0

Your Cart

Featured
Featured
Featured

News

5 Fascinating facts about Red Wigglers

Posted by Worm Expert on

There are a lot of things that you might not know about when it comes to vermicomposting worms, particularly about red wiggler worms. Now, these slimy creatures aren’t just your typical compost critters. You’ll be surprised at how much strange yet fascinating things these worms can live by on, on a daily basis.

Composting worms can still function without them having the usual body parts
Compost worms are born without bearing any of the usual body parts, so it’s not just the red wiggler kind. Worms have no eyes, ears, lungs, nor any teeth for chewing. So you might be wondering as to how they function without these vital parts. Well, worms are able to adapt to their surroundings. They may not have the pair of eyes nor ears for sensing the things around them. But they do rely on the vibrations and bright lights that come their way. As for the lungs, their skin has been its substitute. Worms breathe through their moist skin. So keeping them under extreme conditions (surroundings that are too wet or too dry) may actually lead them to experience health complications. Aside from all of these, worms aren’t also born with any teeth. But you’ll know how they go about their food intake on the next topic.
Worms don’t usually fed on food scraps
It all makes sense since composting worms don’t have any teeth in them. But of course, how do they feed themselves, right? Well, here’s where the good bacteria and fungi comes into the picture. The microbes and the fungi that are present in the worm composting system are the ones that are working into breaking down the organic scraps.
In a usual worm bin setup, composting worms are essentially provided with an organic bedding and organic food source. But the ones that feed off of these are actually the microorganisms contained inside the worm bin. That’s why it’s also important that the worms keep the bin contents aerated, so that these microbes get a steady oxygen fix. So, the next time you buy worms, make sure to remember this interesting fact.
Worms are invertebrates
Just imagine a red wiggler worm that has no bones in its body. But you can see how able-bodied these soil creatures can still be, especially when it comes to wiggling and crawling their way on the surface. But even if they have no bones, their body still requires some calcium flowing into their system. You can provide red wigglers with calcium rich organics, like eggshells for example (should be the crushed type).
Red wiggler worms aren’t called surface dwellers for nothing
Don’t expect your worms to burrow no more than 18 inches deeper. They’re simply not accustomed to that depth since they’re born as surface dwellers. Only earthworms such as garden worms can burrow at much lower ranges. Now, red wiggler worms are Epigeic. They are the kind of worms that only thrive when placed on soil surfaces. So note of this fact when you do decide to manage your own worm farm of red wiggler worms.
Pests inside the worm composter are more of a human disturbance than to red wigglers
Vermicomposting worms can be made into fish baits or as live food for birds, moles, raccoons, lizards, and other animals. But when they’re securely contained inside the bin, nothing can harm them (except for extreme and unhealthy conditions of course). Even if mites, black soldier flies or ants are found inside the worm composter, you can be assured that these won’t harm nor feed on your compost worms. They will be more of a disturbance to humans, since these can contribute to spoiling the contents of the bin, or even overpowering the worm population.

There are a lot of things that you might not know about when it comes to vermicomposting worms, particularly about red wiggler worms. Now, these slimy creatures aren’t just your typical compost critters. You’ll be surprised at how much strange yet fascinating things these worms can live by on, on a daily basis.

Composting worms can still function without them having the usual body parts

Compost worms are born without bearing any of the usual body parts, so it’s not just the red wiggler kind. Worms have no eyes, ears, lungs, nor any teeth for chewing. So you might be wondering as to how they function without these vital parts. Well, worms are able to adapt to their surroundings. They may not have the pair of eyes nor ears for sensing the things around them. But they do rely on the vibrations and bright lights that come their way. As for the lungs, their skin has been its substitute. Worms breathe through their moist skin. So keeping them under extreme conditions (surroundings that are too wet or too dry) may actually lead them to experience health complications. Aside from all of these, worms aren’t also born with any teeth. But you’ll know how they go about their food intake on the next topic.

Worms don’t usually fed on food scraps

It all makes sense since composting worms don’t have any teeth in them. But of course, how do they feed themselves, right? Well, here’s where the good bacteria and fungi comes into the picture. The microbes and the fungi that are present in the worm composting system are the ones that are working into breaking down the organic scraps.

In a usual worm bin setup, composting worms are essentially provided with an organic bedding and organic food source. But the ones that feed off of these are actually the microorganisms contained inside the worm bin. That’s why it’s also important that the worms keep the bin contents aerated, so that these microbes get a steady oxygen fix. So, the next time you buy worms, make sure to remember this interesting fact.

Worms are invertebrates

Just imagine a red wiggler worm that has no bones in its body. But you can see how able-bodied these soil creatures can still be, especially when it comes to wiggling and crawling their way on the surface. But even if they have no bones, their body still requires some calcium flowing into their system. You can provide red wigglers with calcium rich organics, like eggshells for example (should be the crushed type).

Red wiggler worms aren’t called surface dwellers for nothing

Don’t expect your worms to burrow no more than 18 inches deeper. They’re simply not accustomed to that depth since they’re born as surface dwellers. Only earthworms such as garden worms can burrow at much lower ranges. Now, red wiggler worms are Epigeic. They are the kind of worms that only thrive when placed on soil surfaces. So note of this fact when you do decide to manage your own worm farm of red wiggler worms.

Pests inside the worm composter are more of a human disturbance than to red wigglers

Vermicomposting worms can be made into fish baits or as live food for birds, moles, raccoons, lizards, and other animals. But when they’re securely contained inside the bin, nothing can harm them (except for extreme and unhealthy conditions of course). Even if mites, black soldier flies or ants are found inside the worm composter, you can be assured that these won’t harm nor feed on your compost worms. They will be more of a disturbance to humans, since these can contribute to spoiling the contents of the bin, or even overpowering the worm population.