Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm considering ordering worms to put into my easterns'
enclosure, and am wondering what I should either look for or stay away from when shopping around.
I've seen that most folks advise to stay away from bait shop worms, and I'm not really familiar with the differences between different kinds of worms (except nightcrawlers), so I'd appreciate your input.
Thanks in advance,
Stephanie

Don't waste your time or money ordering over priced worms that are supposedly made for reptiles. Just go to your local bait shop if you have one, buy a $2.00 can of worms and that will be perfect. There is likely zero difference between the ones you'd order from a pet supplies dealer or the ones you'd get at a bait shop. I have been feeding my hatchlings bait store bought worms and have has zero problems. They scarf them down as if they were starving.

the thing that has people worried about bait shop worms are the bacteria because they are grown in cow manure .. but if you are keeping the turtles out side there are TONS of germs already out there .. plus the worms that go into the ground .. they usually in the summer stay with in the time 6 inches of soil .. sooo if you have you enclosure dug into the ground or sunk .. then you will keep the worms in there and they will come up when it rains

I don't think the bacteria you'd get from worms grown in cow manure are going to hurt a box turtle. They're very hardy animals and a little harmless bacteria isn't going to hurt them. The bacteria that grows in an indoor aquarium is probably more dangerous than bacteria grown on a cow patty. I wouldnt be one bit surprised if worms made for pets are grown the same way, despite what the label says.

I fed 25 hatchlings bait shop worms for a full year and not one of them died or even got sick. They were in an aquarium and wern't exposed to the outdoors much. If babies can handle bait shop worms, the adults can too.

Actually, worms are sometimes raised in rabbit droppings, but I've never have heard of them being raised in cow manure. Rabbit droppings are probably the the most "benign" type of dropping you could use.

Two years ago I started a compost pile composed largely of horse manure, sawdust, & grass clippings. This year I started using it on my tree ferns and was surprised by the sheer size and numbers of earthworms in the piles. I've been gardening in my yard for 20 years now and I have never before found a single worm as long as a new number 2 pencil and thick as a Sharpie marker but the compost heap is full of them. I think it would be quite interesting to perform a nutritional analysis of these specimens.
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Who is like Set...

2.4 Vietnamese Blue Beauties
2.1 Taiwan Beauties
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Ohhhhhh COOL .. Hmmmm that could be a perfect ploy into getting a rabbit .. he he he telling my fiance its to grow worms .. ha ha ha .. i might just do it too .. and i could use some aflafa pellets from the rabbit for the boxie and iguana .... Ohh im soo sneaky *lol*

If you have a walmart close by, they have worms that are sold in 24 packs and are cheap. And they do not come in any kind of poo. Its actually really rich soil with I use for my plants.

Danny

i have bought walmart nightcrawlers for 3 years now and the only reaction i get is voracious munching! they LOVE 'em. RES, spotteds, muds, and boxies...all species that i have tried, it is their food of choice.
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"If we are good only because we fear punishment and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed."
-Albert Einstein

Well I don't think any worms come in actual cans full of poo, but they're probably grown in dirt with poo mixed in on the worm farms. Regardless, people shouldn't be afraid of worms being fed cow manure, it's not going to hurt their turtles.

I see that night crawler means something different in various parts of the country: I always knew them to be those nasty looking things that looked like a cross between a big earthworm and a centipede, and can bite. Sites I checked just show very large worms...I'm inclined to agree about the parasite issue: mother nature isn't clean.
Thanks again for the input.
Stephanie