Blackworms are THAT expensive?

ravenous

ravenous

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Well Im new to live food purchases and I was going to get some live blackworms from the only place in town that sells them. I had been waiting for them to get some fresh ones and that finally happened, so when I called to see if they were in I finally asked for a price...

They said $3.99 per TABLESPOON! I asked what? I want worms not cavier!

Ive seen pack of bloodworms and they sell for only $4. Maybe I over reacted but I had no idea these worms were so much. Im shocked really. I guess I gotta pay their outlandish price for my newts though. Of course this may be a good price, I dont know. Like I said Im new to buying live food so take it easy on a beginner.
 
Thats pretty pricey, you could possibly do better online if you order them in bulk.
 
I ordered mine through Aquaticfoods.com. I got 1/2 lb and two worm keepers - they make the water changes easy - for about $40 if I remember right. But they have lasted a long time. I got them in December and I am just about half way through them now and have been pleased with my purchase.
Heather
 
That's not the best price, but also not the worst. I knew one place that sold them for $2 per TEAspoon (a teaspoons is 1/3rd of a tablespoon). The best pet shop price I've seen was $1.99 per ounce, with an ounce being roughly 2 tablespoons.

At that price, it would be less expensive to order a half or full pound. I think you can get a full pound for $30-40. BUT, you have to have space in the refrigerator (for both the worms and a jug of cold water) and keep them rinsed every day. If blackworms are not rinsed for several days, or accidentally left at room temp too long, they can get disgusting quickly.
 
Speaking of feeding blackworms, I fed them to my newts for the first time earlier this month. Last weekend I was cleaning the tank and found out the blackworms were hiding under the gravel. I'm not sure how much my newts ended up getting. I'm considering changing the tank to sand. Will that stop the blackworms from digging in and escaping from the newts? What are the tricks of dealing with this?
 
they will bury themselves in sand too I believe. If you don't want them to escape and take up residence in the aquarium you might need to feed in a separate feeding tank or use a bare substrate.
 
Actually Jen, to correct myself, it actually was a TEASPOON and NOT a tablespoon. My sister was with me when I was on the phone with them and we were in the kitchen so she pulled out a measuring spoon to show me... man thats highway robbery.

I may have to eat it though as I dont have the fridge space to buy a full lb. Freezer space yea but I dont think theyll live long in that.

In the words of Jack Bauer... "Damnit!"
 
Sue - yes, they will dig into fine sand too. If you keep the tank with a very thin layer of sand, the newts will still be able to find them as an occasional snack.

Dan - You may be able to get by with a teaspoon or two per week. And if you need more, the manager may be willing to cut a deal on a slightly larger quantity - I was able to do this at the pet shop I knew that sold by the teaspoon.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. I hope theyre cool enough to work something out with me, but knowing this town, theres not many here willing to deal or help out in a sense. Im not too crazy about that shop either as everything seems real dirty and very low on CS. Ive never even bought from that place before.
 
I am off to find a small bar fridge today as my recent blackworm purchase has not gone over well with my better half. The earthworms and red wigglers she could live with but now she wont even go in the kitchen.
smile9.gif
I got mine from aquatic foods too, I believe it was a first time special for 3/4 pound and two worm keepers which came out to about $50 with shipping. I don't know how I would do it without the worm keepers they are great.
 
How in the world could blackworms be that expensive. At my local shop i get maybe 400-500 for 4.99. Am i just lucky to have found someone to sell at such a low price or is this normal?
 
I buy blackworms on occasion for $5/ per 1/2 cup, but the guy usually sells them for $1 a pinch.
 
an update since feb. I now get half as many blackworms for 5 buck as I used to...that sucks but oh well. It looks like my pet shop is conforming to the pattern with all the others
 
I pay $1.29 for about a tablespoon. Now that my newt collection is growing, I'm trying to get them all on troutworms and chopped up nightcrawlers. We're making progress. I ordered some online a couple times to try to culture them myself, and they had an acrid odor that permeated my whole basement.
 
I have or had blackworms living in every aquarium I've ever had from feeder escapees. I let them be as they offer a good chance for my lazy animals to hunt for themselves. My turtles especially love to dig for them.

My petshop sells than at 97 cents for a portion, which is probably a teaspoon.
 
Holy that is expensive!

I guess one good thing about living where I do is that we are very close to the aquaticfoods place, and I suspect the LFS guys just go down and get it direct from the farm. Price is usually 75 cents per ounce. That will last me a month at the very least even if I kill some of them. I found that if you give them a lot of space to spread out they do better and then keep indefinetly.
 
Well Ive moved on to Frozen bloodworms. Theres no way I was going to give that place business with those prices. Plus my Larvae love the frozen ones and know when they hit the water. Its pretty cool to see em slowly emerge from hiding and put their snout to the ground all the way to the pile.
 
That price seems pretty typical to me. The pet store I used to frequent sold about a teaspoons worth for $2 and were nice enough to give me a dollars worth at a time if I wanted, but they decided to stop carrying blackworms. I tried going in bulk with aquatic foods (1/2 lb plus 2 keepers) but that was way too much for my 2 newts and alot of the worms ended up getting old and going bad. Also, I didn't have much luck with the worm keepers, for some reason the worms got through the screening and ended up in the space below, defeating the purpose entirely. I use frozen bloodworms now, which my remaining newt seems to like. But considering what dog or cat owners spend on food per week, I'd say $4 or $5 isn't too bad, unless if you have a ton of newts.
 
OMG

Well over here in Germany a pack sells for around $0.75, same with packs of tubeworms and daphnia. Every time I go there I stock up lol.
 
sue said:
Speaking of feeding blackworms, I fed them to my newts for the first time earlier this month. Last weekend I was cleaning the tank and found out the blackworms were hiding under the gravel. I'm not sure how much my newts ended up getting. I'm considering changing the tank to sand. Will that stop the blackworms from digging in and escaping from the newts? What are the tricks of dealing with this?
Click to expand...
I have a saucer in my tank to feed my newts in. And they get so excited over their blackworms that they whip around and send the worms all over the tank. It's sand substrate and they have a constant food source in there because the blackworms they don't find, live and multiply in the tank.
Take care,
Mary.
 
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