Running Euro's

17 years ago

I am not sure if this is just natural but once my light goes out my worms end up crawling up the sides. A good number of them do. I usually keep a light on at night to keep them down but I forgot for a few hours and I had a few escapees and some I might have missed. Then twenty or so were crawling up the bin, I started off with about a pound and a half to two pounds. (Bed Run)

I drilled my side holes too big, but I never see them on my bin cover. Previous sources tell me that if their habitat is bad they will escape even if it is out the top, since I don't see them on the top ever it seems they aren't too dissatisfied with their habitat, just curious (unless they escape out the side holes before they have a chance to run up the cover)?

My bin has newspaper soaked for 24 hours and then squeezed out. I usually top feed them an oatmeal cornmeal mix, but occasionally some gets mixed in when I go digging, but not many. The bedding does not seem warm to the touch. I also started corner feeding egg shells for a couple days now. I was thinking the ones that don't find the food might be leaving. Any chance of this?

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Comments (5)

beth_monsterworms
17 years ago
Hi bower4311,
Out of the three types of worms that we have, the euros are more apt to crawl out than the others. The other two are the red wigglers (Eisenia fetida) and the African nightcrawler (Eudrilus eugeniae). Matter of fact, they were doing that today while we were feeding and misting their bins. After we feed them and disrupt their "space" we keep a light on them to keep them in. How long have you had the worms? Are you feeding them any other food scraps?
Beth
bower4311
Original Author
17 years ago
I have only had them for 10 days or so, I will continue to keep the light on them.
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mamaswormcomposting
17 years ago
I just started with 5 pounds of Euros a few weeks ago and had the same problem. When I got to the warehouse where I keep my worms I found them all over the place. Luckily, they are hardy and most survived. Many of them migrated to my other EF bins! The little suckers!

I kept the lights on for 24 hours once I got them back in there, and put a healthy layer of dry peat moss on top of the bin. I also keep my lids off at this point to deter wanderers. I definitely suggest keeping your lid(s) off in the beginning with Euros. Good luck!
susanfromhawaii
17 years ago
In the beginning, it seems almost all worms wander when they are in a totally new environment. It usually calms down in a few days. Light helps.

If they start leaving after they've been settled for a while, then you have to look at the temp or for anaerobic conditions.
bower4311
Original Author
17 years ago
It actually appears the Euro's are extremely sensitive to light. I keep my light off and lid on (lid has holes in it) during the day and put it next to the small basement window. I got home later and there was still a very very small amount of light showing through. I figured some would have escaped for sure, nope, not even a single one crawling on the sides inside the bin.

They need literarily pitch black conditions to start crawling. It would not cost a lot of money to run a very low power light in the same room as a euro bin. My theory is that once the light shines into a hole they won't crawl up the sides or get anywhere near that hole.