# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Livestock and Animal Husbandry >  Raising Nightcrawlers

## crimescene450

Does anyone here have any experience with raising nightcrawlers?

Last summer i researched it a bit.  Took a bucket with dirt, and put in 2 dozen worms.  Been feeding them carrot peels and various vegtable scraps.  Theyre still alive and well, but they dont seem to be breeding. 


 I was at the fishing shop earlier and asked the guy, and he said they dont breed very easy....  I cant help but think that he didnt want to help me too much, because he'd rather have me buy bait from him...


So does anyone know how to get them to breed?  Or any information like that?

----------


## crashdive123

Turn the lights down and put on a Kenny G album. :Innocent:

----------


## Justin Case

I raised red worms years ago,,  I found a guy local that sold them for 2 dollars a pound,, I bought 20 dollars worth,,  10 lbs of red worms is a LOT of worms,,  I built bins and fill them with horse poop (that came from a place that the horses hadn't been wormed for awhile) and also fed them compost stuff from the kitchen,,  i remember I had to water the bins every day so the worms would stay there,,  I was trying to start a business selling them for bait,,  I was a teenager,, I actually had them in a couple of the local liquor stores for awhile,,  selling 48 worms for 1.75,,  lol,,  Oh,,  Red worms are horny little devils,,,  they had no trouble getting in the mood ,,  Lots of eggs..  (which at that time were worth 1,000 dollars a cup,,,)

----------


## crimescene450

> Turn the lights down and put on a Kenny G album.



bahahah

well the lights are already off because theyre supposed to be in a dark place.


as for the Kenny G album.....   :Shifty:

----------


## crimescene450

> I raised red worms years ago,,  I found a guy local that sold them for 2 dollars a pound,, I bought 20 dollars worth,,  10 lbs of red worms is a LOT of worms,,  I built bins and fill them with horse poop (that came from a place that the horses hadn't been wormed for awhile) and also fed them compost stuff from the kitchen,,  i remember I had to water the bins every day so the worms would stay there,,  I was trying to start a business selling them for bait,,  I was a teenager,, I actually had them in a couple of the local liquor stores for awhile,,  selling 48 worms for 1.75,,  lol,,



yeah red worms are supposed to be alot easier to breed.

im not sure how good those will be for fishing?  arent they kindof small?

----------


## Justin Case

> yeah red worms are supposed to be alot easier to breed.
> 
> im not sure how good those will be for fishing?  arent they kindof small?


Yes,,  but they are great for trout and blue gill,

----------


## 2dumb2kwit

Never underestimate the power of Lionel!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5ruDqdZn_s

----------


## canid

they can be very easy to breed if you introduce them to an outdoor compost and let them take tare of themselves.

the return might not be as high as in controlled conditions, but it's a lot less fussy.

----------


## crimescene450

a couple years ago we had an outdoor box like that.  We drilled a bunch of holes in the bottom for drainage.   The box pretty much just turned into a giant insect and spider factory, and the worms died.  	 :Sad:

----------


## Ole WV Coot

I just took a bucket of nightcrawlers, dumped them at night and threw an old quilt over them, kept the quilt damp for several days then removed it and the worms had disappeared into the ground, that was 20yrs or more and still are plentiful.

----------


## jsonlong

You can pick some up at the forest whenever you need them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK-Oo7NwPiQ

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2657739/

----------


## LowKey

How big's the bucket. Two dozen nightcrawlers may need more space than you are giving them. They may have maxed the resources.

----------


## crimescene450

its like a 5 gallon bucket.  I dont think its a space problem.  I was reading more stuff online, and it think i have it ether too dry for reproduction, or too cold.

----------

