Questions for DMF Bait

[Selkielass]

I talked to DMF bait earlier today and I may be able to arrange a friendly Q. and A. session and visit to their facilities as a representative of this community.

They would like to know ahead of time what questions would you like answered- the pet food market is a less familiar market to them than the fishing community and tours aren't a regular occurrence.

Please post (and repost from other threads) questions and comments for this big supplier of night crawlers and other bait and feeder critters.

[guidofatherof5]

Are the worms they get from Canada wild caught or captive bred?
What precautions do they have in place to identify any potential health problems in the worms they sell?
What is there #1 issue with keeping the worms healthy while at there facility?
What temp. do they store there worms at?
How many worms do they sell in a years time?

[ConcinusMan]

What does their bedding/food consist of? or if I remember right, theirs looks like natural compost. Anyway, try to find out more about what they use, where the get it, or how they make it, etc.

(I find this brand at walmart. $3 for two dozen)

[Steveo]

What is the shelf-life? I have seen that they will live for a few months, but they're really only what I would consider healthy and strong for a few weeks.

[guidofatherof5]

What does their bedding/food consist of? or if I remember right, theirs looks like natural compost. Anyway, try to find out more about what they use, where the get it, or how they make it, etc.

(I find this brand at walmart. $3 for two dozen)

I was told they use Michigan peat moss as a bedding. They don't feed them far as I know.

[Invisible Snake]

What is the life expectancy and/or shelf life of their worms?

[ConcinusMan]

Stevo just asked that.

[ConcinusMan]

What is the shelf-life? I have seen that they will live for a few months, but they're really only what I would consider healthy and strong for a few weeks.

If you keep them at 50 degrees (not 42 like most refrigerators) , provide nutritious and appropriate food for them, and just the right amount of moisture, not too wet, not too dry (and air) they will last for months. Haven't tested this beyond 3 or 4 months, but all the worms stayed healthy. Most people keep them too wet and/or too cold for them to stay healthy for long. If they are kept too warm, they will require a lot of food. If they don't get it, they go downhill.

[guidofatherof5]

From the DMF website:

A night crawler has about 150 segments! They have 5 hearts, 3 principal blood vessels, a nervous system and are 80% water. They have no eyes and no sense of smell yet are sensitive to taste, light and even vibrations. Heads or Tails? * Pointy end is the head. * Flat end is the tail

Night Crawlers are Strong!….. A crawler weighing 1/13 of an ounce can move a 2 oz. stone… (that's 60 times its own weight) Dying worms turn into gas that can kill nearby healthy worms. The healthy worms will push sick or dying worms to the top of the dirt Crawlers grow 1 inch per year. Average fishing worm is 6 or 7 years old They can live to be 20 years old ! (If they don’t end up on a hook!) Night crawlers are hermaphrodites. Breeding is highest in the spring and immediately before winter sets in Worms are known to burrow 8 to 12 feet They lay eggs in their burrows. A mature breeder (2 yrs. old) breeds every 2 weeks producing an egg capsule every 7 to 10 days. Each capsule can contain 2 to 20 young and hatch in 14 to 21 days. It is possible for a mature breeder to produce 1200 offspring a year. It is estimated that 200 mature breeders can produce 1,000,000 offspring in a year, which in turn can produce 1,000,000,000 earthworms in 3 years!

[Foxrun402]

From the DMF website:

A night crawler has about 150 segments! They have 5 hearts, 3 principal blood vessels, a nervous system and are 80% water. They have no eyes and no sense of smell yet are sensitive to taste, light and even vibrations. Heads or Tails? * Pointy end is the head. * Flat end is the tail

Night Crawlers are Strong!….. A crawler weighing 1/13 of an ounce can move a 2 oz. stone… (that's 60 times its own weight) Dying worms turn into gas that can kill nearby healthy worms. The healthy worms will push sick or dying worms to the top of the dirt Crawlers grow 1 inch per year. Average fishing worm is 6 or 7 years old They can live to be 20 years old ! (If they don’t end up on a hook!) Night crawlers are hermaphrodites. Breeding is highest in the spring and immediately before winter sets in Worms are known to burrow 8 to 12 feet They lay eggs in their burrows. A mature breeder (2 yrs. old) breeds every 2 weeks producing an egg capsule every 7 to 10 days. Each capsule can contain 2 to 20 young and hatch in 14 to 21 days. It is possible for a mature breeder to produce 1200 offspring a year. It is estimated that 200 mature breeders can produce 1,000,000 offspring in a year, which in turn can produce 1,000,000,000 earthworms in 3 years!

That is very interesting ...