Sounds like mites. You could try to adjust your moisture. Your bedding could be too wet.

Will the mites die if I let it dry up some? How moist should I keep the bedding? This is our first time trying to keep works.

Steve

Hi buckrun! worm bins have lots of critters in them besides the worms, most of them harmless to the worms. If they are in the nightcrawlers they will help keep the bedding clean. I need to ask what type of bedding you are using and how and what are you feeding the crawlers as they need special care in order to get them to breed and live a long time. The Temperature is the most important of the environmental considerations. I have been growing them about a year and a half now and all the original worms have been sold. I now am growing out the young born in captivity in an attempt to domesticate (to some degree) the breeding stock.

larry

Besides bugs - what are the shiny little round things? They aren't casings and look like the tip off of a lead pencil. Some areas have hundreds of them!

nelly

The bedding is the stuff that came with the stryafoam box. I feed them a couple times a week. All I have feed is the stuff in the can called magic worm food. Is there something else I should feed?

Do I need to fluf up the bedding or anything? I haven't done anything but feed and add water some.

The red worms have been reproducing. But I haven't seen any small night crawlers at all.

Is there a book that would help?
Steve

Hi Steve! C. Morgan has a book on raising Nightcrawlers. I have it and its available. Google worm books and follow the link to Shields poblications.

I found that Buss Bedding is better than the bedding that is supplied in the Magic Worm Ranch for breeding purposes. The food is ok just don't mix it in the bedding.I used mine all up and now I feed Oatmeal and powdered egg shells. Mixture is about 4 parts oatmeal to 1 part shells. Sprinkle on top dry and then spritz with fine mist (I use a mister from Walley World for inside plants adjustable from stream to mist.)

The most important thing is the temp make sure to keep it between 50-60 deg F. Do not fluff the bedding let it settle and add more on top until it's about 6 inches deep. The buss bedding is all paper and cardboard very finly ground up so dampen it until you can squeeze a couple drops from a really tight squeez. That way you can spritz the dry food and it will take 4-6 feedings before you need to check along the long side down to the bottem for dampness only a trench an inch wide to stick the finger in.

After 2-3 months dump and harvest out the breeders you should find cocoons and some small worms. Put old bedding with cocoons into new bin (can be plastic) and renew bedding for breeders and start second breeding session.

larry

I have been vermicomposting for about 1 year now. I do it inside as our winters are to cold. I had a big problem with little white jumping bugs in my worm bin but have just ignored them. I vermicompost for the worm castings to use as fertilizer for container grown plants and vegetables.If I have bins that are getting alot of bugs I just harvest that bin, seperate the worms and start a new bin. I use plastic under bed storage bins from the dollar store,drill a few holes all around for air and wala, a worm bin.Be sure to put the bins on something waterproof because the bins sometimes leak out the air holes if allowed to get to moist. I have had alot of luck with this and I feed my red wigglers all my kitchen vege waste.

good luck