This has become a weekend ritual for me. I pull a handful of worms out of my worm tub, rinse them, and sort them by size. Yes, it's tedious work (takes about an hour), but the end product is the best food, bar none. Once they are sorted, it's quick work to feed the newts.
The smallest size class is about the same size as blackworms. The largest size is full-grown worms, and I return most of these back into the worm bin, so they can continue making baby worms.
The worms are Dendrobena hortensis (a.k.a. "Belgian" or European nightcrawlers). They grow in compost bins, just like red wigglers, but they are larger worms. I never chop them, because they do have SOME of the same funky smell that red wigglers have (less smell, but enough that some newts won't eat them if they are cut up). Fed whole, I have never seen any healthy newt refuse them.
First, the rinsed worms ready for sorting:
The beginning of the sorting process:
(I put the ruler there for the photo, I don't measure the worms, haha.)
And finally, the end product:
The smallest size class is about the same size as blackworms. The largest size is full-grown worms, and I return most of these back into the worm bin, so they can continue making baby worms.
The worms are Dendrobena hortensis (a.k.a. "Belgian" or European nightcrawlers). They grow in compost bins, just like red wigglers, but they are larger worms. I never chop them, because they do have SOME of the same funky smell that red wigglers have (less smell, but enough that some newts won't eat them if they are cut up). Fed whole, I have never seen any healthy newt refuse them.
First, the rinsed worms ready for sorting:
The beginning of the sorting process:
(I put the ruler there for the photo, I don't measure the worms, haha.)
And finally, the end product: