# earthworms how do i breed them?



## deedee71 (Mar 28, 2010)

hi

reading up on my skink and read they eat earthworms, mealworms, etc, i saw some earthworms on ebay for reptiles that are organic. 

how can i raise these myself, i have always got vegetable peelings that end up thrown away, and i would like to have a go at raising worms, it would be like recycling, my food waste to make food for skinkybum.4

i wonder if i can start them off in a bucket full of newsaper shreddings or is that a bad idea, ie poisonous print/ink?

dee xxx

ps, will try and dig some worms up in the garden first to see if he likes them before i start a worm breeding project lol, but this is just a thought, i did try raising mealworms but they seem to keep dieing.......:devil:


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## Lew (May 31, 2009)

I believe earthworms are hermaphrodites, so I doubt there is much you have to do to get them to breed as such. However, i'm guessing you'll have to get the conditions right for their eggs to hatch. Not sure myself though.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Use a tub, or a large box, with drainage holes. 3/4 fill it with decent topsoil (B&Q! :2thumb and put a thick layer of dead leaves on top. Water it enough to be damp, not wet. Keep it in a cool place (shed, outhouse etc), and you might want to cover the top with wire mesh to keep out predators. You can feed them occasionally with the peelings, old tea leaves or grass cuttings. Bung your worms in, and let them get on with it. You should find that worms congregate under the leaves, which makes them fairly easy to extract, without digging the soil up too much, which will damage the eggs. Hope that helps.


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## henryfreston (Jun 14, 2010)

when I was younger I had a earth worm 'hotel'. I got give a very large sweet container about 18 inches tall and 8 inches wide. The set up came with loads of different layer of substrate including sand and soil as well as gravel. This is to interpret their natural habitat because it is not just soil under neath our feet. I managed to breed them at 9 so you should be able to. 

Just use a rub or similar (one of the tall ones)


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## deedee71 (Mar 28, 2010)

blimey, should be okay to breed them in a bucket in the garden then? 

thanks everyone, i will definately have a go at this, will need to find some worms now lol xxx

time to get digging xxx


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## deedee71 (Mar 28, 2010)

forgot to ask should i starve the worms for a day before feeding or wash the mud off them before feeding?


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

deedee71 said:


> forgot to ask should i starve the worms for a day before feeding or wash the mud off them before feeding?


 I don't bother, on the whole, unless I'm feeding compost worms, which tend to eat rott*ing* (as opposed to rott*ed*) material. If you decide to, the easiest way is to put them in a tub with fresh grass for a couple of days, to allow them to void.


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## sbarton (Aug 5, 2012)

i remember my gran had a worm farm (for compost) i cant remember the details at the moment but i seem to remember her saying that you need to add egg shell (though not too many) i also remember her saying that there was someone who sold her the stuf for it but you could sell them back the worms once it got established, i will try and find the details. im sure that if you have some garden and a spade you could just dig some up (providing there is nothing nasty in the soil) you could also skavange other morsels from the garden or local parks like sluggs and snails if it can eat thoes


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## Shaunward1991 (Jul 2, 2014)

Bringing back an OLD thread. Sorry

Earthworks from your garden can bed fed to your reps, providing you place them in 'clean' untreated soil for a minimum of three days so the worm can 'flush' itself of any nasties.
If you dig up enough to begin with they will easily begin to breed anyway, just dont feed to many at once obviously and give them a chance


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