Immediate Care of Red Wiggler Worms

If you have recently ordered Red Wiggler worms, please make sure to read all the information on this page carefully so you are clear on how our shipping process works, what is required of you, and how to take the best care of your worms once they reach you.

Important Shipping Info

Worms are shipped out on Mondays and Tuesdays (unless there is severe weather) to avoid having them sitting at the post office over the weekend - although this may be unavoidable with longer shipping times.

Please monitor the tracking and when you receive the delivery notice, ensure you pick them up within 24 hours. See our live worm guarantee.


Your Worms - What to Expect 

We take great care to ensure that your worms arrive in the healthiest state possible, but don't be alarmed if they seem a bit sluggish upon arrival (especially during cooler and hotter weather). Also keep in mind that worms can lose 10-20% of their water-weight during the shipping process. The good news is that they are very resilient, and will bounce back very quickly (within a few days) once they are in their new home.

Preparing a Home for Your Worms

If at all possible, please have your worm bin ready for the arrival of the worms!

The basic process involves:

  1. Adding your moistened bedding (and other habitat materials) along with a small amount of easy to break-down foods such as banana peels, apple cores, greens, melon, cucumber and other fruit (ideally chopped up). Then…

  2. Waiting at least 48 hours to add the worms. This allows time for a population of microorganisms to develop in the system, which will help ease the transition of the worms into their new home.

IMPORTANT:

  1. If you have a supply of “ living material”, mixing this in with your bedding materials during set-up can help you get the system “worm-ready” without the need for the 48 hour waiting period before adding the worms.

  2. If your worms have been in transit for more than 3 days and you DO have a system up and running but it hasn't aged for 48 hours (and you don't have living material), you are much better off to add the worms immediately than to wait for the aging period. In this case we do recommend leaving the lid off and shining a light over top for 24 hours just to reduce the chances of roaming.

What To Do If Your Worm Bin Isn’t Ready

As touched on, we strongly encourage everyone to have a system ready for the arrival of the worms - but in cases where that's not possible, there are some steps you can take to help ensure that the worms stay healthy. 

Here are our recommendations for shorter and longer waiting times (the time between the arrival of the worms and adding them to your system):

  • 1 or 2 Days - Simply place the worm shipping box in a climate-controlled, brightly lit location and open up both the box and worm bag to provide good ventilation. We recommend keeping a light on at all times, and you may also want to blow a fan over it (worms don't like light or air movement, and will stay down).

  • More Than 2 Days - Some sort of temporary bin is highly recommended in this case. Fill a plastic tub with damp shredded cardboard or some other bulky, absorbent bedding. Empty the contents of your worm bag into the bin. If you have a source of “living material” we recommend mixing that in with the bedding. You can also add a small quantity of easy-breakdown-foods like melon chunks, cucumber slices, or some leafy greens to provide an initial food source for the worms.

IMPORTANT - The number of days your worms are in transit is always a very important consideration as well. If your shipping time is 4 days or longer, we strongly encourage you to use the recommendations for “More Than 2 Days” (i.e. getting some form of temporary bin set up right away), even if you plan to set up your worm bin within a day or two.

Download Your Worm Care Guide

You will be receiving a printed copy of our worm care guide with your shipment. In the meantime, if you are interested in learning how to support your worms, please download your digital copy!

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Have Any Questions or Concerns?

Thank you so much for your order! Always remember that we are here to support you on your composting journey. Don’t ever hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions or concerns that come up along the way!