European Nightcrawlers

Got a question about some ENCs that I am raising. I got them on 10-1-10 and have them in a bin with shredded newspaper and damp cardboard. Been feeding them vegetables and yellow corn meal. They have been at @ 70 deg. since I got them. They seem to be doing great, but I am not seeing any little ones. I was hoping to have a large crop of them by spring, but just not seeing any evidence of new ones coming on. Am I missing something as far as spotting them, or maybe the worms I got were not mature. Any ideas or thoughts would be great.

send a pm to Azslabber. He is an expert on them. Also there are some excellent threads on the ENC in this forum.

Thanks Ship, I'll do that. Just not seeing any little ones yet and was wondering if I need to give them more time.

These threads may help you also.

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/live-...tcrawlers.html

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/live-...-wigglers.html

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/live-...questions.html

Thanks again, I got worried the other morning when I checked on them could not find but one or two in their usual spots in the cardboard. A day or two later they seemed to be back to normal. I am also starting to see some little ones, so maybe they are doing better than I thought.

I guess I need a little more patience, as usual, but I am starting to see several little worms in the box. In fact, I am starting a second box so maybe I'll have a few more.

You may need some opera music or something to set the mood. You know how those Europeans are, kinda different....

I may need to. It does not seem like they are increasing in numbers like I thought they would. There maybe more there than I think. I took about 10 out and put them in a separate bin to see if I could get two bins going. Planning on doing alot of fishing, may just have to try something else if this does not work. I'll keep trying till there is nothing. Sure don't have anything to lose now.

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Originally Posted by dignlevel

You may need some opera music or something to set the mood. You know how those Europeans are, kinda different....

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My redworms just love "The Temptations." Go figure.

How many mature adult worms do you have? Few mature adults = few babies. It's possible for the worm to be adult size and not mature yet. Mature worms have a visible collar. The baby worms don't appear right away, either. Worms lay egg cases, from which the babies hatch. The cases are greenish yellow and look like tiny lemons.

European night crawlers (eisenia hortensis) breed and feed slower than your red garden variety red worm (eisenia fetida).

The links above are to a couple groups who raise worms for their poop as fertilizer.

Thanks funbun, that was a great article and gave me hope to keep my ENs going and realize that it may take longer than I thought to fill the bin. I have been mostly feeding them yellow corn meal and keeping them good and moist. They are indoors and kept at 62 to 72 deg temperature. I have been seeing some little ones. They also seem to like the wet cardboard I keep over the shredded newspaper. I am always finding them in the folds of the cardboard.