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Hows it going?
My wife and I have a worm factory back home in Florida and I am thinking of
doing something much bigger. At Fort Lewis (where I am stationed) in the
motor pool there is a wood scrap area that has lots of good wooden pallets.
I would love nothing more then to load my truck with several of these and
build a large worm house. I have lots of shredded newspaper that I have
collected at work and would eventually like to order a pound of African
Nightcrawlers from you. Is there anything else that I’m going to need as
far as getting this worm house going, and is there any possible risk to the
nightcrawlers if I use the pallets? Thanks for you time on this one and
tell everyone there I said greetings from the Middle East.
V/R
Zenon H.
Hi Zenon,
Worms are as easy as you are thinking, with a few caveats.
The biggest caveat is that I only have African Nightcrawler Cocoons available at the moment, but I think coming up with a pound of live African Nightcrawlers is the least I can do for someone like yourself.
The risks are minimal:
You did not mention a feed source. Worms gotta eat!
Watch out for nails and splinters when working with scrap wood(Gloves and updated tetanus shots would be advisable)
Figure out how to provide some shade for the African Nightcrawlers. People have some mistaken notions about the tolerance of these worms in general. Even though African Nightcrawlers are known for being more heat tolerant, they are just worms! The physics say a 1/10 ounce body will break down when left in direct sun! It’s the same with cold…though African Nightcrawlers are more sensitive to low temps than some other types of worms, when tested in bedding, they easily hold up to ambient temps in the 50’s.
Finally, realize that any worms raised totally on the ground are subject to contamination. You are likely to end up with mixed worms (Greatest chance is attracting Red Wigglers). Not a problem for 99% of the world…but if you are thinking of raising bait, it could be a problem.

