It is essential for you, as a fisherman, to also learn how to keep nightcrawlers alive because there are instances when you still have some worms after your fishing trip. To not throw them away and use them again for your next fishing experience, you have to know the steps to keeping these creatures alive.
If you only have to preserve your worms for a couple of weeks, you only need to place them in the refrigerator to use them again for your next fishing experience.
However, you have to feed your worms in cases where you need to keep them for more than two weeks; if this is your case, I have written the valuable materials and steps in maintaining the lives of your worms in this writing piece.
While reading this article, you will gradually know what to do with your worms so you can still use them for your next fishing adventure.
So, let’s go
best way to keep nightcrawlers alive
If you know how to catch tilapia and other kinds of fish, you must also learn the steps on how to preserve the best bait for them. Here are the steps that you should follow to keep the lives of your night crawlers.
1. Think If You Have To Change The Container
If you bought your worms with a more appropriate container, you don’t have to move them anymore. In this situation, you have to follow step 3 right away. However, if you need to transfer your worms to a much bigger container because of their number, you can proceed to step 2.
Opaque plastic, Styrofoam container, or any other appropriate container is where you must put your excess worms. You should not use a plastic container that is transparent because light may penetrate the place of your worms, and it will disturb them.
2. Put The Soil In Your Container
Always put your worms in the right container together with healthy soil so your worms will get enough oxygen.
Dead leaves can also be food for the worms, so you can try putting some in the worm container with the soil. The number of dead leaves and the amount of healthy soil that you should put depends on the number of your worms.
3. Sprinkle Drops Of Water And Put Your Worms In The Container
If the worm bedding is dry, you need to sprinkle a few drops of water into your worm container. This step is necessary to maintain the amount of water that the worms need. If the water is neither proper nor enough, they might die.
After you put drops of water into the bedding, you can now place your worms in the container.
4. Feed Your Worms
Spray or put the old, moist coffee grounds in the place where you put your worms. You should equally spread it throughout the cup, and you can also try to feed your worms by putting the coffee grounds on top.
You can also use other worm food like fruit and vegetable scraps, tea bags, pasta, bread, dry leaves, and other suitable foods for worms. In my case, I prefer using coffee grounds for my worms.
5. Seal The Container And Put It In Any Cold Place, Like a Refrigerator
Before you put your worms inside the fridge, always make sure that you seal the container so you can maintain the moisture that your worms need to sustain the water that they need.
After you put drops of water, nourish your night crawlers, and seal the container, it’s now time for you to put your sealed container inside your refrigerator.
Do not let them freeze or place them in a hot place because they will die. Worms just need to be cold, and the ideal temperature for worms is 50 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
6. Check The Moisture And The Food
I recommend that you also check the moisture of the soil every few days. If you see that the ground is dry, you have to put drops of water again to achieve adequate oxygen and proper moisture for your worms.
Moreover, it is also very essential to check your worms once a week from the time that you put them in your refrigerator so you can see if they already eat all the coffee grounds you gave them. Do not feed them again if you still see the food that you gave them because your worms will die if you over-feed them.
Seal the container whenever you do this step, and you have to follow this step repeatedly as long as you need to preserve your worms for more weeks. For instance, after you finish this final step, you still have to check the moisture and the food again if you still have to keep your worms alive.
7. Ensuring Optimal Thermal Conditions:
The optimal temperature is of utmost importance when it comes to ensuring the well-being and vitality of our beloved nightcrawlers. When it comes to angling, it’s crucial to set your sights on a temperature sweet spot between 40°F to 50°F (4°C to 10°C). This range is where the fish are most likely to be biting, so keep your eyes peeled for those ideal conditions.
One can accomplish this feat in the depths of a basement, the hidden sanctuary of a root cellar, or even within the sacred confines of a specialized refrigerator.
What Material do you need to keep nightcrawlers alive at home
Here is the Material Needed For Nightcrawlers
1. Worm Container
This stuff is where you will put the soil and your worms. However, there are instances when you can use the original container of your worms if it is suitable. This situation only applies if you only want your worms to live for a few days.
The best worm container size depends on the amount of soil and food you must put in and the number of nightcrawlers you need to preserve. On the other hand, you can use wood, glass, plastic, or any type of container for as long as it is available.
When it comes to the color of the container that you should use, you can choose any color except transparent.
2. Old Moist Coffee Grounds Or Any Suitable Foods For Worms
This type of powdered food is one of the essential foods that you must use in preserving your worms before you put them in your refrigerator.
Unlike leaves, grass, vegetables, and other foods for the worms, coffee grounds are very easy and quick for your worms to eat. Because once you place this food on your worms, they can start consuming it immediately.
Many experienced anglers recommend coffee grounds for fishing worms, and it is also an ideal nourishment for night crawlers.
3. Refrigerator
This useful material is the place where you have to put your worms to maintain the temperature they need to be alive for more weeks. Worms need to be cold, so the refrigerator is an essential piece of equipment for preserving your night crawlers.
4. Soil
Worms love to be in healthy soil, and the soil that you should use must be beneficial to the health of your worms because this is their primary habitat.
Your worms are approximately made up of 80 percent water, and they are losing this water in their body for about 15 percent every day, so they must be in moist soil.
They also prefer to be in loamy, loose soil because they breathe through their skin. Furthermore, you should look for a ground that is rich in nitrogen and organic material.
5. Water
Water produces moisture that worms need. Creating moisture for your worms through water helps them to breathe or gain proper oxygen. But in this tutorial, you will only use a few drops of water.
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Conclusion: How To Keep Nightcrawlers Alive
I admit that keeping your worms alive for your next fishing journey is challenging because they only have a limited life span. However, once you follow the steps that I discussed, I am utterly confident that you can preserve your worms and use them again for your next fish-chasing adventure.
This article, for me, is also invaluable, especially for anglers who are not always fishing and always have excess worms after they fish. In my case, I sometimes need to keep my worms alive because there are instances when it takes more than two weeks before I catch fish again.
If you think that this other tutorial has helped you to learn How To Keep Nightcrawlers Alive, please do not hesitate to post your insights in the comments section below or share this article with your friends.
FAQ
Their names indicate the habit of coming to the surface at night to feed and breed. Earthworms don’t like light, so they prefer being active at night when it is dark.
You can give them the scraps of fruit and vegetables. Don’t feed them too much or too often at first. They will eat the parts you won’t, like cores and peels.
Worms have skin-based respiration. Through the skin, oxygen diffuses from the environment. A worm’s lungs are absent. They can breathe freely as long as they have access to enough air and have moist skin.
