Earthworms and Red wigglers

[Aundrea]

Ok I have a dumb question but what is the difference between earthworms and red wigglers. Today I went to petsmart to see if they sell earthworms and all they had was red wigglers. Im doing some masive search to buy a stock of earthworms and ebay dont really have any. Im just wondering whats the difference and if I can feed the wigglers to my snake? Thanks so much for the help :D

[infernalis]

What I would try is to cut a night crawler into thirds with scissors, or you can cut off the last third, feed the snake the worms tail, and return the top 2/3 of the worm back into the container.

Night crawler will heal and survive to feed again.

Oh and P.S. The only dumb questions are the ones you never ask :D

[bio6464]

Aundrea I've never bought from them but I found this site last night...not sure if I can get worms all winter so I may try these guys.Anyone tried 'em...good, bad, whatever?
Worms - Uncle Jim's Worm Farm (http://www.unclejimswormfarm.com/index.php?categoryID=83&show_all=y)

:rolleyes:Jerry

[Lori P]

Hmmmm... now I'm thinking about raising worms.... won't hubby be thrilled??!!! LOL

[Aundrea]

Thanks everyone. I have lots of nightcrawlers in my fridge for my Ornate box turtle. She LOVES thoes things and boy them nightcrawlers are bigger then Bennie :eek: LOL. Boy she sure would be scared to death if she saw one of them suckers. Maybe I can get my bf to cut them up for Bennie. Im a wimp LOL. Bio6464 they sell earthworms? Ill have to check that out here in a few. I just wanna stock up for the winter lol. I am thinking about raising them myself also. My bf would just be so happy about that LOL.

[KITKAT]

Ok I have a dumb question but what is the difference between earthworms and red wigglers. Today I went to petsmart to see if they sell earthworms and all they had was red wigglers. Im doing some masive search to buy a stock of earthworms and ebay dont really have any. Im just wondering whats the difference and if I can feed the wigglers to my snake? Thanks so much for the help :D

Maybe I am lost, but I did not see anyone answer the first question...

Red wigglers should not be fed to garters, and they have STRIPES. They are the only species of worm with stripes... and sometimes they are sold as trout worms, dug worms, or other incorrect ID.

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/red_wiggler_1.jpg

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/red_wiggler_2.jpg

[Aundrea]

Ohhhhh ok i see the stripes. Thank you so much. Are they just not good for them?

[KITKAT]

Ohhhhh ok i see the stripes. Thank you so much. Are they just not good for them?

They can be toxic... can kill your snake or make it sick.

If you are squeamish about cutting up a live nightcrawler, put it in a baggie in the freezer for ten minutes, thaw, and cut up. The results will be a little mushy, but...

[Aundrea]

Ohh ok ill make sure not to feed her them. I almost bought them at Petsmart yesterday when I had to get my dog some food. Im glad I didnt. Yeah im a wimp when it comes to cut up a worm. Heck I cant even put the worm on a hook when we go fishing. I let my bf do that :D

[jitami]

ugh... I once said that I would never again cut up a worm... probably going to have to eat those words, but... eeeewwww... ever been squirted in the face with worm guts? I'm going to try every other solution for "the babies" before resorting to worm cutting, but of course I will do whatever it takes to feed them, including dealing with squirting worm guts :eek: blech :eek:

btw, my kids were laughing soooo hard at me! Meanwhile I was grumbling about how this is their snake, blah, blah, blah... lol

[KITKAT]

Jitami, here is the solution to THAT problem!

ROFLMAO! :rolleyes:

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/AA049038.jpg

[Aundrea]

OMG I would FREAK if I got squirted with worm guts and my son would laugh so hard. UGH

[jitami]

It was bad... that's why I love the idea of cutting everything frozen now! I'm thinking a frozen worm, with scissors, wouldn't be so bad? ugh...

[Aundrea]

I hope a frozen worm to cut up would be better. I just am kinda UGH about cutting a worm LOL.

