Golfer,
Eisenia hortensis, aka ENCs, aka European Nightcrawlers, are large compost worms that are pretty prolific breeders, albeit not as prolific as their smaller cousins the E. fetida. I've grown them in the past and still think they are in my bins somewhere, but they have been overshadowed by E. fetida.
Kurt

African nightcrawler (Eudrilus eugenie) nearly the same physical size as Canadian nightcrawlers or Notth American nightcrawlers (Lumbricus terrestris) can be ordered from
http://www.bestbuyworms.com/id1.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Family Farm

I do not recommend buying African Night crawlers from Best Buy Worms. I ordered a pound and got a mix of Reds (e.f.) and Blues (Perionyx evacutus).

Golfer,
I would also highly recommend the Eisenia Hortensis(European Nightcrawler) I have many photos, and some blog posts about my experience with them. They are quite large compared with the red wrigglers, and also prolific breeders, as is the point of this blog post.

I purchased mine at carolinapetsupply.com

Ron

Here is a link that might be useful: a discussion of EH's Breeding

Hi All!utahvermie a question did you complain to Bestbuyworms about not getting what you ordered?
varnos all nightcrawlers are not the same physical size Lr are 10-14 inches long. Ehs very large are half that maybe. It takes two or three bed moves in fresh bedding and fewer worms to get them to that size the Ehs I mean. Ees are 8-11 inches and that is common for them. They do have some drawbacks however and thoes I can discuss if the info is requested. In the first post by golfer he ask for a large(similar to Nightcrawler) fast breeding worm species. He lives in Ga so the Georgia Jumper(Ee) is the worm of choice for him. It is heat tolerent (tropical worm) Breeds and cast cocoons in a matter of hours and hatches in days not weeks. It fits the bill of requirements.

I'd like to know whatever you can tell me about the ANCs. I just ordered some, and I believe it was from you. (If your domain is the same as your user name here, then I ordered from you!)

I have PEs, EFs, and EHs. The ANC (EE) is new to me. Mine will be kept indoors. But what can you tell me about their preferred food(s)? I don't typically feed leaves but I've read they can process those well. If this is the case, I have leaves I can use. And what about their reproductive rates? Also, I've read that they don't tolerate handling well. Is this true? I'd read that about the PEs, as well, but mine don't have any problem with it.

Since most people have and are familiar with the EFs, perhaps a comparison and contrast with those would be helpful?

There isn't a great deal of information on this worm, so I greatly appreciate you sharing your knowledge with us.

Thanks in advance!

Hey roselover,

I can't tell you about the EE's preferred food. But, you can find some information about the EE's reproduction rates, growth rates, ideal temps and so on here. There is similar information about other worms on that same page.

Like you, I have tried to locate information about the EEs. But, I have found the internet hosts little information, at best.

If someone else knows about more available information (especially on the internet) about the EEs, I would love to know about it too!

Robert

Hi All; This is for thoes interested in Eudrilus eugenie (THE AFRICAN NIGHTCRAWLER). Books By Charlie Morgan are available through Sheilds Publications (and others). His whole series is well worth the money that they are sold for. He was a trained biologest and worm farmer until he retired in the early 1990s.

Here is a link that might be useful: books here