If you are raising European Nightcrawlers

Been at it for about six months now. My worms are thriving in a large drilled wal-mart tote. Two thing these worms absolutely love. Corn cobs and watermelon rinds. after placing these two things in the bed. almost 100 % of the worms are found directly below them, When I take the old rinds out. They are about the thickness of printer paper.

Best bedding mixture I have used so far is a mixture of coconut coir , sphagnum moss and a dash of buss bedding.

Keeping in beneath ground level room. Temps seem to stay right at 60 or so during the hottest of days During winter have not had to add any kind of heat and temps stay around 50 or above. Their main food is layer chicken feed which I re-grind with spice grinder.

they do make an excellent bait and are extremely hardy on the hook. am going to use ice fishing this year as supposedly they handle extremely cold water a lot better than our native worms here in Ohio. They move so much on the hook they remind me of leeches when fished.

Takes about 5 minutes a day feeding and re-spraying with a spritzer bottle using distilled water. Don't want no salt or any other water chems on them. About every 60 days I change out the bedding. Very little time investment for a great bait.

My dad had an old coke machine freezer that he raised them in when I was about 9 or 10. (man thats 50 years ago) They also liked coffee grounds. We had thousands of worms, until a little spot rusted out on a back corner. They made a grand escape. lol

When you say "drilled" walmart tote....are you referring to drilling air holes in top or drainge holes in bottom? or both?
I live in Florida and have also read they tolerate extreme heat better than other varieties. Please elaborate or link to any resources you may use.
Thanks,
Donnie

Both- drilled hundreds of 1/32 holes in bottom of tote. Above bedding level on sides of tote I drilled 1/2 inch holes. I bedded the one with the bedding and worms on top of 4 inch pvc cut 4 inches long. These 4 pieces of pvc are put in the corners of a shallower tote. The shallower tote is also drilled on all four sides with 1/2 holes.

They do tolerate heat but their ideal temp is @ 70 degrees. If you google the phrase " raising european nightcrawlers " you will get tons of info. Watch a few of the videos by some of the worm enthusiasts.

try pumpkin guts this fall. They go nuts. I used 100% shredded newspaper bedding. If I forgot to feed them they eat the paper. lasted 3 years without a single problem.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hays47

If you google the phrase " raising european nightcrawlers " you will get tons of info

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More like information overload. There is so much information and so many different opinions that one can get confused easily, and most of what I've seen is geared towards producing worm castings/compost not fishing worm.
I've been trying to figure out a good routine for my Euros since last fall. I lost an entire batch and this one doesn't seem to be doing well. I don't think I'm feeding them enough.

I can use some advice on how much, how often, what to feed them to get good fishing worms.

I feed the mash to the worms by sprinkling a line of it. Let the worms tell you how much. Start with small amount and check daily. When food is all gone add some more. Do not mix the food into the bedding. Let it lie on top. When you mix your bedding make sure your water is salt free. Rain water or creek water is normally best.

If worms are not eating something is wrong with bedding. Most beginners use too much water when mixing.

Once the routine is established it takes minimal effort and time to keep a healthy supply of worms

:yikes