Found some dead worms

12 years ago

So I've had my bin (similar to a Worm Factory 360, I guess) for about 3 months now and everything's been going well. This morning, however, I opened the top to find maybe 10-20 dead worms on the lid and around the sides at the top of the bin. They were a little grey and a few had some lumps in their bodies. I removed the dead worms and poked around a bit under the surface and it looks like all of the other thousand worms are doing great and happily feeding away.

It got a little cool last night, but not so cold that I think that could be the culprit (13 celsius, or about 55 F, was the low overnight). The only other thing that's changed in the last little while is that I fed them 2 days ago, though nothing different than I normally feed them. I've seen posts about protein poisoning but I don't think that's what this is, although the worms did look a little bumpy like the photos I've seen of protein poisoning, but I'm not sure if dead worms left for a day would just start to look like that. My other living worms look very normal.

The bin doesn't smell except for a little bit sweet from some melon I put in there. The bedding is moist enough to squeeze a drop of water out or so but no more. The worms that are left aren't trying to escape or anything like that.

The only thing that would make sense to me is that they died from temperature since it was only the worms that were out of the bedding. But maybe they left the bedding because they were sick?

I would appreciate any feedback and am curious if any of you have any ideas about what could have caused this.

Thanks in advance!

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Comments (3)

barbararose21101
12 years ago
How timely.

Scroll to the bottom of the opening page that lists forum topics.
Put "protein" in the search box (for this forum). There you will find a few threads related to your experience.

We're working on this issue. I'm lobbying not to name the lumpiness string of pearls phenomen protein poisoning because I think that is a misleading misnomer.

My only dead worm so far (that I know of) wasn't lumpy.
It was gooey.
The correlating phenomenon was blue mold. I dumped the whole bin in an unattended compost and left the lot to nature.
Another correlation was a relatively abrupt change in temperature: it got a lot hotter. The question is complicated by the fact that a bin beside it, same everything else, had no apparent fatalities.

The August 29 post by Buckstarchaser lists some possible causes of worm deaths. You might find that by putting that name in the search box.

My information so far is that there are a lot of things that can kill worms; and a lot of worms, (or the cocoons) survive when we wouldn't think they would.

I put "toxic to eisenia fetida (not of or from) in a Google search and didn't learn much. Clearly any known toxics such as are used to kill weeds and insects, are apt to harm worms.
There could be a tiny bit of something toxic in shredded newsprint, for example. There could be antibiotics or worm prevention in horse manure !

Moving to silly: blame the worm until we know more. It was a lame worm. Often there are stragglers that wander off and aren't noticed before it's too late to help. Sillier: a sulking teenager ? A drunk in a ditch ?
Nrobadii
Original Author
12 years ago
Thank you for the helpful response, barbararose.

I read the threads you mentioned. One of the suggestions about how the worms were dying was from "indigestion", that is, that they were eating food that hadn't been pre-composted and they bloated due to a buildup of gas in their bodies. I think that's possible and would explain why only the worms at the top of my bin had died. Maybe an alternate explanation could be that the worms at the top of the bin were smothered by the gas produced by the rotting fruit and veg. Although that would only be the case if the gas produced were lighter than air, I would think.

I like the lame-worm explanation. We're just witnessing natural selection at its finest!
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chuckiebtoo
12 years ago
I live in Texas with 90-100 temps in summer. Had string of pearls occasionally until I a/c'd my worm habitat. (BTW, the space is 5X5, the AC operates about 5 hours/day and changes my elec bill not one whit)

I do all my worm work in that little space and wait until mid-afternoon to do so because the temps are so great in there.

Not a single case of SOP since.(5 years)

chuckiebtoo

Moderation, Patience, Diversity, Environmental control.