keeping rag

[wooler]

i just dug a few king rag this evening. i plan to keep them in the fridge in a tray with a little sea water. i have heard that they will keep well this way but have the following questions.

1.how long can i expect them to last?

2.has anyone killed the rag with the fridge being to cold?

3.how may rag per tray?

4.how much water?

5.change water everyday?

any info and opinions much appreciated......don't wanna end up killing them, bloody hard work digging them!

[anberme]

Hi,

Large King Rag can be kept very well this way but make sure that you have a very small amount of water in each tray. Half way up the ragworms back is about right.
If the water is too deep, bacteria will spread very quickly and the rag wont last long.
Try and keep the temperature between 4 and 6 degrees.
In cat litter size trays about 10 large worms is enough.
Change water everyday for the first 3 or 4 days and every two or three after that.
Try not to handle them as warm hands wont help.
They should live for about two weeks or even longer if you are lucky.
Hope this helps.

[paul mason]

i just dug a few king rag this evening. i plan to keep them in the fridge in a tray with a little sea water. i have heard that they will keep well this way but have the following questions.

1.how long can i expect them to last?

2.has anyone killed the rag with the fridge being to cold?

3.how may rag per tray?

4.how much water?

5.change water everyday?

any info and opinions much appreciated......don't wanna end up killing them, bloody hard work digging them!

1. Months if you give them care and attention, check every day!

2. Yes you can, when the water turns to ice or goes below 0 degrees, keep around 5 degrees. Keep a container in the fridge with clean sea water taken from a deep water mark and use when changing the water on the worms.
On no account use ambient temperature water, the water must be the same temp as the fridge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3.Depends on the size of the tray? cat litter size tray around 10 to 15 worms

4. Just enough to cover the worms.

5. At the start change the water everyday for about 3 to 4 days, and then every week after. remove any broken or damaged worms as these will pollute the water.

6. Try not to handle the worms as the acid from oils on your hand or other substances that have being in contact with your hands will burn the worms.

As you can see it takes a little bit of effort but it's wort it.

[wooler]

great response thanks.

months .........i wil be happy if they keep for anything more than a week.

what is the longest someone has keep a worm alive.lol

[Aurelien]

Hi,

Depending if you have access regularly to king rag beds, you can always keep some in your fridge, with approx a 2 weeks turn over ...
After digging my rags I wash them very carefully (4 or 5 times) to remove all mud, small pieces of weed ect ... If I'm not going to use them straight away I discard every worm that have been cut or hurt by the fork ...
Straight after getting back home, I pack them in bait boxes (depending the size, but usually between 10 and 15 per box) with newspaper under and on the top of the worms.
Put the box in the vegetable drawer of the fridge.
I change the newspaper everyday and remove all suspicious worms.
I keep them like this and they last around 2 weeks.
The newspaper make them very hard, lively and they take a very bright red color ...

Hope this help.