Needing help!! Starting a Worm Farm

[TheHornedToad]

Actually you are right it seems most newspapers today are made out of biodegradable material and the inks are made of soy. I still would feel weird using newspaper it seems unnatural, do you use strips of it or do you just crumple it up?

[Sandy Bear]

It really depends on my mood, and weather or not I'm getting along with my paper shredders, lol

Normally I shred all paper materials that I put in their tubs. Sometimes I get lazy though, or my shredder has a jam, so I will just dump a stack of papers or flyers/newspapers in their tub and the worms can have at it. Sometimes this makes it easier to pick the worms out of the tub after, as they will all go in between the sheets of paper.

The only paper products that I don't use are x-mas wrapping paper, and anything like shiny magazines.

When you shred the paper, the worms are able to eat it faster, the same goes for any food scraps, if you put it though a food processor and grind it all up, the worms eat that faster too.

Red Wrigglers are amazing composters though, 1 pound of worms can go though 1/2 a pound of food a day.

[TheHornedToad]

Do you add the paper as a food source or is it your main bedding?

[fish4all]

It is both their bedding and a food source. The worms can live off the newspaper. They won't be the healthiest worms around but they can and will live off it. The newspaper does provide some nutrients to them but adding fruit and veggy scraps is where the majority of the nutrition comes from.

[TheHornedToad]

I probably wont use newspapers they would only be used as a food source if I were to use them, and they cant add much nutrition to my worms lol.

[Sandy Bear]

The composting worms need a "Nitrogen" and a "Carbon" food sources.

The "Nitrogen" is the food scraps, fruits, veggies, breads, etc....
The "Carbon" is the paper products; paper, cardboard, corrugated cardboard, egg cartons, toilet paper rolls, paper towels, newspapers, flyers, burlap, etc....

The worms eat the paper bedding, it also helps neutralize any acidity in the bin caused by the food scraps. Worms, just like frogs, breath and absorb moisture though their skin. Egg shells really help with neutralizing the acidity in the bin too. Lots of people will crush them up, I like to leave them in little stacks, I find the worms like to hide in them, which is convenient when you are looking for worms to feed off. Corrugated cardboard is really good for that too, the worms like to burrow into it.

[fish4all]

Sandy is right, you have to have a carbon source and something that will act as the bedding for the worms. I use a lot of coconut coir in mine as bedding and a carbon source.

I do crush the egg shells but only because I have heard the worms are aided by having some sort of hard particle they eat and use to grind up their food in their stomach.

I have started bins with nothing but cardboard, newspaper and egg cartons without adding anything to the bin for 2 months. The worms worked everything although it was slower than the bins I added scraps to.

The worms will not have anything in them that is going to harm the frogs or other pets unless you put it in there. The particle size is so small that impaction shouldn't be an issue with anything the worms would normally eat. Paper material is eaten when it has started to break down from natural bacteria and molds.