What Do Red Wiggler Worms Eat? A Complete Feeding Guide

Red wiggler worms are champion eaters — but they don't eat the way we do. They have no teeth and no forks or knives! Their food has to soften up first, and tiny microbes do most of the pre-digesting. Then the worm slurps up the softened food and grinds it in a muscular gizzard, with the help of a little grit. Here's your complete guide to feeding them well.

What Red Wigglers Love to Eat

  • Fruit scraps: melon rinds, banana peels, apple cores, berries, pumpkin
  • Vegetable scraps: peelings, lettuce, greens, cooked squash, corn cobs and husks
  • Coffee grounds and paper filters — a worm-bin favorite
  • Tea bags and loose tea leaves
  • Crushed eggshells — the grit worms need, and it balances acidity
  • Shredded cardboard and plain paper — yes, worms eat their bedding too
  • Plain cooked rice, pasta, or bread — in small amounts only
  • Fallen leaves and leaf litter — their natural wild food

Foods to Keep Out of the Bin

  • Meat, fish, and bones
  • Cheese, butter, and all dairy
  • Oils, grease, and salad dressing
  • Salty or heavily spiced food
  • Large amounts of citrus and onion (a little, now and then, is fine)
  • Pet waste and glossy or coated paper

How Much, and How Often?

A healthy worm herd can eat roughly half its own weight in scraps every day once it's settled in — that's about a quarter pound a day for a half-pound of worms. But start slow. When your worms are new, give a modest handful or two of scraps, then wait until that feeding is mostly gone before adding more. Pocket-feed: dig a small hole in the bedding, drop the food in, and cover it up — and pick a different corner each time. Burying food is the secret to a sweet-smelling, fly-free bin.

Serving Tips

  • Chop it up: smaller pieces break down faster and get eaten sooner.
  • Freeze scraps first: freezing bursts the cell walls (and kills fruit-fly eggs), so food softens quickly once thawed.
  • Sprinkle eggshell grit over each feeding to help digestion.
  • Balance wet and dry: if the bin looks soggy, add dry shredded bedding with the food.

Signs You're Feeding Too Much

Sour smells, swarms of fruit flies, or piles of uneaten food all mean the same thing: slow down. Stop feeding for a week, mix in dry bedding, and let the worms catch up. They won't starve — they'd rather munch their bedding than go hungry. For more on everyday feeding, see our companion page How To Feed Worms, and if you're just setting up a bin, start with How To Raise Red Wigglers At Home.

Well-fed wigglers make mountains of castings — and grow big and lively besides. Need worms or worm food? Visit the shop — our live red wigglers ship farm-fresh.