Can feeding live earthworms introduce bacteria?

[travis]

wow, good idea. freezing a worm would probably kill the bad things inside it, while maintaining overall structure and nutritional value.

never thought of that...



but of course that wont remove pesticides. maybe if you rinsed really well and then froze them it would work. i heard that they flush themselves out if you let them soak in water for a minute or two.

maybe soaking for 3 minutes then rinsing well and then freezing is the best way.

 

[Toirtis]

1. Pesticides. Easily avoided if you collect your worms from an area you know to be pesticide (insecticide and herbicide) free for at least 2-3 years, or grow your own worms in a vermicomposter.

2. Parasites. Most parasites are pretty family-specific, although a few can use (or require) an intermediary host. To be fair, I have been feeding wild-caught worms from my yard and a couple of natural areas for years without any noticable problems.

 

[HylaChristine]

I also feed earthworms from the bait shop and havent had any problems, I want to start my own worm farm though, it would be much cheaper.