Las Vegas Worms is NOT OPEN FOR LOCAL PICKUP. I am temporary closed due to the virus, a heat wave in the Southwest, and the post office is not delivering quickly. Stay safe and sane!
John here, owner of Las Vegas Worms.
You will find the best, strongest, healthiest worms for your garden or composting here.
These red wiggler worms are heat tolerant as well! That might be the best thing about them! They can live in heat and cold that would kill normal worms.
With my new service, these worms are delivered right to your door! 🙂
After you look over the site and read about these worms below, you can get the details on ordering here.
Las Vegas Worms is your source for worms and information on having worms in the Las Vegas area as well as other hot places. And yes, raising worms is different in Las Vegas and other places in the Southwest than in other places.
This site is set up to show you how to have worms for compost, gardening, vermicompost, pet food, fertilizer or whatever. (Did you know some people even eat worms? Not my thing and I can’t you help you out there.)
But…
You will find the only source for ACCLIMATED composting worms in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and other areas in the Southwest here on my website.
Here’s what I mean by “acclimated”… These Las Vegas worms are used to the extreme heat and cold we have throughout the year in the Southwest.
See, compost worms aren’t supposed to be able to live above 85 degrees or below 40 degrees. These worms do though!!!
I’ve been selectively breeding my worms for the past 7 years to withstand the crazy temperature swings we get here in Vegas. They live through the hottest parts of summer and coldest temperatures in winter. In fact, I have some worms that you can buy that live in raised beds that are only 9” of soil! (If you want to read more about how these worms got to be heat tolerant, click here.)
These babies can take the Las Vegas heat and keep on eating (and pooping). If you want the full story of how these worms came to be, click here.
Speaking of eating, these worms eat A LOT of compost, food scraps, grass clippings or whatever else you want to feed them. (Composting with worms is called vermicomposting.)
In fact, these red wigglers can sometimes eat their body weight in food scraps every day. That’s like me eating almost 200 pounds of food every day!
All that eatin’ means lots of poop. And that’s what we are after.
Worm poop (called “worm castings” in polite society) is considered to be the very best plant fertilizer ever.
Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself, just click on one of the links here to learn more about worms, and if you are in Las Vegas, Phoenix, the Southwest or anywhere else it’s hot, you really NEED to get your composting worms from me. Anything else and you are risking having them all die on you.
Talk soon!
John
P.S. Order your composting worms delivered to your door. Shipping is free. Use this link to order your worms. I’ll pay the shipping and the more worms you get, the less it’ll cost you for each pound. Oh, one pound of worms is about 1,000 red wigglers .
These amazing worms are your best bet if you live somewhere hot in the summer and cold in the winter. No one can match the quality and health of these worms I’ve got for you! Seriously, if you want the best worms for your Southwest garden, get mine! Delivered right to your door!
Not on board yet? Before you get your worms anywhere else, you should read this.
Thanks so much for your kind note here, Gayle.
Your experience with the organic waste in Tennessee is amazing! It really is incredible what those worms will do!
And I really appreciate that you ordered your worms from me. That’s so important since you are gardening in Las Vegas.
Thank you so much for posting this here, Claire!
I really appreciate it! 🙂
And for folks reading here, this is my reply to Claire’s email:
I got your order and your worms will ship out on Monday. 🙂
Sorry to hear that you got Uncle Jim’s blue worms. Try to put them somewhere away from the red wigglers you got from me if you can. They will probably die, but if not, they will take over and your good red wigglers you’re getting from me will disappear.
And you’re welcome for helping you and other gardeners out! I do love our community of composters and gardeners and enjoy helping out.
Enjoy, and let me know if you have any other questions!
John
Hi Dan,
It’s great to hear that your worms arrived safe and sound and everyone is happy after their trip in the mail
You might not want to puree the food for your worms. It’s not a good idea. What happens is that the bin becomes too wet and unwanted organisms start living in your bin. The bigger problem is that the worms can’t eat the pureed food as easily as they can what you are calling the hard stuff. Then the puree rots in your bin and causes a huge mess. It’s been 5 days since you wrote this, so you are probably seeing that already and you may well have stopped feeding pureed food already.
With hard food, you want to feed again when most of what you’re seeing on top of the bin where you fed before is just the outside skins and peels of the food.
When you first put the worms in a new location, they will investigate their surroundings, including the top and side of the bin. If they do this for more than a week, you might consider adding coconut coir to your bedding as the worms might not like the bedding you have in there now.
I hope this helps! Good luck,
John
Hey Chris,
Unfortunately, the answer to both your questions is no. I used to sell castings, the best ever. But now that I’ve moved out of Las Vegas, I can only get worms for you. I know that some stores sell castings, but they are pretty much useless. As soon as the castings die, 90% of the value of the castings is gone since everything dies and you only get a one-time fertilizer and not living organism that help your soil forever. If it was me, I’d buy worms and make my own castings.
Hi John,
My worms arrived in great shape this a.m.‼️
They are happy and at home in their new pan and chowing down‼️🤗
Thank you soo much for the generous amount in the order, well worth the$$ and as advertised. I highly recommend your service and product.
Shipping was 3 days and wigglers were not hot and were active and spunky when I opened the bag. ( I worried because of the heat here in Las Vegas)
I’m a happy buyer and Gardner now.😍
Bless you‼️
Is your worm book available yet?
Kat
Thanks so much for your note here, Kathryn! 🙂
I’m glad to hear your worms got to you safe and sound in Las Vegas. People have worried about the shipping and your message here will help assure them that our shipping service works out great! And you get heat tolerant worms that live in Las Vegas!
I appreciate your recommendation here too! Thanks much.
My worm book isn’t done yet. I’ve got to get it done and hopefully it’ll be done by the end of the month! 🙂
Thanks again for letting me and others know you’re one of many people who have ordered worms from me and they’re great!
John
Awesome! We do vermicompost here in vegas but have found we have to mostly keep our bins indoors…which is….fine….lol! Can your worms actually withstand the heat outdoors in the summer (shade of course)? Because that would be amazing! Currently I have our bins in a semi-air conditioned back room of the house…in the heat of the summer and coldest weeks of winter I usually end up bringing them all the way into the kitchen. We had a fly issue a few months ago due to overwatering and since I’ve been stingy with the water trying to avoid that struggle again! Over the past few weeks with a hectic work schedule and temperatures rising, I unfortunately let our worms get very dried out…our 2 year sustained population of several thousand is now down to only a handful 🙁 I’m pretty sad about it. I definitely want to rebuild so I’m thinking we may give your guys a shot! Very clever of you to breed for hardiness, as obviously some worms can better withstand harsh conditions than others (case and point my lonely remaining few!). We can’t imagine not doing vermicompost, but here in the desert we do have to make some special considerations not encountered by those in more temperate climates – like indoor worms XD and my endless battle against fruit flies!
Looking forward to adding some of your wigglers to our team!
Hi Mary,
Thanks for your note here and the email I got from you this morning. As I stated in my email, I’ve moved out of Las Vegas but I can ship heat-tolerant worms to you there in Vegas.
In your note here you said that you needed to put my worms in the shade. That’s not true. They can live in full sun without a problem as long as there is at least 10 inches of soil where they are living.
I can/t be sure if it’s true in your case, but most fly problems are due to food sitting too long in the bin without being eaten. You only want food sitting uneaten in the bin for 3-4 days. After that flies can lay eggs and hatch in your bin. I never heard of, or experienced over-watering causing a fly problem, so keep the soil wet when you get your new worms. You can also cut down on the fly population by feeding veggies rather than fruit.
Best of luck with the new worms I ship out to you!!!
John
Hey Francisco,
No, these worms can’t dig through that kind of soil. For one, they don’t like to go deep underground and usually stay in the top 6″ of soil. That’s why these worms are great for composting.
Second, all red wigglers have soft, blunt noses. They aren’t made for digging.
And as an aside, you’re going to have to dig through that layer of rocks and gum until you get down to where the soil drains. Otherwise your tree roots are going to rot.
Good luck, that’a a lot of digging!
John
I called John and he sent me some worms the next day. I live in Mesa AZ and it took them 2 days to arrive. Per his instructions I dipped the cloth bag of worms in a bucket of water I had sitting outside that I prepared hours before they arrived. After 3-5 minutes I pulled them out and dumped them into their new home. I was surprised at how lively and healthy they were after the trip! (vid: https://youtu.be/15zdmMiO3hs) They have taken to their bin well and are currently feasting on veggie scraps. They seem to love avocado skins. John has been very kind and helpful. Thank you so much!
