Nightcrawlers are gigantic, and for baby snakes you have to cut them up. If you use small garden earthworms, you don't have to cut them up. It works either way though, provided you don't make them a staple diet, cut up worms is fine. I run them under the hot water faucet and shake them, this cleans the dirt off them, kills them (sort of) and stretches them out really thin all in one, then even smaller snakes can handle the pieces with ease.