Worm Cleaning Wisdom

[dogofwar]

I culture red wiggler worms, which are like earthworms except that they're a bit smaller, live at room temp and eat veggie scraps from our kitchen.

Does anyone have a trick or technique to getting the dirt / mud off of them for feeding?

Currently, I grab a couple of handfuls (a couple of hundred worms from my bin) and try to minimize the amount of mud that comes with them...drop them in a plastic food container with some water, swish around and pull out the worms by hand.

It works OK...but I still get some mud in the water (also OK...as they're going to feed "eartheaters"...among others).

I tried using plastic and metal grates but the small guys got caught in them.

Any special techniques out there?

I'm not at all worried (or interested in) trying to squeeze worms to get the dirt out of them. I figure that they're packed full of veggies / fruit from the stuff that I'm feeding them...

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Avatar]

Cheesecloth? Kitchen strainer?

Or finer mesh - I picked up a couple of black worm trays at the PVAS auction that have a mesh part that lifts out of the water container underneath - they are the bomb and make changing bad dirty water a breeze. If they work on those they'd certainly work for red worms.

 

[mchambers]

Maybe put them in a covered plastic container with some damp paper towels for a few days before you feed them? That's what I do with earthworms.

 

[Andrewtfw]

I was thinking a pasta strainer might work... or a kitty litter strainer.

 

[mscichlid]

Reptile bedding scoops might fit the bill. http://www.pangeareptile.com/store/reptile-cage-substrate/scoops.html

 

[dogofwar]

Thanks for the ideas folks!

Matt