I'm going to keep the worms outside, but I suspect that they stop doing everything when it gets too cold or too hot. So I'm thinking of keeping them in the garage.

What temperature is their optimal breeding temperature?

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), June 14, 2001

Answers

55 to 65 degrees f. is considered optimal for the night crawlers. At temps outside those parameters activity and reproduction decrease. I am planning to get a used softdrink cooler and replace the glass doors with plywood to maintain a suitable environment. If you plan to feed them household scraps you may want to consider also keeping a bin of redworms in a 75 to 85 degree environment to handle the excess refuse as the crawlers will not consume as much as the redworms. Something you can do to give your sales a tweak is to go to WalMart and purchase dye food additive that will give the crawlers a skin color similar to artificial baits (chartreuse, green, aqua, red, etc). It doesn't seem that expensive and should be easily recouped in sales.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), June 14, 2001.

European Nightcrawlers are not a "true" nightcrawler, so they really breed better at a bit higher temp than 50-60 dregrees. They can tolerate a wide range of temps, 40's or so to about 90, but the breed best at about 70-72.

Since you placed this back in June, you may have already learned this info...but, I thought better to get it again....

Good luck!

-- Kathy Johnson (netlink@pcez.com), August 24, 2001.