Wormy Wednesday - What A Worm Eats.

The worms are doing really good. They seem much happier in the back bedroom and I haven't been checking their bedding temperature every day any more which I think they appreciate.
Last week I told you I put the food next to the ice cubes so the food would absorb the water, but it didn't really work so this week I sprinkled some of the Frabill food in and then squirted it with a spray bottle. That worked much better. I chose to feed my worms the Frabill worm food because I've had so much trouble with keeping my worms alive, I wanted a little more control with the food. I don't have to worry about anything rotting and now I don't have to worry about mold as much. The worms seem to prefer not having the food mixed with water before placing it in the bedding because this was the first time they ate all of the food and I didn't have to clean out molded food. I will stick with spraying the food with some water from now on.

 You can feed your worms a lot of different things. Vegetable scraps, bread, pasta and oatmeal are some of their favorites. Worms will also eat paper which is why it is a common material for bedding.  Onions, garlic and acidic foods (lemons, tomatoes, oranges) aren't a good idea, though. Worms will also eat coffee grounds and tea bags, but you want to limit those because of their acidic levels. Acidic foods make the bedding have a higher pH level which isn't good for worms but good for insects. It's a good idea to include some egg shells which the worms will also enjoy and will add calcium to the bedding to counter the acid. The eggshells need to be cooked, though. If the shells aren't from hard boiled eggs, the egg shells can be boiled in some water. Meat, poultry, dairy and salty foods are bad because they create odors and will attract insects. Food that is about to start molding should be removed before it starts to create and odor and attract insects, also.
A worm will eat around half it's body weight each day! The Frabill bedding has enough food in it to feed the worms for a few months since it is made of paper, but I still add some other food to make my bedding last longer. Food doesn't have to be added every day, but it is a good idea to add it the same time every week. Since Wormy Wednesday is on Wednesday, my worms get fed every Wednesday.

The worms have been very camera shy. When I set this photo up, there were 3 worms.

Since we went over food this week, next week we'll go over castings (aka: worm poop).