I got worms. Started my ranch and still have questions

Crawling up the sides is normal as they love to escape. Keep a tight lid on and dont worry about it. I have screen tops on mine and certain times they really want to escape and when I notice more than 1 or 3 on the sides, I turn on a light above the bin and that drives them back under the soil. A friend once told me they mostly do that because they are looking for food or to expand their range. He raised them commercially for years and his beds were huge 4'x8'x3' deep. He told me about the light and it does work but I just make sure I have tight fitting lids and dont worry about it.

Still no pictures :(

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Originally Posted by BuckeyeKdog

Crawling up the sides is normal as they love to escape. Keep a tight lid on and dont worry about it. I have screen tops on mine and certain times they really want to escape and when I notice more than 1 or 3 on the sides, I turn on a light above the bin and that drives them back under the soil. A friend once told me they mostly do that because they are looking for food or to expand their range. He raised them commercially for years and his beds were huge 4'x8'x3' deep. He told me about the light and it does work but I just make sure I have tight fitting lids and dont worry about it.

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Guess I'm lucky, but mine never try to crawl out of the beds I have them in. And guessing both beds have a several thousand in there now. Have mine in these storage bins, there clear so I think that keeps them under the news paper. Plus I feed them a cup a corn meal ever 24 to 48 hours. Sterilite 70 Quart Easy Carry Storage Box- Spicy Lime, Set of 6 - Walmart.com But even while we were at the Gulf Coast for a week at Christmas. Did not find any in the basement when we got home. They were not as big as before we left. But they had eaten all the paper chips in there, and had fed them heavy the day we left.
Pete

The escape thing has a lot to do with species.

Red wgglers tend to stay put, and they eat and breed like crazy. Great composting worms.
European nightcrawlers really, really like to roam. You need to keep a light over them.
Carolina snake-worms are the same way. They like to eat leaves and lettuce instead of scraps.

Those are the ones I have experience with.

-TH

I bought a large styrofoam cooler from WallyWorld and put some air holes in the top center and moved it under the house this winter to keep from having to heat the outside shed. I used peat moss and water and it is doing well with the euro nightcrawlers. I use wetted newspaper and some garden weed stopper cloth on top. I bought some premixed food from D and S worm farm and fed them. I was wondering about them crawling up alongside the edges trying to get out also. I'm glad that's normal. I will open the cooler and let the sunlight in for a while just to let them get a little light and air.

Euros like cool temps. The crawl space might be the best place in the summertime also.

-Tony

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Originally Posted by thill

The escape thing has a lot to do with species.

Red wgglers tend to stay put, and they eat and breed like crazy. Great composting worms.
European nightcrawlers really, really like to roam. You need to keep a light over them.
Carolina snake-worms are the same way. They like to eat leaves and lettuce instead of scraps.

Those are the ones I have experience with.

-TH

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Thanks for the info.
I always though the red wigglers were always small worms. But the way I feed mine, there as big as Canadian worms. But also full of the small ones right now. As they have went into survival mode. HAHA Its wild how when you slow feeding and water, they put out eggs like mad. And then your worms produce so fast its unreal. I have better luck with these catching fish then the bigger worms. Will be turning some of these into green worms and red colored worms soon. That makes them turn into super worms for the fish.
Pete

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Originally Posted by ShilohRed

T Will be turning some of these into green worms and red colored worms soon. That makes them turn into super worms for the fish.
Pete

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What do you use to turn them red?
I've got some worm-glo for the green but I must be doing something wrong because it's not working well.

:ThumbsUp

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Originally Posted by BuckeyeKdog

Crawling up the sides is normal as they love to escape. Keep a tight lid on and dont worry about it. I have screen tops on mine and certain times they really want to escape and when I notice more than 1 or 3 on the sides, I turn on a light above the bin and that drives them back under the soil. A friend once told me they mostly do that because they are looking for food or to expand their range. He raised them commercially for years and his beds were huge 4'x8'x3' deep. He told me about the light and it does work but I just make sure I have tight fitting lids and dont worry about it.

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I have a red wiggler container that I made out of old coolers as well as smaller insulated ones. I made the red worm container that I carry on the fishing banks out of a bowl with a clear lid. I attached a carrying handle on to it. Heat a small needle and put about 50 tiny air holes on the top and the sides. Use the same needle and put about seven holes on the bottom for drainage.Then I put a dollar tree night light on it. The light keeps the red wigglers where they belong. I feed mine strawberry bits, shredded paper, yellow corn meal or coffee grounds. There are always red wigglers ready to go fishing with me.

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