Keeping dendrobaena worms alive

[Gma]

Does anyone have any advice on keeping dendrobaena worms alive?

In winter I can keep them alive with no problems, but as soon as the room temperature feels even the slightest bit warm (like now), they die and turn rancid.

Can they be put in the fridge? The people I buy them from always say to keep them at about 15 degrees but I don't know what the lowest temperature is that they can tolerate. Does anyone know?

 

[Niels D]

I've got a plastic container (60x40x40cm I believe) filled with dirt and Dendro's. I also keep my enchytraeidae culture in it. It stands outside in the shadow. There's no lid, I've taped the edges with duct tape to prevent the worms from climbing out. It's standing under a table, so no rain will fall into it. This way you can keep your animals outside if you've got a lot. They even breed a little. If you only have 10 or 20 you can keep them in the fridge though. They can withstand 7C without any problems.

 

[Azhael]

I´ve kept Dendrobaena alive in the fridge for up to 4 months.

 

[Tephra]

All you need to keep them alive is a box from which they can't escape filled with dirt (I put mine in one of these; make sure not to fill it all the way to the top). Any dirt will do but the easiest is simple pot dirt, since it's much more... mulchy. I find it easier to work with, since all of our natural dirt is filled with clay.

Then you keep them in a cold and dark place (like a basement, a garage or a shed if it's cool enough) and you feed them leftovers from your kitchen. Anything from fruit peels, vegetable peels, rotting fruits that didn't get eaten, stuff like that... they'll eat it all up, so just toss it in there and stir a bit with a stick so that all the stuff gets covered with dirt. The only thing you should add in there is citrus fruits (lime, lemon, orange, etc). Add some water every two days (but don't let the whole thing flood over)

If you can buy a whole bunch of worms and keep them like this, they'll breed like crazy and you won't have to buy any for a looong time. It's easy and it doesn't cost you anything.

 

[Niels D]

I feed them soaked rabbit pellets and pellets with calcium for egg laying chickens. Mix both together, because the chicken pellets won't smell that way. If you lay the soaked mixture on top of the dirt like a pancake the worms will gather beneath it and it's easy to collect them this way. It's not a problem if it gets moldy. Coffee grindings and left over greens (bio) are given sometimes as well.

 

[Gma]

There's nowhere cool I could keep them at the moment and I don't have a garden as I live in a flat. I'll try them in the fridge - thanks. Now I just need to find a way of making sure the little ninjas don't escape and hide themselves in my food :uhoh:

 

[Chinadog]

I keep mine in a waterproof bucket in the shade, if the weather is really hot i stand the bucket in a bigger bucket half filled with cold water. all you need to do is change the water twice a day and they'll stay nice and cool!