everything I've read said that coffee grounds are good. As far as I know most veggies are also good. You should stay away from meat and cheese. They can eat those things, but meat needs to already be in the decomposing process and would be really stinky, and cheese is only good if you allow it to mold.

I've heard of maybe adding in something soft, like cantalope might help in the begininng, until they get their bearings straight.

I've done a lot of reading, but still waiting on my worms. So I can't really say anymore.

They are probably thinking "what the heck was that all about? One min. we are minding our own business and the next we are in a plane and then dumped in this little box full of paper!" A little pumpkin or cantelope ground up might make them "feel" better. Sometimes it takes a few days to get used to the sudden changes. After all "their not in Kansas anymore!"

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I'm trying not to bother them too much but I rechecked the bedding this afternoon and I added a bit of mushed up fruit to the bin. Hopefully they'll get used to it and mellow out.
Thanks again!
Mary

the primary problem is there's nothing for them to eat - worms are omnivores, like people - what they eat is primarily the decomposer bacteria working on the surface of food waste, any kind of food waste - they also don't have teeth, so they can only slurp the slimey surface of things, not take a bite .... you should have set up the bin with some food waste at least a week ahead, but things will start working in time .... and light will drive them down into the bedding [if it's wet]

make sure the bin is quite wet [not just 'dampened a bit'],worms breathe thru the moisture on their skin and they're about 80% water - and when you add food waste, chop it up well so there's more surface area to get microbially active sooner - my experience is that coffee grounds alone aren't too interesting for worms, prolly cuz it'll take a long time for the bacteria to really start working on them

Bill

Mary,

Feeding worms meat is not a good idea. It can attract unwanted pests and can also stink.

Good luck,
Marshall

Thanks again!
I was only really confused about the vastly different feeding instructions sent to me with the worms from what I had read, I really have no intention of feeding them meats or dairy because I don't personally eat either so I have no scraps around. I was just unsure about how much to really trust the instructions.
I had put some moldy bread in there the first day and I added some mushy fruit. I still have some guys hanging around in the empty part but I'll see what happens. I have the bedding wet but not sopping, dripping wet. I was afraid them might drown if there was too much water. Should the bedding be drippy or just wet? I can certainly add more water, and there are drainage holes on the bottom of the bin, I'm just not really sure where the line is between properly wet and swimming. lol I had read a lot about them before I set it up but most of what I read warned against being too wet. I added the moldy bread when I read on here that they fed on bacteria and I also wet the bread the down with the bedding so it was fairly mushy. I threw in the mushy fruit in the hopes we'd make friends. :)
You're all so helpful! Thanks a bunch!

Mary,

One thing that really helped me in the beginning was reading Mary Appelhoff's book "Worms Eat My Garbage". I bought it used on Amazon.com, but you could probably also find it at the library. I still refer back to it once in awhile. It's quite comprehensive with information about vermicomposting.

Deanna