Cool Jeremy,
Thanks for taking the time to put your comment up, much appreciated. I’m glad to hear your red wigglers are doing well in Mesa too. It gets hot by you. The worms love avocados, and they probably just got done eating them all when you checked. I’m sure you’ve noticed that the peels actually stay in the worm bin for a couple of weeks.
And glad I could help you out. I don’t always ship because it’s a pain, but you were so excited and nice that there’s no way I could deny you these heat tolerant worms since I know that any other worm you’d buy online would just die on you.
Thanks again! Enjoy- John
I was adding some compost to the garden today and wow do I have a lot of nice healthy worms! Of course, I thought of you. I bought worms from you at least 3 yrs ago to put in a new raised garden bed. What a treat it was to meet you! You were patient with my children as you shared with is all about the worms. We enjoyed seeing some of the birds who frequented your small yard. My son still talks about that experience. The worms are doing very well and my garden appreciates them!
Wow, thanks a lot for the shout out here, Leanne. It’s really nice of you to take the time to write here. 🙂 Thanks a lot. 🙂
And I’m happy to hear that your worms are doing well after 3 years in the heat and cold.
It’s amazing that we have had below zero, freezing temperatures here lately and your worms are doing well. Sounds like you are really doing things right! It’s great that you have them in your compost and garden. What a difference they make in the garden, huh? Once you get a good population like you have, it’s smooth sailing. tT just takes awhile to get there. I’m happy to hear your garden is doing so well. 🙂
Also, I’m flattered that your son remembers the trip over to my garden/yard. I’m at a new place now and have only been here a couple of months, but the birds are starting to come here now too. It’s really cool. I don’t have hummingbirds yet though, and I miss them.
Thanks again, and so happy your worms and gardens are doing so well,
John
Hi Daye!
Thanks a lot for posting your comments here and letting people know that I’m a good guy and know my stuff. 🙂
I’m glad things are working out for you. It’s great when ALL your food scraps can be made into soil. And when you harvest veggies from soil you made with red wigglers and black soldier flies, it’s a great feeling!
Also I’m glad you gave the soldier flies a try. They make amazing compost and are really fun to raise.
Keep in touch!
Thanks- John
Hi John, I’m also a Las Vegas resident and just started composting about 3 weeks ago. So far, my bin has mostly banana and grapefruit peels, dryer lint, crumbled egg shells, some twigs and hay, and rabbit droppings. Some of my mushrooms had mold after a week of being in the fridge and I put them in there – is this okay? Also, I changed my rabbit’s litter to wood stove pellets, no additives, 100% Douglas fir – can I add these in there as well without worrying about the urine especially if I’m planning to add worms? Thanks for taking the time to read and respond to this.
Just so everyone here online knows, Donna wrote this message to me a couple of weeks ago and then called me.
It’s great to write me here, I really appreciate it and it makes my site better as far as Google is concerned.
Your best bet is to write a comment here and follow up with a phone call to me, just like Donna did.
All the questions you see here were answered on the phone or in person and Donna is all set with a new outdoor worm composting bin here in Las Vegas.
For those of you who might have similar questions about red wigglers worms here in Las Vegas… dryer lint and citrus peels aren’t good in worm bins. Yes, yes… I know other sites tell you to put dryer lint in your compost bins. They have never actually done it themselves though, because if they had, they’d know worms don’t eat dryer lint. But the sites that say that just repeat what they read on the last idiot’s website.
Mold on mushrooms is fine. The worms will eat the mushrooms.
Conifers like Douglas firs are okay. They sometimes have resins and take longer to compost than regular vegetable scraps is all. The issue here is the rabbit urine. It will kill the worms in your worm bin if there is too much of it. I would suggest leaching out the urine with two rinses of water.
Hey Eric,
It’s now almost 3 weeks after you wrote this. I think you already got your worms from me, at least 2 Erics have since then. You hopefully just realized i don’t get online much and you just called me.
I do have worms ready to sell if you still need them. I almost always do, these worms are great breeders!
Don’t bring anything to take the worms in, I provide that.
If you haven’t set your bin up yet, talk to me before you do. There are some possible issues with peat moss and eggshells.
talk soon- John
Do you sell worm castings or vermi compost?
Hi Taelor,
I do sell the castings, it’s just that I don’t have them on hand all the time. I can get you some if you send me a text or give me a call.
