Question: Worms Down Under: types for feeding.

[Dalabrae]

After a discussion in the chat room the other day I decided to contact a couple of worm suppliers here in Aust. to find out what types of worms they stock, then post here to see which of those would be the better choice.

I have received prompt replies from at least two sellers which I have listed below with the scientific names of the worms they sell.

Kizan Worms
"Big Reds" - Eisenia Fetida
Quote: [We money back guarantee they will be readily taken by your axolotls. I recommend you try] ... even worm farmers will say anything for a sale!

Kookaburra Worm Farms
Tigers -Eisenia Fetida
Blues - Perionix Excavatus/Spenceralia
Reds - Eisenia Andrei
African Night Crawlers - Eudrilus Eugenia, and
Gardeners Friend or Snake Worms - Amynthis Sp.
Unfortunately, looking at their website I think you actually get all of the above worms in a pack, rather than ordering the specific type you want. I am awaiting another email to clarify that.

As I understand alot of axolotls will not eat the Red Wriggler, and other composting varieties so my question here is;
Of the above varieties which ones would the experienced axolotl enthusiast here go for?

Cheers
Dal.

 

[b00f]

I have ordered from Kookaburra, and i found that the variety is great mix for my axies.

Never had a worm not eaten.

 

[Darkmaverick]

Hi Dalabrae,

That is a an excellent list. It demonstrates initiative and being proactive. It gave me an idea to work on another project on Axolotl Sanctuary - to gather a list of commercial worm farms/suppliers in Australia. This would greatly benefit Australian hobbyists with convenient supply of worms.

If you are keen to work on this project together, please private message me and we can work out a plan. Any other aussies who would like to help out with this project, please kindly contact me via private message as well. Your contributions will be acknowledged.

I order my worms from "Pisces". They are a mix composition similar to Kookaburra's. It is true the red wrigglers secrete a foul smelling substance that can deter some axies, however a large proportion of axies will also readily consume them. I observed that among the types of earthworms, the big reds and nightcrawlers are particularly more readily accepted by most axies.

Cheers.

 

[ianclick]

If you have some spare space in your garden you could start a small worm farm http://opentutorial.com/index.php?title=Make_a_worm_farm.

Not only will you get free worms but excellent castings for your garden

 

[Dalabrae]

Update.

Had a reply back from Kookaburra, and you can order their African Nightcrawlers and the Gardener's Friends as separate worms (as opposed to the compost worm mix, not one worm at a time!!). They produce them for the fishing industry and as such don't come by the 1000, instead they are sold in punnets of 25 or 50, But to make transportation affordable the minimum order is 12 punnets (so 300 - 600 worms), and they have a guarantee on safe delivery. Below is a link to their page that shows the punnet sizes;

http://www.kookaburrawormfarms.com.au/index.aspx?page=17

Here is a link to the list of different types of worms they have, plus a brief description of each variety;

http://www.kookaburrawormfarms.com.au/index.aspx?page=2

I intend buying an excess so I can start my own little farm, as Click said, apart from being great food source for our fluffy gilled friends they are good for the garden, and also an awesome way to recycle food scraps back into the garden... if you have a half hour to spare I found this on youtube;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl9gY_SqyxM

Anyway enough about me being a hippie at 1am, morning will soon be here and I will have to be my normal rev headed self.
I hope I haven't broken any forum rules by posting the links on here.