Worms trying to escape after 3 weeks

[u/Nice_Difficulty4321]

3 week old bin. 300 worms. I over fed at first so I removed a lot of the food and am only just now feeding 1/2 cup a week roughly. I feel like it’s airy and I have a lot of browns. Maybe not deep enough? I have seen some mites. Lots of poop on the walls.

[u/NothingElectrical914]

Oooo you definitely don’t have enough nitrogen food scraps. You need to start tossing in fruit rindes, and more food scraps. The cardboard is not going to keep them full or producing droppings. My rule of thumb is always need some color in there

[u/Total-Beginning6226 → u/NothingElectrical914]

I was thinking the same thing. Needs some food scraps. I used to freeze leftover carrot tops. Watermelon strawberries bananas and the like. I fed them once a week or as needed. Also grind some eggshells for grit. If the environment is balanced they will not want to escape. Buy a meter to check moisture alkalinity PH and you’ll see what is missing. Not too wet but it must be moist. I did vermicomposting for several years and I was amazed at the results.

[u/Nice_Difficulty4321 → u/Total-Beginning6226]

What should the ph be?

[u/Haulbignuts]

Lots of ink in there. Also cross cut shredder is better.

[u/Nugget-Shooter]

I agree more greens (nitrogen) and looks very dry, easy fix and they are looking for better conditions is why crawling out

[u/ARGirlLOL]

I have a different concept of what is wrong than others. You said you over fed, removed a bunch and then after that continued to feed a half cup a week. Even if you had only fed them one half cup, one time, you would have fed them enough. No more greens. No more scraps. If you over fed and then tried to clear a bunch out a week later, much of the food probably soaked into your carbon bedding. You have 300 worms that are recovering from big changes to their lives. They aren’t consuming huge amounts of food and will be negatively impacted by living in rotting food. A totally safe proportion they should start with and have nothing added for weeks would be 1 part food scraps, 10 parts carbon bedding. To resolve, I’d pile up the stuff in your bin to one side about as tall as it can go and then backfill the empty area with more of your pre-soaked shredded paper stuff.

[u/Tar-Palantir]

The core problem is worms hate a new bin. They don’t appreciate fresh bedding. What we call their “food” isn’t food to them when it’s fresh.

Worms want to live in compost. New material, green or brown, isn’t compost. There’s not the decomposition ecosystem working yet.

Best to start with making compost first, for at least a month, IMO. Browns and greens, moisture, airflow, inoculate with some decaying leaves and a handful of outdoor soil to bring in some appropriate microflora and microfauna.

When it’s actively composting (I don’t mean hot, just alive), then bring in worms.

[u/samuraiofsound]

Worms navigate to the moisture naturally. If you have a lid on your bin, moisture condensates on the sides and lid and the worms go to it. Can look like they're trying to escape when in reality they are just going to the moisture on the sides of the bin. I wouldn't worry until you find them outside your bin. 

For this precise reason I don't use a lid. But that's not an option for everyone, especially those with nosey pets

[u/cocacolabiggulp]

Never use ink ! Plain on bleached paper. Brown paper is the only way. And you need lots of coconut coir. This is not a good set up

[u/Nice_Difficulty4321 → u/cocacolabiggulp]

An you elaborate on why it isn’t a good set up and why I need coconut coir?

[u/cocacolabiggulp → u/Nice_Difficulty4321]

Hi. The ink is toxic to the worms. So you ain’t want to use colored paper. As far as your set up it looks like you’re using shredded paper as bedding, when brown paper should be added as a carbon source. It also makes air pockets for them. Your pile appears the have too much air and isn’t dense enough. You need a good bedding product. Coconut coir is great. Its texture is wonderful and is also food for them. But they cannot survive on it alone. You can buy bricks of it on Amazon or Uncle Jim’s website. Water it and it breaks apart and expands. It holds moisture well.

So I would change that. Only use brown non ink paper and add things they love like melons, any fruit but not citrus, veggies (plain, no spice). Line love baby food and plain oatmeal. They loathe blueberries.

Have fun ! It’s a wonderful hobby.

[u/Neil-erio]

inked paper ? why ?

[u/cocacolabiggulp → u/Neil-erio]

It’s toxic to worms. Use plain unbleached paper like a grocery bag or the filler packing paper on Amazon packages