Talk soon-John
John, I bought 1000 worms from you several weeks ago for my garden to replenish the worms I accidentally drowned last year. I am pleased to report that as of this morning they seem to be thriving. I am very encouraged that I will be able to restore the balance to my garden and once again produce amazing vegetables. In fact, I am interested in starting a worm farm on the other side of my house. Can you point me to any sources of good information on vermiculture or share any insights you may have on raising worms in Las Vegas? Again, I am very pleased that I found your site and was able to get some worms from you.
Hey Mark,
Glad to hear that things are going well with your new batch of worms. I haven’t seen a source of information that I would entirely trust enough to recommend to you in good conscience, at least one that’s comprehensive. I am writing a book on how to raise worms, I expect to have it done in late July. I’d wait for that if I were you. Otherwise, if you get information from scientific papers, that is reliable. Some worm farmers will also tell you the truth, but many others don’t tell the whole story and that will get you in trouble.
Give it a month and you can buy my book. It should revolutionize the way people raise worms around the country!
Hi David,
Honestly, being gone two or three months in the summer is going to make it pretty tough to raise worms.
There are 2 big problems: food and water.
It’s fairly easy to set your worm bin up with a timer the same way you would a garden.
Food will be the big issue depending on what you plan to raise them in. There is just no way to put enough food in a normal tote to sustain a large population of worms for that long. You could put them in something like a kiddy pool and pile 8-12 inches of food scraps or grass or whatever on the surface and they might make it. That kind of scale is the only thing I can think of that might work.
That said, and I’m NOT recommending this, I grew a pepper plant in the top of an upside down tomato planter one year. At the end of the growing season, I emptied the planter and there were between 300-400 worms in is, I forget exactly how many though 368 sticks in my head.
The point is that I didn’t feed the worms in that planter at all the entire 4 months that pepper was growing (I didn’t think there were any worms in it) and the worms still lived and reproduced. They are amazing.
Give me a call and we can chat about your options.
Enjoy- John
Yes, the business is real! 🙂
I take a lot of pride in being able to help Las Vegas gardeners with their gardens, worm composting, and worm farming. I made a lot of mistakes by reading what people said online about how to raise worms and have spent years correcting their mistakes and doing it right so I can help other people be successful.
I LOVE being able to help people raise worms and grow beautiful gardens here in Las Vegas (or the Southwest really, since now I’m shipping worms all over)! 🙂
The worms are a tiny side income for me, I do it to help people and I’m fortunate that I don’t have to put up with people I feel are rude or disrespectful, as was the case when you called.
The thing is, I no longer advertise or anything and I sell out of worms every year (after saving enough for my gardens). That’s because I give amazing service and I really CARE about people’s success. I give away seeds, veggies, materials and anything else I have that I think might help someone out. That’s just what gardeners do for each other.
I get to be selective about the people who I help out. If someone annoys me, I just don’t deal with them.
That said, in 5 years of helping thousands of people out, this is only the second time someone has rubbed me the wrong way.
Maybe you were having a bad day. Maybe I was having a bad day. I’m not sure. If you call back, we can give it another go and see how it works out.
Also, I made your comment public out of respect for you and your opinion, plus I hate it when website owners delete comments or don’t approve them if they say something bad. I believe everyone has the right to be heard, and I’m giving you that opportunity here. However, if you would like me to take this down, I can certainly do that for you.
Hi Chef,
Yep, I’m the Las Vegas worm guy! Metal containers are fine as long as there isn’t metal leaching into the soil. What matters more than material is depth and surface area. You want the bedding at least 8 inches deep and as much surface area as possible.
I don’t know about using compost tea. I have so many worms in my garden that I don’t have to mess with all that. the worms just poop in the garden and it’s all good.
However, I believe that the tea used as a periodic replacement for water. I’d think that constant watering with worm tea, besides being cost prohibitive, would burn your plants.
And, if you want the raw tea to process, let me know and I can set you up with the water that soaks through my raised beds.
And don’t reply here, I hardly check the comments. Call, text or email for faster response.
Talk soon- John
Hi,
Can I just place the worms into my existing garden (soil and seedlings) , or do they need to be conditioned first?
