Wednesday, April 28, 2010

How to name worm pets?




The red wigglers are now two weeks into their new home, and still they have no names. Seb and his father Doug assured me that they could figure this out. Doug thought as we named each of them, we could band them for later identification recall - hmmmmm?

I took a good look at them last evening - (their moist skin used for gas exchange, rather than breathing) - by reaching deep into their home and gently pulling up a handful of matter. After brushing off most of the decaying leaves, vegetation and other associated organisms, I was left with three of the red worms - who quickly squiggled into a ball.

Worms do not have eyes, but they can sense light, and quickly move away from light, and if exposed to light for too long (estimated to be one hour), they will become paralyzed, or if their skin dries out, the worm will die.

I visit the worms daily. On each visit, I roll out their new home from their darkened space (storage bin), unzip the top of their home, and gently put my hand deep into their home to test the moisture level (moist to touch, but not enough to produce a drip if squeezed). I love the odor - a rich earthy smell without a strong odor of decomposition. I may or may not feed them, and I may or may not mist dry areas, and then cover the top with shredded newspapers to conserve moisture, and assure darkness. I then roll them back to their storage bin.

1 comment:

  1. We're working on a name list! We'll post it here soon!

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