How had you prepared for them?

Hi Tammy b; If I were you I would prep another bin for the near future explosion of biomass. True African Night Crawlers (Eudrilus eugeniae) breed quickly and the cocoons hatch in a short time. They are a tropical breed of worm and like temps a little higher than the more familiar breeds of worms we are used to. Keep us posted on the progress of your adventure with them.

randomz - The worm factory came with a coir brick and some preshredded paper. The instructions said to moisten the coir, add a handful of soil, place a handful of food on top, and then cover with the moistened, shredded paper.

I live in Florida, so I figured the Afican Nightcrawlers would be great here. I have them indoors now, since it's been near 100 degrees outside, but they are kept in the laundry room which is always around 80.

I'm going to prepare another tray for them, and then see what happens. I'll keep you posted . . .

I had a worm factory for a while, but stopped using it for my Euros. Traded it in for rubbermaid containers. Most people keep between 1-2lbs per sqft of surface area (depending on if you want to get bigger/more worms or if you want vermicompost). The stackable systems are designed to process trays from bottom up. You add one layer, when it is done, you add the next, etc. With the quantity of worms you have, they may be a little cramped in the future (especially since ANCs breed a lot). But you will probably need another bin in future as populations expands.

My ANCs like to roam around if I do not keep a light on at night. So I have a CFL bulb in the room so they stay in the bin. Also, one word of warning about laundry rooms. Worms don't like vibrations, they try to flee. So if you have a washer or dryer that bounces around a lot, you may have a mass exodus of your worms. You may want to move them somewhere else to be safe.

Thanks ncwormfarmer.

My laundry room is pretty large, and the bin is on a small rug, so I don't think the vibrations will bother them much. Some of them do seem to be congregating near the top of the bin, but no escapees yet. I will probably have to resort to leaving the light on too.

Although my hubby and I are usually DIYs, I didn't want an ugly plastic tote for my first worm experiment. My birthday is coming up so the worm factory was my present (I'm such a geek!) If the worms do well, I'm told they propagate profusely, so a DIY bin will be in order eventually. What do you do with your ANs when it gets cold? Will an unheated garage in Florida be warm enough for them? We want to raise them for composting but also because we have an RV park on a lake, and hope to sell them for bait as well.

"Will an unheated garage in Florida be warm enough for them? We want to raise them for composting but also because we have an RV park on a lake, and hope to sell them for bait as well." Most likely since an unheated garage in New England is probably almost warm enough for them in the winter. Good luck with the sell them for bait from an RV on the lake. Sounds like a great idea and situation. Maybe your customers are not so much buying worms but an idea of some where to fish, and how to fish advice. A Smile and Personallity = $. I stopped at a place once that sold Pickled Eggs and bought some because the smile and story were great. Put up a map of YOUR FAVORITE fishing spots. Hand them out with each worm purchase. 1/4 slip of paper is about 1 cent. Paying somebody to stock them spots... Expensive.

and returning happy customers priceless!

I agree 1kittle!

The lake our park is on is a fantastic Bass fishing lake, and it has catfish and other fish too. My son already has a few customers that he sells wild shiners to - he catches them with a cast net and we keep them in a tank in the office.

I don't plan on making millions, but it's just nice to be able to offer the worms to the people who come to use our boat ramp - and of course we'll use them too!

Update on the new worms - I made up another tray and divided the worms and the bedding between the two. I know I won't get vermicompost in the bottom tray for a long time, but I feel like the worms now have more room. I will feed them from the top only, and eventually I guess they will all migrate up.

Just a suggestion, place only a small amount of food in the bin and then wait until it is fairly well gone before adding more. At present, they also have all the coir, and other bedding to eat, so they won't go hungry. :)