Where to find worms

In big cities such as New York, local gardens are the most accessible places to look for worms.

Buy live worms on Amazon (paid link): 

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 Just ask nicely for permission to dig some worms from the compost pile. 

The compost pile, like this one, is the place where worms thrive all year long.

 My gratitude to Antonio and Ron for helping me to get worms for my newts - when I need it the most! 

Back in October 2022, I urgently need to find live food for my 3 wild caught Eastern Newts. 

Here you can see one of the first feeding.

 I rinse worms and drop them one worm at a time in the aquarium. 

Eastern newts are the smallest and one of the cutest newts living in Northern America. 

Here comes one of the newts to check on the worm. 

And...yeah.

 Let's go find more worms to feed newts, fish or whatever else you may need them for. 

Earthworms and red wigglers stay active even in cold temperatures. 

Worms feed on dead organic matter and they need moisture for surviving. 

I find earthworms in parks without much digging under rocks and tree logs. 

First, let's prepare a container to put worms in. 

Worms can move surprisingly fast :) 

Let's flip over this rock. 

Here I see the first fat earthworm. 

Soil is usually moist under rocks making it a favorable place for earthworms to dig through. 

Worms like to gather in clusters - it's a defense mechanism that helps them to survive.

 So, there is usually more than one worm in any place you find them. 

Here I got a couple earthworms. 

And there are many more worms around under the same rock. 

Again, earthworms like to dig in moist soil looking for dead organic matter. 

So, we can make sort of a compost pile under this rock to attract more worms. 

This way I would find more worms under this rock the next time around ;) 

Let's loosen the soil and mix it with some wilted leaves. 

That is my improvised compost pile in a public park in the middle of New York :) 

Earthworms are beneficial to parks and gardens.

 And my pets love earthworms! 

Put the rock on the top to keep the moisture trapped under it. 

Now, let's check what we can find under the tree log.

 Ah look... two types of worms here! 

A couple centimeters long white and red worms. 

The white worms are relatives of Grindal worms that I've been culturing for feeding my fish. 

Check my videos about Grindal worms. 

Fish love them! 

Grindal worms grow up to 1 cm long and thrive at room temperature. 

The white worms differ by longer size and they thrive in cold temperatures. 

My apartment is too warm for culturing white worms. 

Let's flip another tree log. 

Here I got some isopods - my newts love isopods!

 I found in New York parks and have been culture 3 different types of isopods. 

Check my videos for more details about isopods.

I see many young red worms on this tree log. 

Red wigglers are smaller than earthworms. 

And red wigglers move fast, usually looking for dead organic matter on top of the soil. 

Moist decomposing tree bark is the perfect place to look for red wigglers. 

Red worms feed on the tree bark while hiding in the same bark.

 I use a thin twig for picking red wigglers out of bark wrinkles - the way some bird would do it.

 It's a time consuming process. 

Picking wigglers from compost piles is faster.

 Red wigglers reproduce fast and consume as much detritus as large earthworms. 

For those reasons, gardeners in New York often prefer red wigglers. 

And guess what...you can culture red wigglers in small containers right in your apartment. 

I get enough red wigglers here to start a new culture. 

Well, more about it in future videos!

 My Eastern newts and even toothless Endlers fish enjoy live worms!

 Have fun and happy pets :)