Ebay has a few people selling them. Hope this helps.

Google it.

Cass:)

Froogle it! Cheaper!

Be aware that so called "tiger worms" are simply the species Eisenia fetida, also known as the red worm and red wiggler. Depsite what you will read on other forums and even on web sites "tigers" are not a different species.

The confusion about this species began several years ago when the largest vermicomposting operation in the US, American Resource Recovery in Vernalis CA, began selling worms in large numbers. This facility feeds their worms paper sludge exclusively which causes their E. fetida worms to have strikingly pronounced striping; more than is typical with this species. Further, when worms accustomed to a consistent single feedstock are introduced to a radically new enviornment and fed an entirely different feedstock they are prone to crawling, which the American Resource Recovery worms did... continually. The pronounced striping and predilection to crawling led those who had little understanding of worms but who had gotten them from ARR, to the erroneous belief that they had a species other an E. fetida. the internet being what it is, the misinformation on this worm spread like wildfire and we have not been able to lay the myth of the "tiger worm" to rest.

::sigh::

so, if you want tiger worms, simply find the nearest purveyor of E. fetida worms and you will be getting exactly what you want!

Kelly S

In reference, and deference, to Kelly's insight into the single feedstock findings: 1. Would red wigglers INTRODUCED to a less palatable feedstock exhibit the same tendency toward crawling if changed to one more "worm-worthy"? 2. Do worms exhibit preferences if never having been subjected to variety in feedstock? 3. Would it be preferable to never introduce the occasional delicacy?

Chuckiebtoo

1) To answer your question specifically, Chuckieb, worms can exhibit crawling behavior any time their environment is radically changed, even when the change works in their favor. This is not to say that they always will, certainly, but radical change can be tough for them regardless of the favorability of the change. They do adapt quickly, however.

Your question implies an assumption that the worms from American Resource Recovery (which changed its name a few years ago to Pacific Landscape Supply) are being fed an inferior feedstock. If I am correct that this is your thinking, let me clarify; paper sludge is an excellent worm feedstock that should not be confused with paper, which is not by itself a good feedstock. Paper sludge is the un-reusable short fibers dredged from the settling tanks during the re-pulping process when cardboard is recycled. It is soaked in the dissolved glues used to hold corrugations together, which are high in N, and it is this high N glue saturation that separates the sludge from paper alone. The N provides a nutrient balance that causes rich blooms of microorgansisms in the sludge, and it is these microbes that supply earthworms their nutrition, not the feedstock itself. Shredded paper, which is often mistakenly assumed to be similar to paper sludge, has little or no associated N, and thus, supports little of the microbiology necessary to the earthworm.

The point of this; the American Resource worms are fed an excellent feed material, but because paper sludge is the only thing they are ever fed it creates a very unique bed environment that is not in any way duplicated by systems into which worms sold by ARR might be introduced. Thus, the ARR worms have a reputation for crawling.

2) Do worms exhibit preferences? Yes! Again, worms derive (most of) their nutrients not from the feedstock they are fed, but from the microorganisms decaying that feedstock. They INGEST the feedstock, but processes in the worm get select the microoganisms decaying that feedstock as their major source of nutrition. As such, a worm's favorite food is anything that is highly microbiologically active and small enough to be taken into their tiny mouths. Soft fruits like canteloupe and watermelon, for instance, are high in moisture and very sugary, generating massive blooms of bacteria. It is this bacterial activity and the succession of microorganisms it creates to which worms are heavily drawn rather than because they like the "taste" of soft fruits. Conversely, corn cobs and citrus rinds are designed by nature to be very resistant to microbial breakdown, meaning they do not support the same level of microorganisms activity and, thus, do not attract worms as effectively.

What I am trying to get to in my charmingly long-winded way ::grin::, is that worms are not drawn to foods, but to biological activity, thus, if the new feedstock is biologically active introducing old feedstock to the bin will only be attractive if it amplifies that biological activity beyond that of the surrounding environment.

3) From the worm point of view a delicacy is protozoa, which is the worm "favorite food". Protozoa are predators of bacteria, thus any environment amplifying bacterial activity is amplifying protozoan activity. Worms also go nuts for rotifers (algae) and microscopic fungi, and do eat some of the bacteria itself.

A worm bin is essentially a comost pile in miniature, designed to be a low-mass non-heat generating system. This means it is incredibly rich in biological activity. Dropping a bit of food different from normal into the bin does not have any negative impact at all, it is simply OM. Once it becomes microbially active, it becomes worm food. If it becomes bacterially active very quickly, if it is available in terms of size or softness so the worms can get it in their mouths, and/or if it is an OM source that amplifies microbiology then worms will be drawn to it. If not, well, it's going to hang around in the bin for a while.

Does this clarify things, Chuckieb, or am I being confusing?

Kelly S

Kelly, my "less palatable" phrase wasn't meant as an implication that the foodstock was inferior...only that were the worms, by fleeing, exhibiting dissatisfaction with it?

And no, your clarification was completely logical.

BTW, at one point, I was using an old garbage disposal outdoors to make sludge of all my scraps. I thought this a logical and practical method to tenderize the foodstock. I quit when the old disposal finally ceased to function. I may get another disposal.

Chuckieb