Were the worms in any bedding? Did you spread them out or leave them in a happy group in their bedding? They might benifit from some food that has been frozen first or blenderized. Just to start. You are going to be looking for eggs. These will be the first sign they are multiplying. You are not going to want to harvest for a while because you want to save every egg you can. It will take a while but you saved money and get to enjoy the hobby right now. In the spring you may find more in compost piles. With the amount of worms being small you will have to super guard against over feeding. That cardboard and more you add as you go along will be your friend in keeping the bin airated and evenly moist.

May your micro herd soon become a maxi herd.

thanks for your posting very helpful.

Hi rosabel,
Congratulations on getting started. Don't worry, they'll soon liven up - but resist the temptation to inspect them too often - that sets them back and is probably why they seem lethargic. Yes - cover the clear plastic - they hate light. I suppose you realise that you will need to have a great deal of patience with only 12 red wigglers. It can take around 2- 3 months for the numbers to double, so you are in for a very long wait before you can start processing more than an eggcup full of scraps per week. But don't overfeed - it won't speed things up and you'll attract a lot of nasties that will be after the spare food!

I started, like you with only a few red wigglers that I found lodged in the filter of my koi pond. I put them into a converted an ice cream bucket. But although they prospered and kept healthy, however I eventually I got tired of the effort of looking after such a tiny environment - which is far more sensitive to drying out and other problems, than is a more standard sized worm farm, which is quite robust.

So I eventually gave in and bought half a pound of worms and made my own DIY worm farm - 3 layers of 10 gallon (45 litre) bins. It was fun to make, very inexpensive and incredibly easy to set up - even for a DIY dummie like me. But I was lucky as I got very clear DIY instructions from a good website that also told me how to set it up with the worms and manage them correctly.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Make Your Own Worm Farm

My granddaughter Chloe just finished her 10 week science project. The project was a comparison between two (2) worm boxes which were 6 quart plastic containers. Each container was prepared with one (1) pound of Black Kow pasteurized manure (available at LoweÂs), shredded cardboard and worm tea as an inoculate of microbes. Container A started with ten (10) adult worms and Container B started with 20 cocoons. Both boxes were kept together in the house (aver. temp 66F). These boxes were not feed but the moisture level was checked regularly. The results were hand counted by my son and my granddaughter created a poster board for the presentation.
The results:
Container A started with 10 Adult Worms: 12 Adults, 47 Adolescents, and 120 Cocoons
Container B started with 20 Cocoons: 11 Adults, 4 Adolescents, and 38 Cocoons
Just be patient, worms love to diddle.