Slow Worms

[Valleyman]

My new garden is infested! Don't get me wrong, I love them, and want them to stick around, and would love for them to feel at home here.

My problem? The compost bins. They are full to the brim with Slow Worms.

My questions?
- If I want them to stick around what measures can I take? As an avid gardener I will be disturbing them more than the previous house owners.
- When should I empty the compost bins to minimise disturbance? Taking into account when it is too cold, when they will have babies etc.
- Any other hints, whilst maintaining a productive composting regime? I'm sure I can't be the only one who has loads around and maintains them as a healthy neighbour.

[arpoet]

Never seen one so cant really advise... but would say leave the bins until the weather improves. I would then be tempted to make them a new home somewhere that is sheltered and unproductive and let the find it.

[skeggijon]

Not a problem I've had, though I was taken by surprise with an adder a couple of days ago in the shed.

[muddled]

You lucky thing!
I believe that if you lay a piece of corrugated metal down on a warm day, the sloworms will warm themselves under it and you can get to your compost (at least, when I was a kid, that was the best way to catch one).
In the meantime, maybe get started on a new heap?

[Valleyman]

You lucky thing!
I believe that if you lay a piece of corrugated metal down on a warm day, the sloworms will warm themselves under it and you can get to your compost (at least, when I was a kid, that was the best way to catch one).
In the meantime, maybe get started on a new heap?

I love em. The wife has a begrudging respect for them given their diet of slugs and my shear excitement at having them. She is less keen when they occasionally go for a wander and can be found on the decking sunning themselves, or in a flower bed whilst she is admiring her flowers.

Start a new heap? Ha! Like I hadn't thought of that :-P They now inhabit ALL of the heaps.

I think I am breeding them.

[Jungle Jane]

Very gentle turning of open heaps with a fork is best done once or twice a year, in May after slow-worms have mated, and in October after any young have been born. I found this helpful link...
Slow-worm habitat, ecology, mitigation and fencing

[Stringbean]

Came across three today whilst clearing the new plot. Never seen one before but as I suffer from a phobia of snakes it certainly woke me up this morning!

Are they actually beneficial to the plot? I very bravely moved them on the end of a 6ft rake

[Valleyman]

Came across three today whilst clearing the new plot. Never seen one before but as I suffer from a phobia of snakes it certainly woke me up this morning!

Are they actually beneficial to the plot? I very bravely moved them on the end of a 6ft rake

They will eat your slugs, and do no harm that I have ever encountered or heard about. So, yeah, they are beneficial. In my experience... unless you moved it a long way they have a wonderful habit of heading straight back home to where you found them.

[veggiechicken]

Came across three today whilst clearing the new plot. Never seen one before but as I suffer from a phobia of snakes it certainly woke me up this morning!

Are they actually beneficial to the plot? I very bravely moved them on the end of a 6ft rake

I don't like snakes either but I used to do some volunteer work that included catching and showing visitors some slow worms. Now, I love them (the S-Ws not the visitors), the way they curl around your fingers, the different colours on their flanks as the light catches them, their little flicking tongues. When I find them in the garden now it makes me happy (I know, I'm a bit odd).

[Stringbean]

I don't like snakes either but I used to do some volunteer work that included catching and showing visitors some slow worms. Now, I love them (the S-Ws not the visitors), the way they curl around your fingers, the different colours on their flanks as the light catches them, their little flicking tongues. When I find them in the garden now it makes me happy (I know, I'm a bit odd).

Just the words "little flicking tongues" made me shudder! At 6ft4 and 15 stone I looked somewhat pathetic falling over a fork in my hasty retreat.

[veggiechicken]

Trying not to laugh here