keeping nightcrawlers

[Earlybird]

Hi All,
Anyone have any plans, tips, ideas for a worm box to keep nightcrawlers and worms? I thought I would give it a try. What bedding, feed etc. works for you?
Thanks

[Roger Mayer]

I keep mine in a wood box. The thick card board boxes work better because the keep the inside cool through evapouration. I keep my wood box in a fridge so it keeps cool that way. I use sod for bedding but there are commercial ones out there. As for food I use my old coffee grounds.

Roger Mayer.

[Drift'r]

I keep several thousand breeders & always bed them in Peatmoss & shredded paper. The peat should be soaked for at least 24 hours & then squeezed so the only a few drops of water are present when you squeeze a handfull. The bedding should be about 6 to 8 inches deep. NEVER mix food in the bedding. If you mix it in the worms will in a short time develope what is called protein poisoning & die. Only sprinkle on the surface in the center if the bin what they will eat in a 24 hour period.It is better to under feed until you know what they will eat. I use chicken egg laying mash from Agway for feed. Make sure it is mash. Email me if you need any more help.
Good luck ....Drift'r

[Gilligan]

Hey Drifter
Been hearing of a guy in this area that soaks newspapers in a drum of water with a mix of Caro Syrup in it, then runs it thru a meat grinder. Don't know if it works or not. What do ya think? Load the crawlers with carbos and get them squirming or is the guy feeding us a line?
Going to give your method a shot, I don't have much sucess keeping them.

[Silver/MI]

If you're just going to pick 12 or less dozen, I go to a woods a pick up leaves from the forest floor, or bag my own in the fall. The ones from fruit, maple, oak all work good. I soak them. They serve as bedding and food. I store them uncovered in a large cooler in the basement, and sprinkle coffee grounds on them. My target lifespan is a month or two, because I usually use them up quicker than that anyhow. Plus your hands and gear don't get all dirty when fishing, like those half dead slimy baitshop worms that come in black dirt. To top it all off, if you keep the worms long enough, the leaves all turn to compost which I dump onto the wife's garden. For containers I like baby wipe containers, they stack up like cordwood around my house!

[Drift'r]

Hi Gilligan,
Yes the paper is great bedding, not the colored though. Just use the black & white. The ink on black & white is non-toxic vegatable dye. The bedding that is commercially sold in sporting goods departments is made from the newspapers. when I need a paper bed all I do is shred them & soak them.
I have never used the Karo. My guess on that is he is fattening the worms for selling. Some of the other breeders I know of will use sewer sludge in the feedings to do this also. A few days before shipping though, all feed is kept from the worms & they are transfered to shipping bedding.
Good fishin....Drift'r

[Drift'r]

Hi Gilligan,
Yes the paper is great bedding, not the colored though. Just use the black & white. The ink on black & white is non-toxic vegetable dye. The bedding that is commercially sold in sporting goods departments is made from the newspapers. when I need a paper bed all I do is shred them & soak them.
I have never used the Karo. My guess on that is he is fattening the worms for selling. Some of the other breeders I know of will use sewer sludge in the feedings to do this also. A few days before shipping though, all feed is kept from the worms & they are transfered to shipping bedding.
Good fishin....Drift'r