# Breeding compost and earthworms



## vukic (Apr 9, 2010)

Whats the best way and the easiest way to breed them as they'll be great food for my varied collection of exotics.. Lol

Thanks for any help.. 

Tiger

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## Dragon Farm (Aug 7, 2009)

The big lob worms are very difficult. For compost worms search 'vermicomposting' on google


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## vukic (Apr 9, 2010)

Dragon Farm said:


> The big lob worms are very difficult. For compost worms search 'vermicomposting' on google


Ideal thank you.. I want to use them as feeders, but when I searched last night only found stuff for composting.. Lol. 

Tiger

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## SublimeSparo (May 1, 2013)

swell sell them as livefood, maybe drop them an email and ask how they do it

Livefood Giant Lob Worms (Lumbricus) | Swell Reptiles


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## Dragon Farm (Aug 7, 2009)

I doubt any livefood company are going to be keen to tell you how to breed them yourself rather than buy worms from them. 

Gardeners want them to create compost for plants and to break down waste food, especially carrot/potato peelings and that sort of thing. The by product of that is that they will breed very well. the same methods will do what gardeners want, and also produce alot of worms. I have done this in the past, and it very easy amd productive.


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## jarich (Mar 23, 2012)

The livefood places may not tell you, but composting places are all about giving you the information! They will also usually sell you the worms for a MUCH cheaper price too (here they usually sell by the pound). 

Lob worms arent too difficult to breed as long as you get the right kind. The ones you find out in the yard like their soil to be very cool, so they are next to impossible to breed inside. You want to go online and find the African species. They do well in the warmer inside temperatures, unlike their European and Canadian cousins. They also eat a ton of vegetable matter when you give them the chance, so they are pretty cool to have around. I throw away a lot less vegetable scraps now as I use most of it for the worms. 

For breeding them, use a solid tub with some height (they dont like the light, so no clear tubs). You'd be surprised at what good escape artists they are! Almost my entire first batch (a pound of worms) went missing as I thought it didnt make a difference and used a short tub. Came in the next day to find a lot of dried up worms on the floor. :devil: 

Get a good topsoil and mix in a bit of calcium carbonate with it. About a 1/2 cup of calcium to every 5 gallon pail of soil will do (1/4 cup for every 2 1/2 gallons of soil, etc) This will ensure you are breeding a good quality, calcium rich feeder. Also make sure the soil is nice and moist, not wet, but moist. Spread the soil over the bottom of the tub to the depth of around 3-4 inches. Then get some shredded newspaper or leaves and cover the entire surface of soil with that. Ive found the newspaper easier as it sort of clumps together like a carpet and is easier to pull up to feed all the time. Ive heard of people using moss, but I think moss might change the pH of the soil too, so Ive tried to stay away from using that. Whatever you use, it will help keep the soil moist and also gives ground cover for the worms. They come up to the surface of the soil at night. 

To feed them just use your kitchen vegetable scraps. I usually chop it all up in the blender to mix it well. Spread it out over the top of the soil, but under the newspaper or leaves. You can mix it in a bit with the very surface of the soil, but you still want to be able to see how much they are eating, so dont go crazy. It takes a while to figure out how much they eat, but you want to only put out enough so they eat it within a day or two. Otherwise youll end up with fruit flies and the like. 

Dont forget to keep the soil moist as they breathe through their skin. Not enough moisture and their skin cant move the oxygen across the membrane. Too much and they drown though, so be careful not to go overboard either. 

Hope this helps. Youll be surprised how proud you are when you see your first little baby worm (yes, I know how ridiculous that sounds, dont worry :lol2: )


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