# General Topics > Food, Feeders, Live, Frozen, Culturing, etc >  Gut Loading Night Crawlers?

## TeeRiddle

Hi all,

This might be a dumb question but should I gut load night crawlers before offering them? I gut load crickets and roaches, but never have done it with worms.  :Embarrassment: 

If it's a yes, how? Just sprinkle a little gut load in the container and they'll have at it much like crickets?

Thanks!

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## Kitten

I'm not even really sure how to gutload nightcrawlers, honestly. Perhaps feed them fruits/veggies? I'm not sure if a worm would even eat the crystal gutloads like crickets or roaches...?

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## AReaHerps

That's a great question I never really thought about. Where do you all get your earthworms for from? 

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## Kitten

I get my Nightcrawlers from my local WalMart.

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## arielgasca420

yes I have gutloaded my nightcrawlers with apples and potatoes. mine didnt favor the carrots because there was not enough moisture. beware that gutloading will attract white mites but they are harmless. All I do it wash off the mites with water before feeding.

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## TeeRiddle

> That's a great question I never really thought about. Where do you all get your earthworms for from? 
> 
> Sent from my Android Tapatalk App!


I had never thought about it much either until I was feeding last night.

I get earthworms/red wigglers from Wal-Mart, PetSmart, or Petco. You'll find them in the fishing dept at Wal-Mart.

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## TeeRiddle

> yes I have gutloaded my nightcrawlers with apples and potatoes. mine didnt favor the carrots because there was not enough moisture. beware that gutloading will attract white mites but they are harmless. All I do it wash off the mites with water before feeding.


Interesting! Have you ever tried using any gut load powders, like Repashy SuperLoad or similar?

The potatoes & apples sounds brilliant, but the little mites is disappointing.

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## AReaHerps

> I had never thought about it much either until I was feeding last night.
> 
> I get earthworms/red wigglers from Wal-Mart, PetSmart, or Petco. You'll find them in the fishing dept at Wal-Mart.
> 
> Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2


I didn't know that regular 'ole fishing bait was good enough.  I figured it would be full of parasites and mites, etc. I think what I may do is pick up a container or 2 of the worms, and put them in a container with "clean" dirt and wash them before I put them in.  I'm not sure that would make a difference but it would be nice to have a colony of worms self producing for me.

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## TeeRiddle

> I didn't know that regular 'ole fishing bait was good enough.  I figured it would be full of parasites and mites, etc. I think what I may do is pick up a container or 2 of the worms, and put them in a container with "clean" dirt and wash them before I put them in.  I'm not sure that would make a difference but it would be nice to have a colony of worms self producing for me.



Most red wigglers are bred for basically two things - fishing bait and composting, so ones you find for sale are generally for one of those two purposes. It doesn't seem like there's a large supply of them just as feeders and the ones you do find as feeders come from bait suppliers/distributors. 

For instance, the night crawlers and red wigglers available in my area all come from the same source no matter where it is I go to purchase them (Wal-Mart, Petco, PetSmart, local pet shops, etc) and that source is a bait & tackle supplier.

As long as chemicals and additives have not been used on the worms they should be just fine for your frogs.

As far as starting a colony of red wigglers it's pretty easy. You can search youtube for a bunch of good videos on the subject. Search for "worm composting" and you'll find some good stuff on creating bins and such. This subject is mainly geared towards composting for gardens, but the worm husbandry is pretty much the same. The only difference is a frog owner is interested in keeping the worms, while a gardener is interested in keeping the worm poo lol

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## arielgasca420

I tried to start my own worm farm but it is better to start them off in the winter in your garage. I tried the nightcrawlers and they perished in 75 degree weather within a week. 
The mites are not much of a problem for me. If you are making compost than they are amazing to have. They do not harm your pets but can become very prolific in your bins. it is easy to get rid of them. just put a watermelon rind in the bin and they will swarm. then you can just bury the rind and your little workers in your garden.

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## Namio

> Hi all,
> 
> This might be a dumb question but should I gut load night crawlers before offering them? I gut load crickets and roaches, but never have done it with worms. 
> 
> If it's a yes, how? Just sprinkle a little gut load in the container and they'll have at it much like crickets?
> 
> Thanks!


Excellent question that I have thought about several times, but never manages to ask. Thank you TeeRiddle!

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## BuckeyeHerp

I feed my Red Wigglers a steady diet of carrots, kale and crushed egg shells(grit). Zoo Med Natural Cricket Care for crickets. :Smile:

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## BuckeyeHerp

I use a 12 quart Sterilite  filled halfway with Zoo Med Eco Earth(40-60%moisture). I drilled fourteen 1/4" holes on top and ten on sides. You'll want to move the coir around a couple times a week for proper aeration. Temp range for Red Wigglers is 55-77 degrees. Mist once a week moderately. The breeding cycle is 27 days. Population can double in 60 days.

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