Hi Rhi-
These worms are my special breed of worms that I’ve bred outside here in Vegas. They are already conditioned to our climate. You buy them from me, wet your soil, and put these worms in. Done. Then just sit back and watch your plants grow like weeds!!! It’s that easy.
Call me and I will get you set up, plus I can answer any other questions when you come over to pick up your worms!
-John
Thanks for your praises here. Glad your chard is doing well, it’s not the easiest thing to grow here. And glad you could stop by and get more worms and vermicompost from me yesterday!
Great questions here. It’s easiest if you just come to the house and ask what you need to know when you come to buy your worms. Messaging back and forth and trying to do it through comments here isn’t particularly efficient. Hopefully you are the same Cynthia who is coming the 20th! 🙂
Hey Alex!!! I’m glad this whole worm thing is working out for you and as always, I’m happy to help you out. Let me know if you have any more questions and keep me updated and your composting. Great stuff you’re doing!!!
Hi John,
I just want to purchase a couple worms (maybe 10 or so) for a project for school. Would that be okay? Don’t worry, they’ll be fine after the project; I may purchase more to start vermiculture.
Hey Tyler,
No problem buying 10 worms. You’re going to pay for them though… and pay a lot to get them from me. If you want worms for your personal use, you definitely want to get them from me, and just get 1000 and be done with it. But, if you really only want 10 worms to use at school, go to a bait shop.
I am a total novice at worm farming and really just got into it because I want fresh herbs for cooking that don’t cost an arm and a leg as the saying goes or did go. As a physician I am very committed to healthy eating but it had better taste good too. So there you go, I decided to become a worm farmer. I don’t believe in spending $30.00 dollars and then losing my investment (not only smart but cheap) so when I was called away on a family emergency and left my poor worms on their own for a week I was worried. So I went straight to the worm guy John and did exactly what he told me to do. Run to Walmart, buy peat moss, get it wet, throw worms and food in my future herb garden container and hope for the best. To date worms and plants seem to be alive and well. So what can I say? When I don’t know what to do I look for someone who does and then I listen and obey. Works for me. Thanks John
You’re welcome, Naomi. I’m glad that everything is working out for you and I was able to help you all your questions over the phone these past few weeks. I think you are on the right track and that your worms will be fine. I also appreciate that you recognize me as the worm expert here in Las Vegas.
I have lost my worms every summer in late June to the heat here. I am going to do 2 lasagna layered raised beds to try and get decent soil by July, thought I would put most worms in those two beds and make a small container bin for recycling my waste and making tea for the home flower beds.
What is the bulk and weight of 1000 pk of worms and is it legal to ship here? I would want to pay for 2-day shipping to be safe.
Maybe a 500 pk would be better?
Hi Lyn,
First of all, you are smart to ask about me shipping my heat tolerant worms to you because I can just about guarantee you that any other worms are going to die on you. But I guess you’ve already discovered that when your worms keep dying every summer.
I’m having a hard time visualizing what your bins look like but I can tell you that you’re going to need A LOT of worms to get a decent amount of soil in only 3 months.
It would take an initial population of 1,000 worms about 9 months to fill a small 18 quart dishwashing tub full of vermicompost. And that assumes that your population is reproducing the way it should be.
You asked “is it legal to ship here?” but you didn’t say where you live. That will help. But, if you live in the Southwest, I can ship to you.
You want at least 1,000 worms and probably closer to 3,000 if you want a tub of soil by July.
Shoot me an email or call me if you want me to ship you some.
Talk soon- John
Hi Chris,
I have dealt exclusively with people here in Vegas. There are a few people who live in Phoenix/Mesa who have bought worms from me when here in Vegas and taken them back home with them. And I have shipped worms to AZ. Everyone there who has my worms is doing fine with them. At least no one has let me know otherwise.
I haven’t dealt with African nightcrawlers at all.
As far as these worms dealing with the heat, like I said, I’ve had a few buyers in AZ and I don’t know why they wouldn’t be fine there. You’d want about 10 inches of soil they could burrow into when it gets super hot, but these have been living in my outside bins for years.
If there are any genetic strain of red wigglers that can handle that heat, they are mine.
I can ship to you in AZ if you want. I would wait until Monday to send them to you so they don’t sit in the post office over the weekend. You’d get them Wednesday and be all set. Let me know.
Would like more info on growing worms
Cool Jose, What do you want to know? If there is something specific, I can write a post for you or send you a private message. John