[jitami]

Ah, might as well live a little, I say try it live with a not so sharp knife first :D:eek::p

[Aundrea]

hahaha good idea. I was lucky just a few ago. I had to dig kinda deep but found a nice size worm for her and boy she gobbled it up. Im thinking about going back out to get another one. :D But we sure will do anything for our pets even tho we might not like it just to make them happy :D

[infernalis]

If the worm is dead, they may not eat it.

I scissors them LIVE AND WASH MY HANDS AFTER.

oops, caplock:o

[jitami]

No squirting with the scissors Wayne?

[GartersRock]

I use scissors on live worms and I don't have problems with "squirting".

[infernalis]

Ditto! Thanks.......

[Aundrea]

Ohhhhh Tami my 9 year old would laugh at me also. And my bf's boys also. Ohh I can just see it now. UGH. Brats LOL. I just would not want to have worm guts and juice all over me. I know im a sissy LOL. I guess ill do it the hard way and dig and dig til I find something. Im looking at sites to buy worms lol. BTW are red worms the same as earthworms? Not the red wigglers just red worms?

[jitami]

Scissors it is then! :) Yeah, the boys thought it was just hilarious...

Sorry, I don't know the differences in worms yet. I was feeding Canadian nightcrawlers from the baitshop. Really only bought one tub. I gave up on them with the squirting incident and haven't looked back! With babies on the way I may have to try worms once again, though, so I'm reading and learning with you :)

[Aundrea]

I dont know the difference in worms yet either. I didnt know there was so many different kinds. I thought the red wigglers were just baby earthworms :rolleyes: Guess we can learn together lol. I buy canadian worms for my box turtle. She LOVES them things. I would not look back either after what happend to you. So you got babies on the way? When are they due?

[crzy_kevo]

you can use those canadian night crawlers just cut them up im going to have to pick up some too as soon as my babies arrive

[Aundrea]

Wow everyones snakes are having babies lol. I cant wait to see babies :D

[crzy_kevo]

well she is a W/C gravid girl i only grabbed her because i can't seem to find a male around here and i hope to start breeding in a year or 2
this way i am gauranteed a male for sure :D

[Aundrea]

Ohh thats really cool. Im sure you will get a male outta that bunch :D I cant wait to see pics :D

[jitami]

I'm getting two of Kyle's (very affectionately said)"mutt" babies :) It was an accidental hybrid breeding and they'll live their life out here and not be bred or sold. I'm pretty excited! So far, I've only had a solo male that some of the neighborhood boys caught and were passing around, dropping, and trying to sell to each other in 2002. My boys came in begging to keep him, so I went out to take a look and felt so sorry for the little guy being unintentionally tortured that I said "ok." He's been wonderful, but raising a captive bred pair of babies will be a whole new experience for us!

[Aundrea]

awwwwwww that poor snake. Im glad that you kept him. I would love to have a baby sometime. Or anytime LOL. So your getting 2 mutts eh? awwwww thats neat tho. They are gonna be some happy babies.:D My bfs boys found the snake I have now last week.They sure did beg to me if they could keep it. My bf is not too crazy about snakes but I think they are neat but yeah im kinda scared of some of them but the one I have is very sweet.

[jitami]

awwwwwww that poor snake. Im glad that you kept him.

Honestly, I probably should have taken him from the boys and walked him back to the creek where they found him. It would have saved him a bit of suffering. I was totally unprepared for a snake. He had mites, which with help from some of our forum members I was able to treat succesfully... somewhere in there I almost cooked him in a 10 gallon tank with a heat lamp.... couldn't figure out why he was always climbing the glass, but it's a good thing he was, cause it allowed me to see his belly where the scales were starting to crinkle... he was way too hot and trying to get out of the heat. Again, with help from some of our forum members we got that all straightened out. Got him a bigger tank w/ less heat and all's been well since then, but.... I would always advise learning about snakes first, the type you're interested in particular, making sure you have everything you'll need to care for them properly, and then buying a healthy captive bred snake. That said, I don't have a moral issue with kids keeping a wild caught snake if they do so with the ability to care for the snake(usually involves daddies or mommies like you and I :)). It's how pretty much everyone, at least in the Americas, first learns about and falls in love with garters :)

