# Earthworm breeding and feeding



## singhm29 (Jun 28, 2009)

Just wanted to gauge peoples experience with red wigglers and nightcrawlers on the board as I really need to get a population going for my growing salamanders and axolotl. I know most probably don't breed or feed these as darts obviously cant chow down such a large food item but Im sure that more than a few people keep creatures other than darts. 

My experience so far has been mixed. While the salamanders took it after a bit of inspection and the axolotl went berserk over the opportunity, my crested gecko really had the reverse reaction. She instantly lunged for the worm but dropped it while trying to finish it off only to repeatedly shake her head violently. Now prior to the feeding I did do some research if others had fed earthworms to cresteds and quite a few had but now I am thinking that the secretion of an earthworm when cut is definitely repulsive to some creatures. Is this just a bad taste or a harmful chemical?

Anyones experiences with feeding or breeding worms would be much appreciated.


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## trevorthetoad (Nov 5, 2012)

I've never fed worms to anything, but I use red wigglers to make vermicompost. They multiply very fast. I recently put three worms in a small bin and found an egg case the next day. The compost bin will be swarming with tiny worms soon after putting worms in. Red wigglers feed from the surface, so you can simply add vegetable scraps and other worm food on top of the substrate. They don't like it wet, so keep the substrate moist but not wet. The egg cases look like small beads and each holds a few baby worms.


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## JPccusa (Mar 10, 2009)

I have been vermicomposting for almost 2 years now. I do not use the worms, but their castings (poop) for my potted plants (not for vivarium!). The worms eat ALL my veggie scraps (from vegetable peels to office shred). Here is the easy guide to vermicomposting that I follow: The Worm Guide: A Vermicomposting Guide for Teachers


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## TerraFerma (Feb 20, 2011)

This isn't exactly what you are looking for - but I get tons of reds and night crawlers in my planter barrels. I don't add anything to them; I assume if I did I would get even more. When I find them while working on the barrels I throw them to my chickens. Sometimes they engulf them; sometimes they spit them out and walk away. So you may be on to something with the excretion thing. These chickens hoover most foods so its really odd to see them not eat a worm. Not sure what USDA zone you are in but where I'm at (NorCal) I would just breed them in planter barrels outside.


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## RobR (Dec 24, 2011)

TerraFerma said:


> This isn't exactly what you are looking for - but I get tons of reds and night crawlers in my planter barrels. I don't add anything to them; I assume if I did I would get even more. When I find them while working on the barrels I throw them to my chickens. Sometimes they engulf them; sometimes they spit them out and walk away. So you may be on to something with the excretion thing. These chickens hoover most foods so its really odd to see them not eat a worm. Not sure what USDA zone you are in but where I'm at (NorCal) I would just breed them in planter barrels outside.


My chickens have the same reaction to worms, they go back and forth stealing it from one another's mouth but in the end no one ends up eating it. I'm looking to get into culturing black soldier fly larvae also referred to as Phoenix worms. They should be well suited for herp use as well though I tried them for my frogs a while back and as many as were eaten also escaped into the substrate and hatched out. Their adult lifespan is only about a week and they have no mouth parts so they should be harmless.


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## suztor (Aug 14, 2011)

If you go on the caudata forum, you'll see a trend in saying that red wigglers are bad tasting and bitter. How they know, I don't wanna know. With my newts, I used to chop up the red wigglers sand soak them in warm water, it seemed to help a little. 

But nightcrawlers are a better option, from what I understand. But when you chop them up they ooze lots of grossness.

Hope that helps some.

~Sue


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## Jellyman (Mar 6, 2006)

I use nightcrawlers to feed my tiger salamanders, spotted turtles, snapping turtle, and a florida soft shell turtle. I tried to make my own but it just takes to long to get them big enough for a good meal. I currently buy them at walmart but if anyone knows a good wholesaler that they can be purchased 500 to 1000 at a time let me know.
Thanks


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## Michael Shrom (May 20, 2004)

I prefer to use belgian earthworms (Eisenia hortensis). They are not as fetid as Eisenia foetida. They are pretty easy to raise but need lots of vegetable scraps. I only use worms that I raise myself or have had for some time. I know some foetida growers raise their worms on manure. My guess is that could cause real problems in salamander food.


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## RobR (Dec 24, 2011)

Jellyman said:


> I use nightcrawlers to feed my tiger salamanders, spotted turtles, snapping turtle, and a florida soft shell turtle. I tried to make my own but it just takes to long to get them big enough for a good meal. I currently buy them at walmart but if anyone knows a good wholesaler that they can be purchased 500 to 1000 at a time let me know.
> Thanks


http://www.nyworms.com/


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## Firawen (Jan 29, 2012)

Jellyman said:


> I use nightcrawlers to feed my tiger salamanders, spotted turtles, snapping turtle, and a florida soft shell turtle. I tried to make my own but it just takes to long to get them big enough for a good meal. I currently buy them at walmart but if anyone knows a good wholesaler that they can be purchased 500 to 1000 at a time let me know.
> Thanks


I've heard that walmart/bait shop worms are all disease ridden and bad for your animals. Have you had any issues? If not, I may start using walmart to get worms for my fire salamander since there is one within walking distance from my house.

Sent from my SGH-T959V using Tapatalk 2


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## singhm29 (Jun 28, 2009)

trevorthetoad said:


> The egg cases look like small beads and each holds a few baby worms.


Do these look like small clay balls? This might finally connect some strangeness I found in my isopod cultures. The substrate was simply cardboard shreds sold for bird bedding and after it had completely broken down I was finding these strange looking pellets that were very hard and looked like clay..during a separate inspection to my surprise I found a worm lurking around the culture too even though I had never added any.



> I do not use the worms, but their castings (poop) for my potted plants (not for vivarium!)


Do you stay away from using it directly in your viv because the natural fertilizer is too potent?



> Sometimes they engulf them; sometimes they spit them out and walk away.


I really think that might be it as even my crocodile skink ate half of a worm and left the other half to rot throughout the night which was strange too, maybe it had been turned off by the secretion. However I think they would easily take it down if they were able to eat the worm in a single bite instead of puncturing it and causing it to secrete a defensive ooze.



> But nightcrawlers are a better option, from what I understand. But when you chop them up they ooze lots of grossness.


Haha can't say Im willing to test out the bitterness factor myself but I can say that a cut worm really can stink up the place since I was smelling a really foul odour from one of my enclosures only to find a half eaten worm still writhing around after I had taken care of it the smell was soon gone. 



> I tried to make my own but it just takes to long to get them big enough for a good meal.


From my research nightcrawlers are much slower to breed and are more demanding of how they are cared for. They also get much bigger then red wigglers which might be a plus for some but at the moment for me I need a somewhat smaller worm. I would really like to know if there is a difference in the secretion of a nightcrawler vs a red wiggler though.

Thanks for the replies and experiences so far everyone.


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## RobR (Dec 24, 2011)

Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the small clay balls are worm castings.


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## Jellyman (Mar 6, 2006)

RobR said:


> New York Worms-Your Live Feeder Superstore


Thanks. I will check them out.


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## Jellyman (Mar 6, 2006)

Firawen said:


> I've heard that walmart/bait shop worms are all disease ridden and bad for your animals. Have you had any issues? If not, I may start using walmart to get worms for my fire salamander since there is one within walking distance from my house.
> 
> Sent from my SGH-T959V using Tapatalk 2


I have been using them for over 5 years with my turtles and salamadnders with no issues. I typically buy 72 at a time and keep them in the frig until feeding time.


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