Worms Questions

[guidofatherof5]

http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/sale-trade-adoption/11634-night-crawlers-my-cost.html

[Selkielass]

Is Walmart really a safe place? I want to buy larger amounts but Im not sure where is a good place to buy. Petsmart is just too expensive cause Im buying them as food...Im sure bait shops would be cheaper but Im afraid of what the worms have been feed or kept in. Is there anything to be concerned about?

I got a bad batch of nightcrawlers from walmart in July- gave my entire collection the runs. They were probably mishandled at the store level as the farm they came from has a good reputation.
I buy my worms from the busiest bait store in my area. They turn their stock fast so its as fresh and lively as possible.

[Greg'sGarters]

Don't buy anything worms unless it specifically says night crawlers or earthworms on the package. I'd recommend just buying a bunch and sticking them in the fridge. They can stay in the fridge for a pretty long time. It's a heck of a lot easier than finding them or breeding them.

[Greg'sGarters]

I got a bad batch of nightcrawlers from walmart in July- gave my entire collection the runs. They were probably mishandled at the store level as the farm they came from has a good reputation.
I buy my worms from the busiest bait store in my area. They turn their stock fast so its as fresh and lively as possible.

Yeah I wouldn't trust Walmart. Those people don't know a lot about a specific subject, they know a little about a lot of subjects. Go to a bait store where people know a lot more about earthworms than at Walmart.

[guidofatherof5]

I spoke with a DMF Bait representative on Thursday.
I had a few questions with regards to the keeping of their night crawlers.

#1. Question: What do you feed your worms?
Answer: Nothing, they eat whatever is in the bedding they are stored in. We don't raise them up. They are shipped in from Canada and stored before they are sold.

#2. Question: What are the worms stored in?
Answer: Michigan Peat Moss

Any problems at Walmart are probably due to them not checking their stock or monitoring of any sick or dead worms. "One dead worm does spoil the whole bunch girl"(Wasn't that a song by the Osmonds)

[d_virginiana]

Yeah I wouldn't trust Walmart. Those people don't know a lot about a specific subject, they know a little about a lot of subjects. Go to a bait store where people know a lot more about earthworms than at Walmart.

I've never had any problems with WalMart DMF worms, but I do always have to check and make sure I'm getting a good batch. With any worms IMO, it's good to sniff the container before each feeding. Even if the worms are still alive, I've thrown out entire batches because I could smell E. coli in the container (I work in a lab, so I'm more familiar with the smell than I'd like to be ) I imagine that would make a snake pretty sick if it ate one.

I'd be worried using bait store worms unless they bought from a specific brand that I knew was safe... The bait store guys might be more knowledgeable about the worms, but not necessarily about reptiles.

[d_virginiana]

Any problems at Walmart are probably due to them not checking their stock or monitoring of any sick or dead worms. "One dead worm does spoil the whole bunch girl"(Wasn't that a song by the Osmonds)

My favorite is when you open the container and find nothing but a frozen cylinder of soil with worm ice-sculptures sticking out of it.

[guidofatherof5]

My favorite is when you open the container and find nothing but a frozen cylinder of soil with worm ice-sculptures sticking out of it.

I always enjoy the fuzzy caterpillars.

[Light of Dae]

When I buy worms I ALWAYS open the tub n look at what is inside. I also smell it... You can smell if they have gotten frozen or to hot.

Be AWARE that some places have Mis-Labeled worms. I found a number of times the tub said Trout Worms but they were NOT red worms nor did they emit a foul slime. They were safe and proper night crawlers/dew worms, Simply labeled wrong.

Always check.

[Artic Exotics]

Dont mean to thread rob here but another quick question on worms, can they be frozen/thawed without effect to their nutritional value? Or anything else I should know about doing that? I know if certain things are frozen they will break down.

This has been an ongoing problem for me as there are no locally available earthworms (not even outside in the garden- its called permafrost for a reason lol) in the winter and likelihood of receiving live ie non frozen solid feeders in dead winter is well.... unlikely in my area. But I would like to be able to keep worms in my garters feed rotation during the winter for once (I have not been able to do so since 2009).

The only way I think this could be accomplished is to buy in bulk and see if some survive the trip up, and even at that it only gives me 5 weeks or so a batch with massive die off and a considerable expense. But this problem could be solved if I could store worms frozen like I would do with fish or pinks... and get the snakes to eat them thawed of course.. Thoughts?