Needing help!! Starting a Worm Farm

[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.

[Sandy Bear]

If you get into African Nightcrawlers at all, from what I've been told by other worm farmers, is that they like a lot of "outdoor" materials. I give mine all the "reject" leaf litter that I make in the fall. It all gets baked in the oven prior to giving it to the worms.

I've also bought "C-Clamps" to place around the lids of my tubs for my African Nightcrawlers as well. These guys are "bad worms" IMO. I've tried duct taping the lid shut, they got out. The light is only a mild deterrent for them. African Nightcrawlers do not like to be disturbed, it will make them crazy for days to weeks when they do. I started culturing mine almost a year ago now, and they've only just started to calm down.
I bet I lost at least half the worms I started with, in the first month that I bought them, just from them escaping the tubs. When worms escape, they usually die within 2-3 feet of the worm tub, they dehydrate quickly.

One thing I was told, is if you have a roach or cricket tub (or other insect), you can put the used egg cartons from that tub into your worm tub for them to consume. Don't do this. You could end up crashing your worm colony.

Used Coffee grounds/filters and used tea bags are also a favourite for worms to eat.

[TheHornedToad]

My worms seem to be doing fine without paper products they have been going for 6 months now. I only put a little food at a time so the food doesn't change the ph of the soil.

[TheHornedToad]

I use a specially blended food source from wormetc and they say that is a complete food for worms. Maybe that is why my worms are doing ok.