Chuckiebtoo..I think perhaps you have not ordered worms via the mail, at least in awhile. I have ordered worms many different times. After they have spent 2-4 days enroute, been subjected to vibrations, heat, cold, and no food, I just know they are having a town meeting, where they make a plan, that once out of the bag and the sun goes down they are booking for better lives. If you take them out of their shipping bags and put them in a bin,( even with the best "resort" conditions possible), I will bank on them leaving as soon as it gets dark enough. I should have taken pictues one time when I had ordered my ENC's. I got them in the afternoon and put them in bins I had ready. I then had to go out a retrieve various 2 legged short creatures that live here and did not get home until it was an hour after sunset. (Dun,dun, dun,.. dunt) My husband had come home a bit earlier than I, and as I entered the house, he yelled.."Did you get new worms today?!?" (I left out a few explicatives) I ran down to find him, scooping up worms and worms hanging out of every orafice,(of the bin). They will instinctively leave, to survive, as things just are not at all correct under these circumstances. If you put a light on, they will stay in the bin and have time to settle and realize in their own wormy way, that this place is calm, the right temperature, there's just the right moisture and..yay..food! After 2 days, perhaps, they are in their resort and no longer need to stray.

Inthebasement: Re-reading your posts, I realized that you didn't tell us how many worms you've got, or how big your bin is. We're assuming a pound or two of worms in a 10-18 gal plastic tote. Is that right? Two feedings of 2 cups each in the first week is way too much. In a cool basement there certainly hasn't been time for the food to break down. Imagine leaving a cut piece of fruit outside in the summer and the same piece of fruit in the winter. During which season will it start start to brown and soften fastest? Gmt903: Some people put in fresh, some people put in aged food. Both will work in an *established* bin. It's all a matter of how/where you want the food to decompose. The mites are a whole other issue. The wetter the food > the wetter the bin > the more attactive to mites. Indoor bin/outdoor bin. Plastic or wooden. Winter or summer. There are lots of factors to consider. To all Newbies: The hardest thing at the beginning is not doing too much. Too much food, too much water, too much fussing. The worm bin will take weeks or even months to get fully running. Take to heart the mantra of one of the most interesting posters (Chuckiebtoo) on this forum: Moderation, Diversity, Patience.

Worms take a considerable time to get use to new surroundings and get to eating. It sounds as if you have plenty of food. I would monitor for a week or two and see if the food is being consumed. You could get a lot of spoilage otherwise and damage the worms. Check the moisture content. You should be able to squeeze out a few drops of water if you have a good moisture content.

Thanks Vagas and Tclynx. I had the cocoons in a plastic bag w/o air or food. Just worm doo and cocoons which aren't that recognizable to me yet. I could not imagine leaving them in the plastic bag vagas, so I prepared a bed of peat moss/a couple cups of cornmeal/ and a couple cups of wellllll rotted bagged cow manure that has been laying out in the weather for about 3 years/and a few handfuls of small shredded paper to break up all that dirt looking stuff. Well Mixed and damp. I poured the plastic bag of worm cocoons out onto this mixture in the bin and covered it with a layer of dry shredded paper. I did put some drain holes in the bottom, and I did put another container w/o holes under that to capture any liquid excess or baby worms that might fall through and of course the brick to keep the upper plastic container from falling down below the air holes. And I did put a soaked piece of cardboard box down in my bin to cover the holes for the babies to lay on,first thing. I did that about 3 days ago with the cocoons and I don't see any babies yet, but since I am still afraid I will damage them if I put my hands down in the mixture to look, that doesn't mean they aren't there, I'm sure. In the meantime, I am down to opening and looking at the worms only about 3 times a day and that IS a struggle for me. I put the 3 containers together like Vaga said. The worms are awfully skinny and aren't moving too fast just yet. It has been only about a week and a half since I put them(1000) in there and NOW I can see that they are eating the bedding up and pretty quickly. So, Friday, I set the second prepared container that makes the tiered bin on top of that W/Oa brick (The worms around outside are all laying under heavy stuff so I figured the small weight of the container could be helpful) and I put about 1/2 lb or less of kitchen scraps and coffee grounds and of course shredded paper in it in case they wanted more to eat. They really are skinny. I have never seen such skinny little worms. I am sure they must grow (red wigglers)bigger. Anyway, Today when I looked at them, I DID find that they are migrating up into the food...or at least about 20 of them have so far. Out of fear that they would attempt to escape and inadvertantly commit suicide, I placed the whole 3 layer bin in a large black garbage bag leaving it open and loose in case they try to explore outside the box while I am gone. That way, I won't find them dried up on the floor or step on them. Once I saw that they weren't trying to get away, I took the bin out of the bag. Not one fatality due to escape...not one worm in the bag either. =o) So, I am learning not to sit and prowl through their bedding to see what they are doing.....all the time. Just nervous about them I guess. Trial and error is the way of life, I suppose. I will either get more worms, or they will not do well for me. Thanks so much for your input. It helps to know that you guys are out there willing to share the information with me. =o)