Breeding night crawlers?

[Lilibugz]

So the pet shops near me don’t always sell live worms which is my newts main food as of now. They have frozen bloodworms I’ve given as a treat but they don’t have any form of blackworms. So I usually just go to the local bait shop and get my worms there. I throw some veggies/fish food in the container to try and up the nutrients.
I’ve been thinking about just starting a compost bin though. I used to use a 5 gallon bucket with holes drilled all over for drainage stacked in another bucket to compost food scraps and such. I was doing this to get some nice fertilizer and reduce waste not breed worms haha. Do you think the worms would reproduce fast enough for me to have a good supply of them for feeding? I usually feed Canadian night crawlers but I’m open to suggestions if there’s a better species to use!

 

[JM29]

Canadian night crawlers (Lumbricus terrestris) is well accepted by all caudates but rather tricky to breed and raise because it's a full soil inhabitant.
European night crawler (Dendrobaena hortensis) is one of the species easy to raise in a compost bin but it is not always well accepted by caudates.
So, try to propose some to your newts before beginnig to produce them.

 

[Niels D]

I'm using the stacked box/bin method myself. Using two boxes with drilled holes in the bottom and a third one underneath. An old pantyhose can be used at the top box to prevent the worms crawling out, because my lid doesn't fit in a way that it's escape proof. Be careful with too much onions and leek. I'm using Dendrobaene veneta (almost like hortensis). I add some soaked rabbit pellets with a little calcium powder now and then.

If they breed fast enough for you to feed all your animals depend on how much animals you have of course. Still, they reproduce quite quickly, especially in spring and autumn when the temperatures are a little bit cooler.

 

[salamanderkeeper]

I've not had as good of luck with European nightcrawlers as others have. I seem to never be able to keep up and eventually my colony dwindles down to nothing and I have to start over. Having said that, its still a very economical way to feed your salamanders. Canadian nightcrawlers are a good backup plan. I would feed both because variety is usually a good thing. You get blackworms are local fish shops. The big box stores and bait shops won't have them. Good idea to buy some supplies at local fish stores too and support them.

 

[Anonymous Salamander]

If worms are not an absolute must, I suggest looking into fly larvae. They are often bred in compost bins for feeding chickens and if you make a setup to their liking and stock it with the right food items you will have a hard time NOT getting larvae. Worms can be bred in the same manor though so you may just have to find which species works best for you and is loved by your animals.