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timnbama
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A Juvenile Earthworm

Posts: 60

Bedding mix - 2008/07/18 20:15 I just concocted an eight cubit foot mix with about2.5 cu ft peat moss, 2.5 cu ft top soil, 2 cut ft shredded paper and 1 of rabbit manure. How does this sound to you guys? As I need to split a bed of African nightcrawlers I'm going to put in about 8o this evening and see what the result is before filling it full of worms. All of that mix is going into a 2'x4'x12" wooden bin that I made and waxed today. Underneath that one is a 2'x3'x12" with a little shelf added to finish out the 4'.
My 10 yr. old nephew who is the outdoorsman is having a blast with the paper shreddder. Thanks to him we've a couple of lawn and leaf bags packed so tight they won't hold anymore.
I think I see a compost pile in the making here in a couple of days with grass clipping, rabbit manure and shreeded paper for starters. Then it can go into the bins. As long as he has a promise of free fish bait he's up for helping.

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WFike

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A Protected Species Earthworm

Posts: 217

Re:Bedding mix - 2008/07/19 11:11 I would drop the topsoil and the peat moss and sub cardboard and newspaper instead.

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AK Red Neck
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A Juvenile Earthworm

Posts: 60

Re:Bedding mix - 2008/07/19 17:41 I would also drop the peat moss, but olny because I refuse to buy anything to put in my bins. If you already have it on hand then go for it.
I would keep the top soil cause it has a base of microbs already that should help start the bin off right as well as grit to help the worms digest.
Please keep in mind that I dont have african NC just Euros so they could like different set ups but my Euros love the rabbit poo just soak and rince it first to remove the urine and amonia.
When I shread paper I wad it up first. seems to help keep the wet paper from sticking flat togother and compressing at the bottom of the bin. It adds another step to the process but it sounds like you have free labor to help out.

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WFike

User

A Protected Species Earthworm

Posts: 217

Re:Bedding mix - 2008/07/19 22:03 If you have a wheel barrow you can put a bunch of shredded paper in it and mix in some of that soil and dampen it and the soil will stick to the bits of paper and keep them from mating up so much.

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timnbama
User

A Juvenile Earthworm

Posts: 60

Re:Bedding mix - 2008/07/19 22:40 WFike wrote:
If you have a wheel barrow you can put a bunch of shredded paper in it and mix in some of that soil and dampen it and the soil will stick to the bits of paper and keep them from mating up so much.

That's about what I did yesterday but I mixed the peat and soil together along with the rabbit manure then mixed in the paper. I kept adding paper until it wouldn't hold any more without trying to form a matted glob. With a hard squeeze I could just get a couple of drops of water to show up.
It's now all in 2 bins, one is 8 cu. ft. and the other 6 cu. ft. The 8 is now the 2nd bin of Africans and the 6 became the new home for my rubellus this morning. I transferred 491 very large red worms into that bed so I hope they will like their new home and reward me with more cocoons. An old refrigerator and a 15 ft deep freezer is about to get put to use. I think that the red worms will do better in a deep container so they will get the regrigerator laid on it's back.

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AK Red Neck
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A Juvenile Earthworm

Posts: 60

Re:Bedding mix - 2008/07/20 01:20 Thanks for the tip WFike

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timnbama
User

A Juvenile Earthworm

Posts: 60

Re:Bedding mix - 2008/07/20 23:55 The temp in 4 beds this afternoon was from 73-74F, while a plastic tub was at 79.6. I/m assuming that that is on account of it being plastic and the other day I added some extra fresh rabbit manure. According to my weather station the outside temp and humidity today equalled 130 with the heat index. I think that those bin temps are in line with where they should be. Since this was my first time to use this particular mix I was concerned about it heating.
Hopefully with the help of a friend we'll get a couple of rabbit cage sections out of the barn toward the week's end and then hopefully I be able to move some bins around, with the coldest loving ones like the rubellus up close to the air conditioner and the Africans toward the back of the barn.
I'm a chief jailer and after spending 8-16 hrs a day dealing with the caliber of people that frequents a jail, it's relaxing to go to the rabbit barn & pet the rabbits while they eat then go tend to the worms.

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