If you "dig" carefully with a hand rake or chopsticks, I doubt you do any harm. I hate to say this, but I suspect that you did not receive a full pound of worms. Imagine what a pound of hamburger looks like. I know the worms came packed in bedding (usually peat moss), but you should still have seen a bunch of worms. There is no way for a pound of worms to "disappear" into a worm bin.

Here's what half a pound of red wigglers looks like. I used the plastic spoon as a reference point for scale. The worm meat alone is ~1 1/4 measuring cups. A full pound should be ~2 1/4 cups. Add an equal volume of bedding and you should have received over a quart of worms and material.

Unfortunately many people over the years have posted here that they were shorted in their worm orders. It is not uncommon. Here's another video claiming to show 2 lbs. of worms. There is no way this was 2 lbs. of worms. Scroll to the 2:30 mark. I'd say that was at most a quart of material, most of it bedding. She might have received 3/4 lbs. of worms at the very most.

Andrew

Thanks for linking the videos, plumiebear. I received my 1 kg of worms just yesterday, and sadly, I don't even have half of what your showed for 1/2 lb of worms!

Sorry to hear that, milo. I was hoping the worm selling scene was better in Oz. I guess people are the same all over the world - some honest, some not so much.

I have aunties & cousins in Sydney. Hopefully I'll get to visit sometime next year.

Andrew

Plumiebear thanks for the videos and info. I think since my worm population is so low I may change over to something I can fish with. If I understood, the African Nightcrawer can be kept in a composting bin like I have now so I may switch to them. Do you or anyone else know of a good place to order them from?

African Nightcrawlers (E. eugeniae or EE for short) prefer 70-80úF bin temps. I keep mine in a heated indoor bin. You might want to consider European Nightcrawlers (E. hortensis) instead. EH are slightly shorter, but fatter. I think they are also considered better for fishing in cooler or brackish water.

I bought both EE and EH last year. Here's a video of my EE bin, including info about where I bought them from. And here's a info about my Euros. Finally, this video shows EF, EH & EE side by side.

Andrew

I am now starting to see an increase in worms, babies and cocoons. Andrew thanks in the info about the Euros., if I order nightcrawlers it will be the Euros.