As European night-crawlers seem to be near impossible to obtain in Australia, I found to my delight that the African night-crawler is available. Being a tropical worm, it does quite well in our warm climate, and is an excellent food for axolotls. Some of my fussy beggars don't care much for the red wriggler compost worms, no matter how long I soak them for first.
Trying to keep these worms alive for more than a few weeks while they were being kept in large storage tubs, I found to be quite challenging: If they got too cold, they died. If they were kept too moist, they became liquid muck in the bottom of the tub. If they got too warm and dry, they died.
After almost giving up keeping them for long periods of time (resigning myself to buying a tub once a week from our local bait shop. It's a great shop. They always ask after my happy little carnivores), I think I've found the solution.
So, during one of my ambles through a home-wares shop, I fixed my beady eye on a lettuce spinner (it was on special, too!), wondered if that would be good for housing worms, and took it home with me. I've kept my current night-crawlers for about three months now, and haven't had a single die off.
The worms are still thriving in their new home, the humble 'lettuce spinner':
- The heavy-ish top prevents worms escaping. One of the tubs I had previously had worms escaping from every nook and cranny they could squeeze themselves out of! argh!
- The inside basket allows air flow, keeps the food up the top, and allows the worm dirt to sift through the basket to accumulate down the bottom (out of the worms' way) allowing for easy removal and spreading out onto the garden. It also prevents moisture accumulating down the bottom to harm the worms (not sure if that's what killed the others, but I'm strongly suspecting it of doing so as that's where the dead were found; a slimy moisturized mess).
- No need to use the 'spinner', I don't think dizzy worms make happy food.
I'm not sure if it's feasible or big enough to make into a worm farm (haven't seen any worm casings), but it saves me going to the bait shop every week to buy another tub of worms! Now, I only need drop in once every couple of months to 'top up'.
These worms availability in winter is limited during the cold months due to them preferring 25C+ temperatures, so if they keep well in their 'house' for a few months during the lean (cold!) season, this is an added bonus.
Trying to keep these worms alive for more than a few weeks while they were being kept in large storage tubs, I found to be quite challenging: If they got too cold, they died. If they were kept too moist, they became liquid muck in the bottom of the tub. If they got too warm and dry, they died.
After almost giving up keeping them for long periods of time (resigning myself to buying a tub once a week from our local bait shop. It's a great shop. They always ask after my happy little carnivores), I think I've found the solution.
So, during one of my ambles through a home-wares shop, I fixed my beady eye on a lettuce spinner (it was on special, too!), wondered if that would be good for housing worms, and took it home with me. I've kept my current night-crawlers for about three months now, and haven't had a single die off.
The worms are still thriving in their new home, the humble 'lettuce spinner':
- The heavy-ish top prevents worms escaping. One of the tubs I had previously had worms escaping from every nook and cranny they could squeeze themselves out of! argh!
- The inside basket allows air flow, keeps the food up the top, and allows the worm dirt to sift through the basket to accumulate down the bottom (out of the worms' way) allowing for easy removal and spreading out onto the garden. It also prevents moisture accumulating down the bottom to harm the worms (not sure if that's what killed the others, but I'm strongly suspecting it of doing so as that's where the dead were found; a slimy moisturized mess).
- No need to use the 'spinner', I don't think dizzy worms make happy food.
I'm not sure if it's feasible or big enough to make into a worm farm (haven't seen any worm casings), but it saves me going to the bait shop every week to buy another tub of worms! Now, I only need drop in once every couple of months to 'top up'.
These worms availability in winter is limited during the cold months due to them preferring 25C+ temperatures, so if they keep well in their 'house' for a few months during the lean (cold!) season, this is an added bonus.
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When I told the bored checkout clerk to what purpose I was going to put my lettuce spinner, she didn't look so bored then. She asked if I had a picture of one of these creatures (axolotls, not worms) as they sound "groovy".