Nightcrawlers

[Invisible Snake]

Hey I was wondering if I ordered nightcrawlers in bulk can I freeze them and then feed them (defrosted of course) to my garters in the future?

[guidofatherof5]

No. They will turn into a pile of goo.

I'd like to see if flash freezing will help the problem but standard freezing just doesn't work as far as I know.

[infernalis]

What Steve said.

worms don't freeze well.

[mark cope]

tomatoe worm ....human all around 80% water, put a tomatoe in the freezer for a week ....then take it out, put it on a plate and wait for it to thaw

[EasternGirl]

Just get some worm bedding and a styrofoam container and make a little worm farm for them. I bought about 50 worms this winter and did that with them...they are still alive and well in my basement.

[guidofatherof5]

They will need cooler then normal temps. Dark and cool.

[mb90078]

It's an absolute disaster, and I don't recommend it, but the snakes will (at least mine did) eat the resulting sludge. I had a mini-fridge that I accidently over-cooled last summer and had the pleasure (sarcasm) of experimenting with this. In fact, the snakes took it extremely enthusiastically.

[kibakiba]

I find that the jellyworms (you know, that jelly like look they get after freezing) smell a bit weird. I wouldn't even feed that to my snakes.

[gregmonsta]

I've never had a problem freezing worms ... defrosted in cold - lukewarm water it has never been a problem for me. The worms are always intact when I do it.

[ConcinusMan]

You can bring night crawlers down to near freezing without killing them. They'll keep for months like that and stay alive and dormant as long as they don't dry out or get too wet. I've tried freezing them. Never worked out at all unless you intend to make worm pudding.

[EasternGirl]

Worm pudding....do they serve that with liver and kidney pudding? Ugh...I hated that stuff when I lived in the U.K. Speaking of food...I have been wanting to ask you Greg....do you eat Haggis?

[Natrix]

You're not on your own there Marnie...... But I have to say Haggis, both traditional and the veggie stuff Is OK!;)

[Light of Dae]

I've frozen 'leftover' worms from a feeding with a pinky mouse for extra scenting. There was nothing left of the worm but sludge but it worked great for scenting.

A worm farm is your best bet, big container with dirt n veggie cut offs, kept cool n dark.

[gregmonsta]

Greg....do you eat Haggis?

.... Yuck .... :rolleyes:

[Invisible Snake]

Thanks for everyones input, my problem is that I live in an apartment and I cant really control the temperature in here, I was thinking of keeping the worms on the fire-escape put its getting much warmer outside as the days go by. So I guess I'll stick to cutting up pinkies into small pieces which I dread.

[kibakiba]

You can keep the worms in the fridge.

[ConcinusMan]

I just keep them in an unused crisper drawer in the refrigerator. Just make sure there's some tiny holes in the lid of their container so they can get air. Check on them once in a while to make sure they stay slightly moist (not wet) , adding a few sprinkles of water when necessary. I've kept them this way for 4 months at around 42 degrees F and they all stayed alive. Watch for mold. You don't want mold to grow in their substrate. It will kill them. Mold is usually not a problem at those temperatures, and not a problem unless you keep them too wet. Also check for dead ones once in a while. If one dies and rots in there, the rest will follow.


Worm pudding....do they serve that with liver and kidney pudding?

No, it's served over compost.:D