One down side of using the one quart container as my starter bin is the lack of space to dig around and see how they're doing. Can't really poke around more than a couple inches down without fear of causing harm since there's no place for them to move to quickly.
Their food intake has been pretty slow. The last feeding was three weeks ago and they're just now to the point where they could handle another filter's worth of coffee grounds. I think this is partly caused by the low temps (~55 deg F) in our basement. I knew this would affect their activity level, but had hoped setting them on top of the water heater would help. Apparently it is not enough.
Although everything I have read indicates they will rapidly move away from light, they have not displayed that activity to the level I expected when checking on them. I am wondering if they are sensitive to ultraviolet light which is lacking in the florescent shop lights of my workbench.
Fun fact about florescent light from a faq on GE's website:
"The amount of UV produced by standard fluorescent lamps, such as those in your office, home, or school, is not hazardous and does not pose a major health concern. In fact, a paper by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) explores this subject in more detail. It cites a study in which it was determined that UV exposure from sitting indoors under fluorescent lights at typical office light levels for an eight-hour workday is equivalent to just over a minute of exposure to the sun in Washington, D.C. on a clear day in July."
Since it is the UV rays which damage human skin, it would make sense that even primitive creatures would be damaged in a similar way. Dehydration is probably more threatening to a worm than sunburn, but for a ground dwelling creature, sunburn alone would probably be deadly.
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