Worm Food - Worms Etc Community

Rat bedding and droppings used as food?

gypsy7866 — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 22:59:44 -0600

Hello, thanks for adding me to the group. I'm a newbie, just had my worms and bins for about 3 weeks. Everything seems to be going well. They are in rubbermaid totes. The past 2 days have had 20 or so climb to the top of the tub, but not out from under the lid. They seems to be eating everything I've fed them (hard to tell about the coffee grounds) and seem healthy.

One of my questions is ... I raise a few rats to feed to pet snakes. They eat dry dog food kibble, sunflower seeds and occasionally pasta and veggies. The bedding is pine shavings. What do you think about using some of the used bedding with excrement in the worm bin? I have not tried it because they do eat the dog kibble which has meat (I hope).

Next question .... can the worms be fed leftover cooked rice or pasta?

Last question ... for now .... I do a lot of gluten free cooking and use corn starch, potato starch, tapioca starch and rice flour for breading. Of course after dipping meat into the breading, the rest has to be thrown out. There is no meat left in them. I have read that giving them a little cornmeal is good for them, and I think the rice flour would give them grit also, but not sure about the starch powders. And can they be fed leftover moldy bread?

Thanks so much for this form and for any suggestions you can offer.

Carol

Eggs Shells???

tweiss — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 16:42:20 -0600

I have just made the hubby Deviled Eggs. Can I dry the shells and feed them to the worms or should I boil them and dry them then grind them up and feed to the worms. ???

Rabbit Droppings

hensonr — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 21:13:24 -0600

Everything is ready for my worms arrival tomorrow. I suddenly remembered that my grandmother has a single rabbit. I call over and yes, she does have some droppings. Half hour later I leave with approx 10lbs. I'm afraid that I'm going to spoil my worms :)

http://imgur.com/gUTHMKP

California Bay Laurel leaves - OK for red wigglers or not?

Thornezilla — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 17:37:29 -0600

I've recently started a 3'x4' worm bin in the San Francisco East Bay area, and am trying to find out if I can feed them some leaves from the Umbellularia californica (CA Bay Laurel) in our back yard.

I searched the web and only found a few oblique references by laypersons about avoiding Eucalyptus and possibly Bay leaves, but nothing very scientific.

So, can I feed Umbellularia californica leaves to my red wigglers or not? I'm assuming not due to the essential oils in the leaves, but wanted confirmation.

Thanks!

Best single food item for red wiggler worms or european nightcrawlers

newwormbin — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 10:46:43 -0700

If you could pick one food item that is just a great food item for worms like cornmeal oatmeal coffee grounds egg shells lettuce spinach etc what food item is just a great food item that a worm bin operator should try and include in their worm bin once a week or so?

Is it possible for food to be too rotten or too moldy?

spark03 — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 23:27:03 -0600

I've been using an empty cardboard orange juice container to store my scraps and let it rot a bit before feeding it to my worms. I noticed today that there was a pretty thick layer of white mold in the container. When i dumped the contents into a corner of my bin, I realized that the food underneath the mold stunk horribly. I took out most of the moldy rotten food and threw it in the garbage. I have a feeling the culprit was a half a can of black beans which was already a little sour when I put it into the food scrap container.

Anyway, is it possible for food to be too rotten or moldy for my worms?

storage of worm food

newwormbin — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 08:30:13 -0700

Is the fridge the best place to store food scraps prior to feeding it to the worms? Will the food attract beneficial bacteria that will keep the worms happier? Thanks John

food for worms

cobra1 — Sun, 27 May 2012 09:54:11 -0600

Hi. I have some frozen food in my freezer tomatillo tomato's and Jalapeno peppers can I feed them to the worms?

next ? from the garden this year Squash, Broccoli,caulflower, Bell peppers and cucumbers and so on

Thank-you

Carrot questions

TimK — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 22:41:24 -0700

My worm farm experience is only 2 weeks old and I have noticed something about the carrot peelings in my worm food. The carrot pieces seem to last a long time in the bedding. Other kitchen prep. scraps seem to decay or be eaten but the carrot peelings are not eaten or eaten very slowly. Do your worms (mine are EF) eat carrots? Is this normal? Should I stop feeding carrots? Thanks!

