baby worms climbing up on the wall of the bin

15 years ago

I bought 1 lb of redworms about 4 months ago. I put them in the rubbermaid tote. My tote is deep (about 2 feet, but the bedding is only 1 foot deep), I drilled about 20 holes right above the bedding on all four sides and 10 holes at the bottom. They have started to reproduce which is very exciting. I've done some research myself and I know they are really the red worm babies (long with a little pink color). I recently noticed quite a few red worm babies each morning climbing up on the wall of the tote and under the lid. I noticed some dried up ones as well. I use shredded news paper, peat moss, dried pines and coir moss for bedding. I don't think I have too much water because not too much water came out at the bottom holes. I could have too much food, but not a lot. The adult worms seem to be happy where they are at, only babies try to climb up. I kept them in my yard under the fence with no sun. I think I'm doing everything right, so I'm not sure why the baby worms want to climb up.

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Comments (9)

flanna
15 years ago
I'm not sure why the babies but not the adults. I see you said dry pines? Do you mean pine needles? That is a no no if its the case.

Darren
lkittle
15 years ago
Hi supersam; The reason the baby worms are going up the sides and onto the top is the condensation on them the water is full of O2 and the worms want it. The water is not enough for the bigger worms and then it dries up leaving behind the baby worms to dry out unless they sense the drying process and crawl back down.
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supersam
Original Author
15 years ago
Hi lkittle,
Thanks for your response. Yes I think you're right on the condensation. But this is not the due to too much water in the bin right? Should I be doing something to improve the bin condition and prevent the babies from doing that? Do you think most of them do crawl down? It is hard for me to tell.
supersam
Original Author
15 years ago
Hi Darren,
What's wrong with dried pine needles in the worm bin?
lkittle
15 years ago
Hi supersam; I think most of them probibly crawl back down. The warm air flowing thru the bin if the bin cools faster than the internal temp then condensation occurs. the air will draw moisture out of the bedding even.

Pine needles are toxic to worms as is all evergreen plants that have pitch in them.
mndtrp
15 years ago
If it makes you feel any better, I only have adults crawling around in my bin. I haven't seen any babies in quite a while, but I don't go digging around in my bin anymore.
11otis
15 years ago
Hi lkittle,
what is "pitch" in the evergreen? I looked up in my dictionary but no explanation relevant to plants/gardening.
Thanks.
Otis
lkittle
15 years ago
Himotis 11; pitch is pine tree sap. Its very sticky and when dry is crystle like. It contains chemicals that are toxic to worms. All evergreen trees have it.
11otis
15 years ago
Hi lkittle,
OK, I've got it. Thanks for explaining.
Otis