How to Breed & Care for Nightcrawler Worms

Nightcrawlers, also known as European earthworms and redworms, can be raised and bred for profit. They are a hermaphroditic species, so any two worms can mate and reproduce. If kept in optimal breeding conditions, worms replicate rapidly and at very little cost. They can be sold to fisherman, pet owners looking to feed snakes and reptiles, gardeners who want them for their compost bin, and children interested in having a worm for a pet.

Things You'll Need

  • Plastic container
  • Drill
  • 1/16 inch drill bit
  • Peatmoss
  • Soil
  • Chicken feed
  • Organic scraps
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Instructions

  1. Preparation

    • 1

      Drill multiple small holes in the bottom and sides of a large, dark plastic tub. This will allow the worms' habitat both to drain and to aerate. Use no larger than a 1/16-inch drill bit so the worms cannot escape.

    • 2

      Fill the container with peat moss or coir (coconut fiber) for bedding. The bedding should be moist enough that when you squeeze it, one or two drops of water come out. Crumble the fibers so that they are light and fluffy, ensuring that they do not clump. The bedding should be six to eight inches deep.

    • 3

      Dust the top of the bedding with a half inch to an inch of soil. Make sure that the soil that you use is fully organic, free from fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides that could hurt your worms.

    • 4

      Put worms in your box at a concentration of up to 500 worms per square foot. These will multiply rapidly and your box can maintain about 1,000 worms per square foot of surface area.

    Care and Breeding

    • 5

      Feed worms organic scraps, like scrap vegetables from your kitchen and chicken mash. Chicken egg-layer mash has a higher protein level and will raise healthy worms. Spread the food over the bedding, never burying it where it can become mixed in with the bedding. Feed your worms only what they can consume in a 24-hour period.

    • 6

      Keep your worm box in a place where it will stay cool and moist. Ideal locations include in a basement or cellar, under a kitchen or bathroom cabinet or in a closet.

    • 7

      Toss the bedding once a week to prevent compaction. This will move the mostly unused bedding at the bottom to the top and will aerate the soil so that the worms are getting an appropriate amount of oxygen.

    • 8

      Change the bedding in your worm box once a month.This will prevent the spread of disease and prevent odors. Remove worms to sell at this time. If you are selling the worms as feed or bait, remove the largest worms. If you are selling them to gardeners or composters, remove the smaller worms.