone know what these marks are?

I don't believe it's anything harmful since one that had it was the strongest, biggest and longest worm I had. I'm just wondering to prevent it in the future. I don't know if it was temperature or altitude change. Maybe stress?