Appropriate Feeder Worms

[WingedWolfPsion]

I'm considering getting into breeding garters, so I was searching around for a supplier to provide safe feeder worms, including tiny worms for newborns. I found this fellow:
Home

The species of worms he's recommending, and mainly producing, are Eudrilus eugeniae, African nightcrawlers, aka Tiger Worms, or super reds.

Since these are not an Eisenia species, and I've seen no negative reports on them, can anyone confirm that these are a good feeder species for garters and other reptiles? His prices are pretty good, just $40 shipped for a pound of baby worms, about 2 inch long babies.

The worms are kept at room temperature, and can't be refrigerated--very heat tolerant, they're good at 70 to 80F, so fine in most of our reptile rooms. They do need to be in the light at all times, or they will rise and escape, lol. Not challenging to take care of, though.

I wasn't overly thrilled by the idea of chopping up Canadian nightcrawlers and baby mice, so this seems like a pretty good alternative, if the garters will take these readily. (I don't mind adding a bit of vitamins).

[Selkielass]

Bumping this up for attention.
I was considering African nightcrawler as a bin composting worm that would also do for snake food, but I found that my winter temperatures are too low to keep them happy.

The species I was considering grew very large(8-10 inches) liked room temperature environment, and was billed as being 'almost' as good as redworms for garbage composting. The sources I read claimed they were good reptile food, but these were the same people selling them, so I'm not sure how reliable the info is for *all* types of reptiles.

Anyone have actual experience handling and feeding these?

[WingedWolfPsion]

I'm planning to keep them in my reptile room, with just a small light over their bin to keep them confined (as the breeder suggested--never let them be in the dark, or they will all climb out and away, lol). So, the temperature range should be perfect for them there (70 to 80F).

[guidofatherof5]

I'm wondering why you aren't working with the locally plentiful Canadian night crawler (Lumbricus terrestris) ?

[WingedWolfPsion]

Because they are enormous, and rarely bred by suppliers. Usually people just collect them, using flashlights or grunting. My entire point is not having to slice up bits of worm or fish, but having feeders that are actually the right size for baby garters. Plus, the guy figures these worms will put on about an inch of growth per month, so they'll grow up with the garters. That's spiffy.

[guidofatherof5]

Best of luck with your project.

[Selkielass]

The Africans I looked into got much bigger than 'canadians', and the ones in your bin will likely do so even if culled regularly- IIRC the breeding size on these is pretty big.
Big is not bad. Dump a few in a cup, snip them into a few pieces with scissors, and most adult garters chow down happily.
Problem with feeding whole, small crawlers to babies is that they will fight over them- it takes several seconds for them to slurp down the longer length, and while they are eating a sibling will start a tug of war.

I'd love to hear more about how the africans work as bin-worms for you. I'd have to set up a heated spot for them as my house gets down into the 50's and 60's during the winter, but it might be worth it if they dispose of garbage well.
Canadians are so cheap in Michigan tho- we have an abundance of worm farms and lots of competing bait stores in my area, so I'm really on the fence on attempting this myself.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Oh, I'm planning to house the babies separately, so that won't be an issue. I keep ball pythons, so my snake room doesn't drop below 70 (that would be dangerous).