Random Worm Facts
Getting to Know Your Worms
Red Wiggler Facts
There are lots of cool things that make red wiggler worms interesting. Some of these facts can be useful for your own worm farms, and others are just fun and silly!
Happy worms can eat half of their body weight in a day when in optimal conditions! So, if you have 20 pounds of worms, that’s 10 pounds of food.
Feed your worms avocados and melons to help increase your worm population. These foods are considered aphrodisiacs to worms, so they really help set the mood!
Just like fiber is good for humans, it’s good for worms as well. Add used coffee grounds (worms don’t like unused grounds) into the farms with their food for grit. This grit helps with their digestive systems. You can also use soil, coconut core, or compost if you don’t have access to used grounds.
Food gets digested in a part of the worm known as the gizzard!
Red wiggler worms don’t actually have any teeth in their mouth, so they have to suck on their food! This is why they prefer foods that have been processed down or have started decomposing.
They have glands that produce calcium carbonate, a milky liquid that actually makes up seashells.
Since soil can have a lot of carbon dioxide that can mess with the worms' body chemistry, their castings help neutralize the CO2 that is found.
Worms have 5 hearts!
Red wiggler worms are photosensitive, which means they don’t like the light and will burrow down to avoid it.
They don’t like to be in temperatures that are too hot or too cold. Their ideal ambient temperature is around 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
You CANNOT cut a red wiggler in half to make two worms! This will only end up hurting your worm in the process.
They help aerate plant roots.
The scientific name is eisenia fetida.
Also known as tiger worms, trout worms or brandling worms!
When the worms are pregnant, they have a band near the top known as a clitellum.
Red wigglers do not have a gender and can reproduce with any other red wiggler! However, they cannot reproduce on their own.
They can survive while being fully submerged, but they need space to avoid moisture.
They live an average of 2 years.
Worms lay cocoons which hatch into baby worms!
Cocoons take around 20 days to hatch.
Each cocoon can have up to 3 to 4 worms.
A red wiggler worm reaches full maturity in about 30 days.
They are considered the cousins of the European night crawlers. They have a similar look, but red wigglers are smaller in length and girth.
