first day

21 years ago

Well, I have been reading through posts to see if anyone had already answered this, and I don't see anything.

I got my worms yesterday, 1 lb. I used shredded junk mail that we've been saving up and torn up newspapers and a little bit of torn up paperboard and cardboard. I first put it in a bucket of water, then squeezed it out and spread it around the bin. Then I thought it was too wet, so I added a bunch more of the shredded papers and torn up newspapers completely dry and mixed them together. I put the worms (in their peat moss they arrived in) on the top.

The bin is a rubbermaid with tons of holes I drilled in the sides and bottom, set inside a clear rubbermaid bin that is slightly larger, with spacers to allow air to enter through the bottom. I put it in the outer bin to catch drips.

I put this all together last night and set the lid loosely on top. (I haven't added any food yet- I'm planning to wait until they settle in.)

This morning, there were about ten worms crawling on the basement floor, and (it seemed like) about a hundred worms which had crawled out through the holes into the outer bin, and balled up. They were not moving at all, so I think they were dead. There were also some worms that had crawled to the top edges of the main bin and I could see they were definately dead when I tried to move them out of the way in order to snap the lid closed.

Now I'm scared that when I get home from work, all the worms are going to be dead, clumped up in the bottom of the outer bin or all over the concrete floor...

What do you think is wrong? Too wet? Too hot? Or is this perfectly normal and I'm just overreacting?

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Comments (4)

squeeze
21 years ago
sounds like prolly too dry, and no microbial life [which is a primary food source for them] - might also be too cool, and those you think were dead were just unable to be active from cold - if you've got any partly composted material handy, add that, and/or just a few handfuls of garden soil, make sure ALL the bedding is quite damp [not dripping], put the escapees back, get some food in there and think good thoughts! :) I think they're just not happy and looking for greener pastures, give'em a few days - usually a good idea to prepare the bin a few days ahead, and include the food early so that the 'composting' microbes can start to work on it, so the worms have something to 'settle in' to

Bill
MKitten
21 years ago
You'll be fine, but for anyone else reading this thread and wondering how to set up a new bin... Listen to Bill -- Set it up a week to 10 days before your worms are expected to arrive. Put some compost or food in it, and give it a chance to start decomposing so there's a hospitable environment for the worms. When you get the worms either dump them in a pile in the middle, or lay their container in the bin so they can leave when they want. This method seems to settle the worms in without so much stress, and with fewer escapees.

Good luck,
Mariann
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grrltrouble
21 years ago
Also, you might try keeping the light on. It seems that they would much rather be in a nice dark damp bin than wandering around in the light.
Bdadawg
21 years ago
Almost all worms will try to escape their first few days in a new environment. The light over the bin for a few days seems to keep them in the bin til they are settled.

Setting the bin up a week or so before does help, but even if you do youll still get escapees for the first few days. Just pick them up and put them back in (unless they are hard and crispy, then toss them to your tropical fish). Even in a well established running bin you will still get escapees.

The key thing to remember is to be patient. Too much moisture is bad, however, ive found that unless it is dripping out of the bottom of your bin it isnt as wet as you think it may be. Peat moss or coir added to a bin can help with moisture issues, they can suck up too much and will help to retain moisture when too dry.

Bryan