Question: Aussies -> Earth Worms

[Colinna]

Just a quick question for all the Australians out there.

Do you give your Axolotl's earth worms? If yes, where do you source them from?

I've been checking around at all my local fish shops etc and haven't found anyone that sells them. Frozen blood worms, beef heart, axo pellets, etc but no earth worms.

Where else should I look?

Thanks in advance!

 

[AuraCantos]

I don't live in Australia, but have you tried finding a place that sells them online? Perhaps Ebay, or you could always google something like "Buy Earthworms". I bought mine offline, without any hassle or problems.

 

[The Banana]

Yes, it is their main food.
I get mine from the garden, we have a pretty large backyard, and don't use any sort of chemicals so it is all good.
Lots of LFS near me sell them though. Have you tried bait stores? I've also heard of Bunnings supplying earth-worm farms, you could grow/breed your own.

Joan sells earth-worms, you could get something there, and start your own worm-farm, as it would be pretty pricey constantly buying them. I've never gotten anything from her, but I know her from a fish-forum, she is a regular and very nice. She lives in Melbourne (but ships).

Hope this helps.

 

[Colinna]

Oh, thanks for that! I might have to start my own earth worm farm. LOL!! I'm sure my kids would get a kick out of that. Hehehe!!

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out!

 

[The Banana]

Mum asked last year if we wanted to have a worm farm.. I was like NO.. NO.. NO!!!
Well now that I have axies that love 'em, I asked if we could have one - she told me it was too much trouble.

 

[Colinna]

LOL!! That's always the way!!

I'll have to get over my worm phobia pretty darn quick if I set up my own farm. Actually, even feeding live ones with be a giant step for me.

 

[The Banana]

For the well-being of your axie, I'm sure you will be fine.

When I was younger, I LOVED catching worms, lizards, etc. Mum called me the Lizard Girl.. I learnt as a toddler (I think toddler, but maybe a bit older) to wait, stay still then go & catch them really fast. Mum was a huge gardener, so was always outside, and I went too.

Haha.. now, I can still catch lizards fast, but prefer to stay inside.

 

[Colinna]

I was the same when I was younger. In fact I'll still catch lizards etc, but for some reason I've developed a bit of a phobia about worms. Weird!!

Anyway, I'm going to call into Bunnings tomorrow and see what they have and I'll also check out the local pet shops again just in case.

thanks again for your help!

 

[Joanne]

Hey Colinna

How'd you go with Bunnings & the earthworms? So bizzare, was thinking the same question Friday. Started to google bait shops in the area! A worm farm for me is out the the question - in a flat with no garden So buying them would be ideal for me, tho wonder how long they last as presume they come in a small tub of some sort that isn't designed to be their home

 

[lea]

The worms at bunnings are the red wrigglers and mine axies wouldnt eat them.....bad axies.
You might have to soak the worms before you feed them to the axies to get the yukky taste off.
lea

 

[The Banana]

Axies... wouldn't eat... WORMS? Huh? Never heard anything of the sort, very strange indeed.

 

[Joanne]

yeah I've read on here that you need to purge them in water for 20 minutes before putting them into the tank. Think that's gonna be a big trial & error for me!

 

[lea]

they are a fussy pair.....I think abby got into cookies ear when she moved in and told her not to touch them they went 1 full week without eating because I wasnt going to give in....guess what.....they one and i gave in.
I do try to give them worms every now and then but the are very happy on axie pellets and bloodworms.

 

[rexx]

Just a quick question for all the Australians out there.

Do you give your Axolotl's earth worms? If yes, where do you source them from?

I've been checking around at all my local fish shops etc and haven't found anyone that sells them. Frozen blood worms, beef heart, axo pellets, etc but no earth worms.

Where else should I look?

Thanks in advance!

Hi, I recenetly got a box of approx 500 earthworms from city farmers for $29.95. Also Better pets and gardens sells them for $31.95. They are for the smaller boxes. Obviously the price goes up to $40 odd for more. Good luck!

 

[Colinna]

Thanks for that Rexx!! I got a small tub for about $8 at City Farmers the other day. I'll keep an eye out for the bigger boxes.

Joanne - I haven't been to Bunnings. Found some at City Farmers. Although I like the idea of growing my own.

My daughter found some in the bio-cycle garden down the back, do you think they'd be alright if I washed them. No chemicals other than the chlorine to treat the effluent. The water that goes into the garden from the bio-cycle is supposed to be good enough to drink (blech...no thanks). The worms she found looked fat and healthy.

 

[Jacquie]

Axies... wouldn't eat... WORMS? Huh? Never heard anything of the sort, very strange indeed.

Red Wriggler earthworms release a foul smelling substance when cut or bitten into (not that I'VE, um, ever tried biting into them, mind you :uhoh, it's a defense mechanism of the worm. As the others have suggested, you can soak them for 20-30 or so minutes to try to get rid of the nasty smell, but sometimes some finicky axolotls STILL won't eat them.

Kookaburra Worm Farm has an on line store where you can buy a mixed assortment of worms (including African nightcrawlers and tiger worms) in varied package sizes, to suit your needs.

A testimonial to Kookaburra Worm Farm from one of our members can be found here: http://www.caudata.org/forum/f49-ad...0866-kookaburra-worm-farm-australia-only.html

 

[DavidF]

I got a worm farm at home. The usual red wrigglers and one or two other types I can't remember what they are but not proper earthworms. I typically collect 10-15 on the weekend and put them in a jar. First I rinse them to get rid of the worm castings and other dirt I pick up, well most of it anyway. Then I toss in 2-3 at each end of the tank. I've got 2 axies. The rest stay in the jar with a dribble of water at the bottom and some scrunched up newspaper. They stay in the jar with the lid on under the sink and every couple of days a few more are fed to the axies. They are gone after maybe 4 days and the rest of the week the axies get pellets or blood worms.

My axies normally spit the worms out as many people on the forum describe. The worms are all gone by morning though so the taste cant be all bad.

I'd love a proper earth worm farm but apparently that is hard to do.....?

 

[Blaze]

Depends what state you are in but Pet Cafe will order them in for you. I got them ordered in then stuck them in the worm farm and let them breed for a while

 

[Minniechild]

Lol! I was just about to post about this! I tried my trio on them this arvo... they spat most of them out...Thus, back to bloodworms!

 

[vladimere]

We had a lil problem with trying our clan on earth worms they wouldnt touch the brought ones from pet shops and yet would eat the ones from our backyard But after the flooding here in toowoomba and having to restart with a new coloney of axies(lost the last lot in the floods)we now hve no prob with brought worms from the local pet shop or the shrimp from the fish shop(fish shop a lot cheaper for the freash water shrimp)