[Aundrea]

Good thing you had the group to go to eh? With mine I really thought it was a Garter then with the help of great people here they told me its a brown snake and that its an adult. I thought it was a juv garter LOL. I did look thru google to see what I need and have been reading. I know someone told me a 10 is good to have so I am gonna change her into that tank. DekayBrown is gonna give me some more info. The kids here they think ohh coool we caught something and then they leave it. I kept telling them the cage needs to be cleaned out or go find some food for it blah blah. If I didnt remind them it would have died. So I took claim over the snake :D I dont mind at all and i really am hooked on her LOL or he. I check up on her all the time and talk to her yeah im nuts LOL I do that with all my pets. Heck even the praying mantis LOL. But yes I still do would like to have a garter. I live in the city so no garters here but my bfs kids live out in the country so next weekend when they are here ill tell them to try and find a SMALL garter for me LOL

[drache]

here's another worm connection with both european night crawlers and red wigglers (they do know the difference)
they also have other feeders and some good resources
New York Worms-Your Live Feeder Superstore (http://nyworms.com/)

[Aundrea]

:DWow thanks for the site!! I just checked it out and the prices are not bad. I saved it. Thanks so much:D

[infernalis]

Here is the photos of my Xena eating while perched in my hand....

http://www.danceswithreptiles.com/stuff/1xena.jpg

http://www.danceswithreptiles.com/stuff/xener.jpg


And by the way, it was her that got me hooked on keeping snakes!

The whole family is going to be devastated when this girl passes on to the big forest in the sky.

[jitami]

I kept telling them the cage needs to be cleaned out or go find some food for it blah blah. If I didnt remind them it would have died. So I took claim over the snake :D

That's exactly how it went with Sly, although I took over pretty quickly because it was obvious something wasn't right(the temps) and he's been just another one of my babies ever since :) We've kept praying mantids in the past, too. Awesome little critters!

[anji1971]

I have a whole garden full of mantids right now. Now if I could get a little population of.......oh........Dekay's in there, my yard would be heaven!:D

[Aundrea]

WOW Wayne that is just soooooo cooool how she eats outta your hand!!! She must be a really sweet snake I wonder if mine will do that.. Ohh btw last night Bennie shed. I got to watch the whole thing LOL. She looks nice and shinny now. You sure do have alot of snakes. I checked out your page and WOW you got some really nice snakes. My friend has a ball python also and LOVES him.

Tami I bought 3 praying mantis egg cases and I hatched them in a brown paper bag. Ohh it was so neat so I let them go in my garden and Kept a few for the kids. They sure are really neat. Im gonna do it again next summer. I hope ill have my own egg cases in the garden:D

[Aundrea]

Anji1971 I have a garden full of them also. I think they are just neat insects. My bfs kids caught my Dekay in the country. I dont have any since I live in the city

[infernalis]

"You sure do have alot of snakes."

Too many! Can you say obsessed?

Numbers reduction is important right now, Adopting out some & releasing some of the indigenous snakes, they came from my yard, so they are returning home...

I like to think of it as my 100 acre enclosure:D

[anji1971]

...I bought 3 praying mantis egg cases and I hatched them in a brown paper bag. Ohh it was so neat so I let them go in my garden and Kept a few for the kids. They sure are really neat. Im gonna do it again next summer. I hope ill have my own egg cases in the garden:D

We've kept mantids every summer for years, and the last few times, when they've laid eggsacs, I've put them out in the garden. This is the first year I've actually had not one, but two successful hatchings. I've got babies about one inch long, and I've discovered several larger green ones that must have hatched earlier in the season. I'm hoping that from now on, I'll have them out there every year!:)

[Aundrea]

They probably bring all their sick friends and tell them that you will help them out and feed them for FREE LOL :D I do kinda miss living out in the country but I need to be close to the stores LOL

[Scott E.]

I suggest that this thread be made a sticky due to the pictures of the red wigglers for identification. Everyone talks about not to feed them and has to describe them everytime. Maybe a new sticky thread with the pictures of good and bad worms and fishes, etc. for everyone's reference.

Scott E.