A Worm Farm for my Tortoises
Three of my tortoises get animal protein once a week or so.
I bought some bait-worms locally and acting on the assumption that they've been fed on 1950s era paint chips prior to coming to live with me, I set up a tiny composter for them to live in (and more importantly to fatten up healthily).
The bin is an 88¢ storage box from Walmart that I drilled a bunch of holes in using my smallest drill bit (so the worms can't escape their fate). I designated an MRE-spoon as worm-stirrer, and made a 'sheath' for it on the lid.
I gave the worms a bath when we got home, to rid them of the presumably toxic bedding they'd been living in, then moved them into a mix of grass and dirt and eggshells and a tired tomato and some grassland tortoise kibble.
I check on them every day or two, and give the material a stir to redistribute the wealth (and worms) in their collective... my plan is to wait a few weeks before I start feeding them to the torts.
Jamie
Three of my tortoises get animal protein once a week or so.
I bought some bait-worms locally and acting on the assumption that they've been fed on 1950s era paint chips prior to coming to live with me, I set up a tiny composter for them to live in (and more importantly to fatten up healthily).
The bin is an 88¢ storage box from Walmart that I drilled a bunch of holes in using my smallest drill bit (so the worms can't escape their fate). I designated an MRE-spoon as worm-stirrer, and made a 'sheath' for it on the lid.
I gave the worms a bath when we got home, to rid them of the presumably toxic bedding they'd been living in, then moved them into a mix of grass and dirt and eggshells and a tired tomato and some grassland tortoise kibble.
I check on them every day or two, and give the material a stir to redistribute the wealth (and worms) in their collective... my plan is to wait a few weeks before I start feeding them to the torts.
Jamie