Self Picked Live Earth Worms Fed To Catfish.

[ugot lucky]

Hello,
Im posting this fourm to get some informations about feeding earth worms or bugs in general.
Can it be harmfull to bring insects from the wild and feed them to your fish? Are there any health probelms associated with doing this type of feeding?
Anything that you can contribute to this fourm about this topic will be very helpfull and will be well appreciated!
THANK YOU!

 

[Delta62 Thorn]

In general I would refrain from bringing in any insects, you do not know which ones may be poisonous to your fish. Earthworms should be fine, I have yet to meet a fish that doesn't enjoy a good worm or two

If your fish are store bought and therefore domesticated the wisest course of action would be to stick to shrimp pellets and other formula specific foods -- feeding your fish a diet entirely consisting of earthworms will eventually result in a lack of nutrition as earthworms can not provide all the nutrients a healthy growing fish will need (packaged food products are designed with your fish's dietary/nutrient intake needs in mind).


∆

 

[hensonc4098]

I feed all my various fish earthworms now and again as a treat. I normally put them in a cup or something as I collect them, and then pour hot water on them (doesn't need to be boiling, but the water out my hot tap nearly is anyway lol) to kill or at least KO them and then I'll cut them up with scissors for the smaller tetras etc. (always fun when the mother walks in when I'm in the middle of doing that ) and bung them in. As delta said, it's best to keep them as a now and again treat as they are quite fatty and don't contain everything they need for day to day feeding, but then again I can't see you wanting to go digging for worms every day anyway hehe

 

[fishnovice]

I feed all my various fish earthworms now and again as a treat. I normally put them in a cup or something as I collect them, and then pour hot water on them (doesn't need to be boiling, but the water out my hot tap nearly is anyway lol) to kill or at least KO them and then I'll cut them up with scissors for the smaller tetras etc. (always fun when the mother walks in when I'm in the middle of doing that ) and bung them in. As delta said, it's best to keep them as a now and again treat as they are quite fatty and don't contain everything they need for day to day feeding, but then again I can't see you wanting to go digging for worms every day anyway hehe

The main danger is that worms and bugs you catch amy be contaminated with pesticides and other dangerous chemicals. I feed my axolotl earthworms from my organic compost bin so i know they are safe. He also gets pelets. As other haefv said, worms should form part of a balanced diet. After all, humans can't just live on chocolate

 

[Inchworm]

Earthworms are good on an occasional basis. Collect them from the woods or other areas that are free from pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers. Rinse them well and chop them to a size that will be edible by your fish. They may also be frozen after rinsing and drying them. This should make them easier to cut up.

 

[Squidward]

My main concern would be any sort of pesticides that the worms may have in them.

My Mrs would give me grief about chopping up and freezing earthworms.
As it, I get a hard time for having other frozen food in the freezer. But she's marginally ok with it as it is in the blister packs.