Enchytraea - The White worms

John Skillcorn
Costa Rica
Last update: 17 August, 2002

White worms are a very useful food for those animals small enough to find them nourishing.  Some Dendrobatids take them readily e.g. heavy feeders like Colostethus, but others will not touch them - possibly due to the fact that they are difficult for the frogs to pick up from a flat substrate.  You can make it easier for the frogs by placing the worms onto plant leaves, from where they will dangle.  These worms are found in the wild amongst decaying vegetation such as is found in compost heaps, but can be obtained very easily as a pure culture from most good tropical fish shops. 

They will probably be supplied to you in a small to medium sized plastic box with close fitting, ventilated lid, and with care the culture may be maintained like this for many months before needing to be sub-cultured. 

However, it is recommended that for general culture it is better if the contents are transferred to a larger container.  A full sized, plastic horticultural seed tray is ideal, although the 'traditional' container is one made of wood.  This gives the ventilation which seems to benefit the worms.  A sheet of glass is cut to fit inside the tray (so sitting on top of the compost), and then a sheet of hardboard cut to the same size to fit on top of the glass.  This keeps out the light to which the worms are sensitive.  However, see mention of the use of pieces of slate below.

With regard to the actual medium, white worms can be successfully maintained in a soil-based compost, either John Innes No. 1, or a mixture of good quality garden loam, sand and granulated peat in fairly equal quantities. This should be kept damp but definitely not wet.

The temperature generally recommended is one of around 15°C although the best culture I have ever seen (inside a large, expanded-polystyrene, tropical fish-transport box) was maintained at a temperature considerably higher than this, around 24°C if I remember correctly.  It was, however, absolutely teeming with worms.

For a single, small culture I find tropical fish food (flake type) to be an ideal food, and I also soak the flakes in a vitamin supplement such as Abidec after scattering them on the surface of the compost. I cover the food with either a small piece of glass or a flat piece of slate, and in a day or two there are usually masses of the 2cm worms busily eating away at the food. I find it best not to overfeed, as the food very quickly goes mouldy if it is not eaten straight away.  A little but often is the rule. Also, if you use a sheet of glass to cover the food, then it is better to keep the culture in the dark, as the worms actively avoiding coming to the surface during periods of light.  Large or numerous cultures can be fed wholemeal bread soaked in water, although the resulting worms would not be quite so nutritious.

Providing that they are fed regularly and kept at the correct temperature, very little will affect them excepting mites, to which the cultures seem quite prone.  These come from a variety of sources, including the soil if this has not been sterilised, and once they get established are difficult to remove.  It usually means the end of the culture.

It is a widely held view by the tropical fish breeding fraternity that white worms are a very fattening food, and should be used sparingly.  It is possible that this is true, especially if used regularly, and that this could apply to frogs and their tadpoles as well.  As with all foods, use them in moderation as part of a healthy and varied diet.

Your frogs will be the better for it.