Earthworm question..

[newt]

I recently bought a container of worms, but they seemed to be ailing (all piled up on the top) so I filled a large pot with soil from our backyard and put all the worms in it. Will they survive in a large garden pot, and is there anything I can put in it to sustain it? (leftovers?) If so, do I mix it in to the soil or leave it on top? Also, should I water the pot they're in, and if so, how often? Could they possibly breed in there? It is very hard for me to get hold of earthworms during the winter, so if anyone knows how to get hold of them in Canada, I would appreciate it!

 

[leanne]

If you can find any dead worms in the bunch, remove them---it only takes one dead one to foul the container and kill the others off---then put them in your garden pot and fill it with natural (non-fertilized) soil, and add some mulch/dead leaves into the mix. Keep posted!

 

[dot]

If you've got a Wal*Mart in your area, you can get good-sized Canadian Nightcrawlers there, but you may have to search the tubs they sell them in, because once I bought some and the worms were all rotten and dying.

If you put them in your own soil, like Leanne said, non-fertilized, you can keep them alive for at least a month if you put them in the fridge. I keep mine in a large coffee can and they do well. However, definitely check on them once in a while, because the dead/rotten ones may contaminate the rest and stink up your fridge.

 

[ken]

I put worms in my tanks with a soil substrate, and they are wonderful. I just dumped a handful in about two months ago and they are thriving. They produce tonnes of castings in little piles and I spread them throughout the tank. The plants are doing awesome!!!

 

[howard]

So just take them out of the pot, clean them off under bottled water and put them in the tank? Should you chop them up or put them in alive whole? If you put them in alive whole wont they crawl out of the dish into the substrate and then die eventually? I am a newbie sorry for the maybe dumb question.

 

[jennifer]

Newt, here is a live food resource in Canada you may have missed:
www.canadianfeeders.com

When I go to buy worms, I look at them to make sure there are no dead ones. It's normal for them to be piled up on top, but they should look healthy.

I usually just rinse a worm, chop it with a razor, and feed. For a while I was trying to "gutload". I put the worms in coconut fiber (bed-a-beast) in a plastic shoebox and fed them fish flakes or newt pellets. Be careful not to overfeed, or else you end up with mold and things go foul.

The worms might lay some eggs while they are in the container, so keep it around a while. But Canadian nightcrawlers (which are the kind usually sold as bait) do not do well as a "culture".

 

[david]

Hmm, I usually just step outside and turn over a log or something and--voila! Instant newt food.

I guess I'm curious as to whether or not buying earthworms is better than simply finding them outside as they are more than abundant, or is there some hygeneic reason not to?

(Message edited by amphiuma on November 26, 2004)

 

[leanne]

I think the earthworms you find outside are a good source for newt food, just make sure the soil they came from is not fertilized or treated in any way.