earthworm

[Barak666]

I currently give nightcrawler as prime food for my water dragon and I planned to feed my future garter with those. For the moment I use Canadian nightcrawler, but with the fishing season ended, I have to order them from Ontario and it cost me a lot.

So I was thinking of doing some vermicomposting to reduce the worm's cost.

I can forget the Canadian nightcrawler as they seems hard to reproduce, I forget the red wrigglers who don't seems good for reptiles, so it left the European nightcrawler Eisenia hortensis, they seems interesting as they grow bigger that red wriggler while being good for compost.

What do you think of that? Will the hortensis be good for garters?

Thanks

[guidofatherof5]

I know very little about worms. My concern would be if they are toxic like the red wigglers. European Nightcrawlers – Eisenia hortensis (http://www.redwormcomposting.com/worms/european-nightcrawlers-eisenia-hortensis/)

[drache]

European nightcrawlers are fine to feed
just make sure none escape - there's been evidence that they may be invasive in the US

[ConcinusMan]

Now I'm really confused. I was told that all night crawlers I find around here aren't native and that they are European night crawlers. I seriously thought that the canadian one's were the same thing but I guess they're not.

Size-wise, color, everything, the one's I buy year 'round at a local variety store look just like the one's I can collect locally. So I go to the website Fishing Bait,Fishing Worms,Fresh Fishing Bait at Crowes Bait (http://www.crowesbait.com/fishing_bait_products.htm) and behold, they are the same as the one's I collect locally but they don't tell you the latin species name, they just call them Oregon Willamette Valley Night crawlers. Yeah, whatever that means. I am still pretty sure they are canadian night crawlers but from Oregon.

The thing with these worms is that they surface to mate, hence the name "nightcrawlers". This usually happens around here just 6-10 days out of the year in spring so yeah, they probably won't do well in a typical commercial situation or worm box but I did once establish a good supply of them outside.

After about 4 years of establishing a really rich and deep compost by successive years of piling leaves in an area of my yard, there still was very few if any night crawlers in it. I bought a dozen of them and dumped them in there.

Just a year or two later I tapped them to hand raise 2 baby robins,(that took a lot of worms) AND feed a few garter snakes. The supply never seemed to run out.:cool:

I know they would probably do well outside in Quebec (good climate for it) but it would take several years for you to get a sustainable population established.

[Barak666]

For now I'm in apartment so it is hard to do something like this outside.

So I will build a worm bin under the garter enclosure (where the pump/filter where suppose to be) and feed them with vegetable.

The Lumbricus terrestris seem pretty hard to breed in captivity, so the Eisenia hortensis seems interesting for his shorter life cycle and grow rate, not as good as the red wriggler as composter, but seems not bad too.

And concerning the climate, in summer it might be OK, the winter is quite different (december to march/april) it goes often -20°C and even -40°C, I have no problem with that, but the worms don't seems to appreciate and then go deep into the earth, they have already start to leave my father's garden.

Will give it a try and let you know if it worth it.

[kibakiba]

My Canadian night crawlers must be mutants, they breed like rabbits. I have over 40 now.I started off with probably 10 night crawlers, and my snakes were eating pinkies and Runt wasn't eating... I find tiny baby worms in there at least once a week. I just leave them in there and grab a small one out every now an then for the babies and a few for Mama and Snakey.

[ssssnakeluvr]

the composting stuff will be too warm for earthworms.... regular dirt with plant matter on the surface for food will work for them. they need to be kept cool to.