European night crawlers

[Garth99]

Hello I am a new member ,I live in Mildura Vic Australia. I would like to buy some European crawlers from members in Australia if any of you are kind enough to part with them. or info on imports is it ok to do so.

Garth99

[Brian M]

Hello Garth and welcome to the Forum. I am up on the Gold Coast.

Contact Sue at Just Worms. http://www.justworms.com.au/ They are breeding them so they might part with some. Very slow to breed she said in a post. Do you want them for fishing?

[Garth99]

Thanks Brian, I will try Sue today if I can get through to her, Yes I want them for fishing, but also try to breed them
for garden use as well. I tried out a mix of reds and tigers the tiger took over and I ended up with a lot of small worms, not much good as bait. So here I go again A little wiser I hope this time.

All the best

Garth

[Brian M]

Hello Garth,

I found this on an American Web site

(The European Nightcrawler (Lumbricus rubellus) is larger than the Red Wiggler (Eisenia fetida) but smaller than the Canadian Nightcrawler (Lumbricus terrestris), making them the ideal bait worm. They’re also tougher, staying alive longer and much more active than other types of fishing worms. European Nightcrawlers are the only earthworm suitable for use as bait in brackish salt water.

Europeans are more heat tolerant than Canadian Nightcrawlers and more cold tolerant than African Nightcrawlers. When kept at 70˚ Fahrenheit, Europeans will keep alive and healthy from three to five weeks. At 60˚ Fahrenheit, they’ll keep even longer. In beds, they do well in temperatures ranging from 50˚ to 90˚ and can tolerate temperatures much higher or lower if their bedding is of the proper depth and moisture content. The ideal temperature is 51˚Fahrenheit. pH is of particular importance: a range of 5.5 to 8.7 is acceptable but they prefer neutral (pH: 7) soils.

European Nightcrawlers (Lumbricus rubellus) are usually reddish brown or reddish violet. They have an iridescent topside and yellow bottom. They have 95 - 120 segments and are usually three to six inches long. They prefer high organic content bedding.

Europeans produce about one egg capsule per week, if kept within the optimum temperatures and fed well. If they are not too crowded and are happy, they will breed faster. )


Now I am not sure exactly which worm is the European Night Crawler, Lumbricus rubellus or Eisenia hortensis.

I have Lumbricus rubellus but not in large enough numbers for sale just yet. They are really good breeders and as you can see from what I pasted above are a excellent fishing worm

[Brian M]

Thanks Brian, I will try Sue today if I can get through to her, Yes I want them for fishing, but also try to breed them
for garden use as well. I tried out a mix of reds and tigers the tiger took over and I ended up with a lot of small worms, not much good as bait. So here I go again A little wiser I hope this time.

All the best

Garth

I had the same problem when I first bought Africans. They came mixed with other worms and of course the Africans never grew and were our competed by the other worms. Next time I purchsed them I was a bit smarter and pulled them out one by one to ensure I only had Africans in the bed. Turns out the other worms were Lumbricus rubellus and they grew extremely well and twice the size of the biggest Reds and much fatter.

I used to read articles in the American Bee Keeper magizine. There was a writer called O.B.Wiser. I used to think he was so clever till the penny dropped one day, Older But Wiser lol

[Garth99]

Hi Brian, just a quick line to let you know Sue sold me 200 Europeans they are doing well at the moment very fat and healthy , I will leave them for a couple of weeks and check for eggs, I have a heater in with them set for 75 F they seem ok at that. I was wondering if you know of any one with Alabama Jumpers (Amynthus Gracilus ) in Australia as I would like to have a go at them also.

Garth99

[Brian M]

Thanks Garth for the update. What sort of heater are you using? Any chance you could photograh a Euro for me on a tape measure. Did you look at my site in the Gallery? Have a look and let me know what you think of the ones on the tape. As I said I don't fish so it is good to get others opinions

I have just listed fishing worms on my site. A couple of mates reckon they are heaps big enough. One of them took some out to try and he said they were still wriggling after 20 minutes in the salt water so that is good to know.

My Paypal buttons went missing off my site a couple of months ago and I didn't notice. Seems about the same time the orders stopped too, It is now fixed so just waiting lol.

What are you feeding the Euros? No idea about the Jumpers sorry.

[Garth99]

Hi Brian , I have been feeding them mashed vegi scraps but now I started layer pellets to early to see any diffident as yet but they look very tight in the skin and very active. I am going away so I will get a photo for you through the week.

Garth.

[Brian M]

Thanks Garth. I am not used to replies in real time lol.

I feed chick starter mash, coprha, full fat soy, coffee grounds, mollasses and dolomite. All mixed with my brew I make. The brew is basically a bit of each in a 20 lt bucket of water from my pond. I also add some castings and horse manure plus cow manure if I have it. An aquarium pump running in it to keep it aerobic.

I let it soak for about 10 minutes and stir it a couple of times then feed. I have found it better to rake it over the surface rather than in lumps. All my worms are growing very nicely but they take a long time to get to a fishing size. That is why Sue came on here looking for some answers I suppose about speeding up the process.

[The Worm Expert]

Garth

I know of a worm farmer in Australia that raises Alabama Jumpers. VisitKookaburra Worm Farms. You can use the contact form with questions and George will get back with you.

Bruce