Home Brew "Dregs"

Dirtai — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 00:58:43 -0600

I just recieved my first 2 pounds of euro's, had their new homes ready about a week before they came in (used shredded newspaper, shredded cardboard for bedding, added some corn husk and chicken poop for food and some compost from my dads stock of red wigglers to help get it started). The worms showed up a little scrawny from the trip as the person I bought them from only adds dry peat moss for the shipping (not even a little moist). Now, about 2 days before the little fella's got here, I also started making my own beer, yet another hobby on the plate. Was wondering if the "dregs" from the fermentation bucket (all of the yeast and hard sediments that were left behind) would be ok for my new euro's. don't want to over-do it for there fist little while in the bins, but also don't want to waste the stuff if its ok for them. any tips for the new guys/girls/whatevers would be appreciated as well. :)

Thanks in advance,

Art

can I feed green algae from my pond filter to my worms??????

newwormbin — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 15:33:57 -0600

I am thinking it will be good for them but I will hold off until I get some info my guess is that the worms should eat and enjoy it Not sure if anyone has trie that?

Organic Sprouts

Brice — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 12:29:11 -0700

I sell certified Organic Sprout Mix's used to sprout and feed to parrots as a living food (very healthy) great for human consumption as well. One day I decided to throw in a couple tbs of seed in my worm bins. Of course the seed sprouts in about 4 days. Once a week I mix or fluff the soil for good oxygenation. As the weeks pass it seems that the early sprouts start to decompose (worm food) as fresh sprouts thrive in the soil leaving a nice soil and small root system throughout the bed. Seems to work well and from what I can tell short of asking, the worms love it...

Feeding beans to compost worms

newwormbin — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 08:27:47 -0700

Matthew I read on one of your other posts a member talking about feeding beans to the worms which is probably a good thing to feed to the red wigglers as they need more protein than the red euros correct? So if I put kidney beans and chick peas in ground up and in very small amounts my bin should not get stinky right? My wife is allowing me to keep my bins in the basement as long as they don't smell or attract bugs so I am walking a tightrope thanks

Less seems better

newwormbin — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 08:18:54 -0700

Matthew it seems like the less food you put in the bin the better correct? I haven't got a ph kit or bought lime but I am going to try to maintain ph by just adding small amounts of food at a time should that be ok? I also put my food through a coffee grinder so the food is small enough for the worms to begin feeding on right away. Worms are being kept in 40 gal rubbermaid containers in my basement. Basement temp stays around 50 degrees which I think has the worms feeding less than if they were warmer? Does that sound accurate?

What do earthworms eat?! I NEED HELP!

Stephen — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 20:37:44 -0600

I NEED TO KNOW WHAT WORMS EAT! ALL COMENTS REQUESTED

store bought food

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 01:15:09 -0600

has anyone tried store bought worm food(I've seen it at Gander Mountain) for starting a worm farm so the little buggers stay in the bin?

Rabbit manure and sawdust

jkmlad — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 20:13:53 -0600

I recently purchased a second-hand "Worm Factory". I thought I could use it for processing
rabbit manure. I currently have about 50 rabbits and am considering keeping the unit in
the rabbit building. After reading the manual I realize that this system will not be large enough to process the volume I handle, but I will be starting out with my Worm Factory just to get my initial worm experience.

Would the European worms be my best choice? Will the European worms work with rabbit manure? Do I need to feed something other than the rabbit manure? How do worms adjust to sawdust in the manure? Some of my Manure has a large volume of sawdust and wood chips. The worm factory handbook suggests breaking down the waste products for the worms. Do I need to somehow mash or break up the manure? Thanks for your help. I hope to be ordering worms soon!