Dead batch of red wigglers

[walton321]

Hi: I'm not sure if it's because of my inexperience with red wiggler worms. I got a pound of red wigglers for the first time and placed it in a shoe box sized rubbermaid box with a couple of holes drilled on it's covered. As bedding a used a handful of soaked shredded newspaper and the soil that the worms came with. As food I put in a couple pieces of yams. First few days the worms seemed to enjoy their home but the fifth day they were all on the surface scrambling to get out. About twenty of them found their way out dried up on my floor overnight. A day after that all the worms in the box are dead and decomposing. Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks
Walton

[Desertdrifter]

what is the temp? I have read they will live in temps up to 80 but that has not been my expierience.also any decomposing materials will raise the temp my worms do best at about 60-70 tops. make shure its not to wet. squeese a handful and you should only get a tablespoon of water.just a shot in the dark.DD

[jeep]

they may do better in the fridge also

Do you have a drain hole from the bottom of the container? They could have drown to death or the waterlogged newspaper with no air pockets can suffocate the worms and force them to claw up to the top to breath. Red wrigglers are composed worms and are able to stand high temperature in a composed bin. Cold temperature will stop them from reproducing. HTH.
Jimmy.

[walton321]

Thanks for the replies. My box only has holes on top for air. a nd it was just sitting on my kitchen counter in room temperature. Perhaps I should have squeezed out more water from the paper and not added any more daily as I did. Actually I used shredded brown paper bags. I was afraid newspaper ink would be poisonous. I'll probably give it another try soon.

Regards
Walton

[Tim_Ellis]

The instructions I recieved said not to use color newspaper, but the plain black print is fine. My culture was acting similar to yours, trying to evacuate. My guess was low oxygen due to not enough holes for air. I added quite a few more holes and let light hit the top of the container. It seems to have worked. Jim,(wormman) said that it takes a little while for them to settle in to their new home also. HTH

Tim

[jeep]

Cold temperature will stop them from reproducing. HTH.


Sorry, I was just thinking of when I buy them for fishing, they're always kept in a fridge... :-[

I have been keeping them in sterile garden soil for the last 15 years. Get the cheapest one for a $1.00 per bag or get a clear plastic bag with some soil from your garden, close it tight and lay out in the sun for a few days to kill the bugs. Just wet it and let the excess water drain out. A drain hole at the bottom is a must. Broken down vegies produce lots of water or juice. Stay tune for the next problem. Fruit fry and how to get rid of them.
Jimmy.