Imagine having a pet that does not bark at all hours of the night, use the toilet on your favorite carpet and make a complete mess of your garden. Well earthworms can be a savior for your garden! Granted, they are not the most cuddly pets, but they certainly are interesting ones.

Keeping earthworms can be a very interesting experience. These amazing creatures will teach you a lot about the decomposition of organic waste. Earthworms are fairly easy creatures to keep, the most important thing you have to remember is to keep their bedding moist, but not soggy, all the time. This is because earthworms breathe through their sides, and they need the moisture to breathe. Never allow the worm bin to dry out as they will suffocate without the moisture they need to breathe! When we talk about a bin, we speak of the container you will keep your worm farm in. It is extremely important to remember not to overfeed the earthworms. Doing this will make the worm bin acidic, which is fatal for the worms. Keep everything in moderation, too much water will make the bin soggy, you do not want it to be soggy, but only moist. If you put too much food in the bin, it will turn acidic. If the bin smells acidic, you will need to remove some of the food immediately and place more bedding in the bin to equalize the ratio.

Now you need to know what to feed your pet worms? Anything organic that you can get your hands on! This can be food scraps that are preferably organic, such as fruit and vegetables and even eggshells. Most kinds of manure are acceptable, except human of course! Newspaper and shredded cardboard are excellent bedding options for a worm bin. You can also add garden trimmings such as leaves and twigs into your worm bin, but remember not to overfeed your worms! Earthworms should never be fed dairy products, meat, bones, sugar, vinegar, salt or any other artificial foods. These food products are bad for your worms and will kill them.

Keeping earthworms as pets can be an interesting and educational experience, and they are relatively easy to maintain. Your worms will also be of great benefit to your garden if you decide to use them for fertilization purposes. The earthworms will reproduce greatly, so you will have a lot of composted earth to work on your garden with. The earthworm compost can even be used in your home’s pot plants. All in all, fairly granted they are not the cuddliest of pets, but they sure are the most useful.