why did my worms die

by nathan bloodworth
(livingston tx)

my grandma bought me some worms 4 a worm farm.i had them 4 1 day and then they died.i had a good bedding good soil and worms and food can u tell me why they died

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Aug 08, 2011
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Why your worms died
by: Pauly

There are several variables that can play a part in the death of a community of worms.

1. Temperature
2. Moisture
3. Food
4. Bedding

These are a few things that can play an important role in the life or death of a worm. Since I don’t have much information from you I would suggest you read my worm farming guide here at the website.

You said your Grandma bought you some worms and they died in one day. A few things come to mind that could cause this to happen.

1. They could have been stressed in the mail due to wide spread heat bubble across the country.
Usually the seller will send you a new batch of worms. Check their policy.

2. Is this truly a composting worm? Make sure your seller can tell you the Latin term for the worm you bought (i.e. A red wiggler is called “Eisenia Fedita” This is a composting redworm) If you bought a worm that burrows deep into the soil it will not live long in a worm bin.

3. You mentioned you have soil that it lives in. Composting worms do not live or eat soil. They live in and eat rotten vegetation. However, if healthy, I don’t believe this would cause them to die in one day.

4. Due to the hot weather though they could definitely die if temps are 90 degrees or higher for a period of a day or more. Even if the temperature is cooler they can die if the bin is left in the sun.

These are a few things that can contribute to the death of worms in one day.

Read the free worm farming guide to get a better idea of raising worms before you get any more. Hang in there Nathan. Don’t let this get you down. I lost my first worms too. My bin was filled with rotten food and it over heated, not from the temp or sun, but the food. That’s another thing to look for. Only use the food in moderation.

Best of luck to you this next time,
Pauly

Jul 29, 2012
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why are my worms dying ?
by: Anonymous

I have been successful with my worm bed in the past. I try to keep them moist because it is very hot here.

I also keep a piece of carpet over them and maybe that could be the cause...thanks

Matthew Thompkins

Jun 04, 2013
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dying worms
by: Chuck

6/4/13 1400
Hello, my worms are dying and I don't know why. the first time was caused by cold weather back in Feb. Since then I have gotten another order.

The weather has been good here In N. TX. and I fed them fruit pulp regularly, and they have since died also.

My African crawlers are doing well, just can't understand why the red worms are dying.

Jun 05, 2013
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dying worms
by: Chuck

6/5/13 1015
Hello, this is Chuck. I have purchased red worms
twice, the first batch died from cold weather back
in Feb., but when the 2nd batch died last month, I
am beginning to wonder..

I also have African crawlers that are doing very well. the weather here in n TX has not been that hot.

I have 2 bins that are 42" off the floor with flow-through bottom ( no accumulation of water ) and continuous air flow.

I house them in a storage shed to keep the varmints out. There is no sour odor or bugs, I will send you some pics later if you would like

ty
Chuck

Jun 15, 2014
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Why Did My Worms Die
by: Pauly

Hey Chuck,

Yes if you can give me more info on temperature, type of bin setup, foods/bedding, type of worm, moisture content, any other bugs etc..

If you want to add a pic then you might actually have to start a new thread/post a question. There you will have the option to load some pictures.

We LOVE to see other worm farmer's setups here.
Thanks,
~Pauly

Jul 20, 2015
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worms died
by: Anonymous

I had 2000 worms in my worm factory 360 and they have all died. I started with a 1000 but went on vacation and my inlaw didnt take care of them well enough.
I jusct cant keep these wigglers alive.

Jul 21, 2015
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Keeping Worms Alive While On Vacation
by: Pauly

Sorry to hear about your loss :(

For a Worm Factory, and other systems, I would suggest to cut back and even omit using any nitrogen (kitchen scraps) when going on vacation.

Use only carbon sources like newspaper, cardboard, coco coir, and even peat moss which is a mix of both nitrogen and carbon. Make sure it is well moist and maybe a bit more on the wet side but NOT soaking wet.

Feed this to the worms a couple of days before you leave to ensure they will be okay. Place a plastic sheet of some form on top of bedding to keep the moisture in as much as possible.

You might even practice this a couple of weeks well before you go on vacation to ensure you have done this properly.

Remember that carbon sources is worm food too and they'll be perfectly content consuming it as this is what they feed on in nature mostly.

You may also want to mix in some well precomposted manure with your carbon material.

Hope this helps :)
Pauly

Jul 21, 2015
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Food?
by: Anonymous

What is the best food for my worms?

Jul 21, 2015
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Best Food For Worms
by: Pauly

This is something I discuss in depth in the book but you would do quite well to feed your worms diverse foods.

I personally use a cold manure like goat manure. Also newspaper shreddings and some kitchen scraps along with plenty of minerals.

This is a very balanced meal. Sometimes I feed more or less of certain things but the main source is goat manure. This is my indoor bins.

~Pauly

Dec 02, 2016
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why did my worms die
by: Anonymous

300 of worms died after my grandmother peed on my compost. where can i get 300 worms and a gun

Jan 31, 2018
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Tumor
by: MC

I just recently started a little worm bin and I had Nightcrawlers in it they did really well the first 4 days all of them live and moving about when I would check them

but today I came home and they was all dead some of them had tumor like areas on them and was seeping out yellow gunk others looked as if there insides had exploded i don’t know what to make of this I had plenty of food and coffee grounds in there can anyone tell me what went wrong

Mar 27, 2018
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Why did my worm die?
by: Katya

What killed my pet worm?
[Okay look this is probably going to sound really dumb, but I had a worm as a pet. I had him for like one day so it wasn't very long that I had lost him. I had kept him since we were doing compost at school and I really wanted a pet. So fastfoward to the morning I take my worm out of the fridge and accidently leave him out on my counter because I forgot to take him to school. I come back all excited to see him and when i open the container (which had holes to allow air flow) he was basically torn in half by this thing that seemed to have been growing out of him. It was black and mushy and was literally inbetween the two pieces of my destroyed friend. I just want to know what had killed him.]

Jan 09, 2019
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What happened?
by: Anonymous

On 12/23 I fed my worms and they were fine. I try not to check them too much, but wind up checking just about every day. I went to do a feeding this week and there was a horrific smell coming from my Urban Worm Bag. Almost all of my worms look like they melted! What could have caused this?!

Jul 25, 2019
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Dead worms
by: Anonymous

I amended my soil the next day I found about 6 dead worms on the surface of my soil

Sep 22, 2022
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sanj NEW
by: Anonymous

sanj

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