Wormcity Forum

Hi, I have been using my wormery for a couple of months now and have noticed that I am getting some dead worms with damage to their posterior end, it looks like they have a couple of beads attached to them, whatever is causing it is slicing down to the core of the worm and going round in a complete circle leaving the bead like parts of the body behind. any ideas what could be causing this ?

Hi, I don’t have a clue but I will try to find out. In the mean time can you check your bin for unwanted visitors such as “flat worms”
I’ll try to get back to you soon. Ronnie may come on soon and have the answer of the top of her head!

Willy

Hi, I’m not sure but from what you describe I think your problem may be centipedes. They will happily feast on worms. They grab the worm with their pincers then inject venom in to it before eating.
Centipedes can be difficult to spot in your bin. They move quickly at the slightest disturbance and hide. Your only defence is to remove them by hand and dispose of them.
Other possibility are ground beetles or coniverous slugs if it’s either of these again they need to be removed by hand and disposed of.

Hope that helps in some way
Willy

Hi, thanks for your reply, I will sift through the material and have a look for any unwanted visitors.

This is a problem that I have come across a few times that is called the 'string of pearls' effect aka sour crop

I have added a couple of links below which give pictures, descriptions and what to do about it. (general consensus is that they are being overfed and the large volume of decomposing material creates acids and gasses that are toxic to worms. These gases build up in the worms and make them explode)


https://thesquirmfirm.com/protein-poiso ... ete-guide/

http://vermicomposters.ning.com/forum/t ... dying-each

and google "protein poisoning worms" for more links .....

Ronnie

Just catching up on the forum and read this thread with a lot of interest. I had something similar with my worms, but it doesn’t sound like it got quite so advanced. They looked swollen about a third down their length and pinched either side of the swollen bit. Looked awful. I was having a few issues with the wormery being on the moist side too.
Coincidentally, I no longer have this problem at all in fact the worms are doing so well now, and I really don’t think I’ve changed the amount I feed at all. I have changed other bits and pieces though:
I have moved the wormery inside, where it’s warmer so the worms will want to eat more. I think this was the best move. I also put the leachate back into the bin, add quite a bit more cardboard and leave the lid off.
Hope your worms are better now, and thanks for the info Ronnie.

Spotted a couple of perished worms in the sump today. There is no liquid there, but the two that were dead were shrivelled, but not dry. The rest seem fine and there are no smells in there so I don’t think I’m going anoxic. There looked like a head of a worm in the sump too so maybe I have a centipede in there or something similar. Or maybe I’m over feeding.

Hi, I’m surprised if the sump is totally dry, is the bedding in the bottom tray damp? All I can suggest is keep a eye on things and let us know how it goes

Willy

Well I have insulation trays above and below my main working tray, both of these are damp and worms are in all three trays plus the lid and the sump. There is condensation in the lid but no leachate per se in the sump, but my wormerie is only in month 4.

Had another closer look and whilst no new dead ones, some are not looking as healthy as they should. I have a couple of theories..... whilst there is plenty of food it’s almost as if they don’t have enough base soil material to pass through their bodies, it’s almost as if they are running on empty and not as plump as they should be or were. Given the winter start, need for insulation trays and the new hamster there is a lot of “white material’ in the wormery, always been a bit concerned about that. To try and deal with that theory I have added about four trowels worth of spent compost across two trays.

Theory number 2 is with the hamster bedding I’m adding (no sawdust, just paper bedding and food/poo) could it be urine contamination is making the composter a bit alkali? To tackle that one the crushed eggshells are in the oven sterilising before I grind and add a sprinkle.

If anyone else has any ideas that would be great. If it continues I will take a couple of photos of any sick worms....