First the African nightcrawler is probably one of the most heat tolerant worms around. They like temperatures around 75 – 80 degrees Fahrenheit. These are also a very large worm with mature adults reaching 6 – 8 inches in length.

African Nightcrawlers are definitely the super red worm for fishing, especially in the hot summer months when water temperatures peak, hence killing off other worms much quicker.

One area that is overlooked when it comes to the African nightcrawler is the fact that it eats more food than other red worms, including red wigglers and European nightcrawlers.

I have seen numerous sites state that red wrigglers are the best composting worm.

Since many people do not raise African nightcrawlers, perhaps they are just repeating what they have heard online posted by others; which in reality is the way the Internet works sadly. One person states something and others basically plagiarize what they read

Being I have raised these super red worms for a while along with red wigglers and European nightcrawlers, I can tell you from personal experience there is no comparison between the African nightcrawler and red wiggler. The African nightcrawler wins hands down.

Below is a picture of a new African nightcrawler bin I setup just three weeks ago.

I cleared to the bottom of the bin, only to expose 3″ of mostly worm castings, not vermiculture. My last bin was setup only for a month and a half and after screening yielded a full 5 gallon bucket of worm castings. Keep in mind this is a 30 gallon bin whereas most people use an 18 gallon bin.

As another comparison, I did the best I could as the nightcrawlers were camera shy

The African nightcrawler just stretched all the way out and sat there while the European nightcrawler wanted to curl up.

The photo below is of a 4″ or so European nightcrawler and as you can see the African easily surpasses this by about twice the length, although he looks lean from being stretched out on a paper plate .

Here is a snap shot of an African nightcrawler. To give some comparison, I used to play basketball and easily could palm the ball

In conclusion, if you are looking for a heat tolerant red worm which in my experience, by far the best composting worm all in one, try setting up an African nightcrawler worm bin.

In order to make this easy and cost effective, I am offering a ¼ lb starter package shipped priority mail. Click here for more information on how to obtain these super red worms!

Happy Worming,

Bruce Galle