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I bought some over a year ago because my wigglers just don't get big enough fr me. i raise both in a a plastic 55 gallon barrels one for each kind of worm I have peat moss and dried leaves in the barrels the wiggler I thousands of them but Ive had them longer than a year. I work at a school so I bring vegetable scrapes home for the cafeterias also feed cornmeal and chicken starter feed. My question is why are my night crawlers the same size as my red wigglers no bigger at all?
I might be wrong, but the red wigglers most likely out competed the Euros. Red wigglers reproduce at a much higher rate the Euros. Wigglers eat more as well.
The Euro Night crawlers are not a lot bigger than reds. If you want BIG crawlers you must get the Canadian crawlers.
See the descriptions of the different worms on the link below.
And go to the "Worm Care" of the following link and it will tell you a lot about the differences.
Buy Live leeches, Worms Online | Speedy Worm Wholesale
Euros are larger in diameter than reds (abut the size of a pencil) and significantly longer than reds. Wider dia.+ greater length = bigger. I agree with in that they are not a lot bigger, but they are bigger.
Canadian nightcrawler a significantly bigger in every way. The problem with raising Canadian nightrcralwers is they are a true earth worm and hard to raise in captivity because they need "cold" temperatures and real, deep dirt. European nightcrawlers are not nightcrawlers at all they are a bigger cousin to the red wiggler.
If you want big, humungazoidal worms that you can raise on your own and work well in the compost layer/captivity, consider African nightcrawlers. They have the same girth of the Euro but the length near that of a Canadian. The Afros are like Euros in that they are not true earth worm, i.e., not true nightcrawlers. They are a composting worm much closer to their bantam-weight red wiggler and middle-weight Euro cousins. I'd call the Afros a middle-heavy weight worm.
I've raised both Euros and red wigglers. The Euros are bigger, and the red wigglers will out compete them. If you want to raise worms, you will have to select a worm that will be a good balance: size, reproductive ability, food consumption, climate vs. habitat, toughness, ability to live underwater, keep alive, and etc. There are a lot of factors to consider.
Most people don't know it but the "red wigglers" you're buying at bait shops are mostly likely European nightcrawlers. I haven't seen true red wigglers sold in bait shops since I was a child in the 80s. This only adds to the confusion.
Since you've raised them both yourself, you know the difference. A true red wiggler is a small, small worm. Euros are bigger. Afros are longer. Alabama Jumpers and Canadian nightcrawlers are giants. And there are even bigger worms in tropical places than you'd probably mistake for snakes. But if you can't raise them in captivity is doesn't matter if they're bigger.
I wanted to raise Afro, but have had a hard time finding them, so I went back to Euros because they were a know quantity. I know I have an environment suitable for them. A simple greenhouse will keep them warm amid winter and a lot of shade and deep bedding will keep them cool amid summer.
I feel like I am getting a wormology degree with all the great information on raising worms here on this forum. Many thanks to WorminKen, "G", CrappiePappy, Funbun and all the others on the live bait forum for sharing their knowledge. I am trying to raise Europeans for composting in the garden tasks. I am pretty good at raising red wigglers for Bluegill and Bream fishing. Occasionally a hungry Crappie will bite one too.
I think I got wigglers by mistake so I orders more European night crawlers hope this works out
I am not having any luck in getting any size to my euros.Do you have any suggestions that I can try. I feed ground corn meal (no additives) and occasional vegetables and have a lot of small worms. There are always a few that a larger but not enough to supply needs for fishing.Quote:
Originally Posted by funbun
I got my new shipment of European night crawlers they are bigger that the wigglers right now
If worms are not fed enough they go into survival mode and start reproducing and staying smaller. My euros looked great and then seemed to gradually get smaller over time but I had 1000's. Well I only needed 100's so I put 90% in the garden. BAM!! in 2 months my few 100 were bigger and healthier.
PS. Pumpkins are a worms favorite. They go nuts for it. I froze Halloween guts in bags. The worms could get 2 pounds in a few days.