Everywhere I've seen red wigglers for sale they were in little containers with just some peat moss, not their original bedding. This is *I think* because the slight acidity and really absorbent qualities of the peat is irritating to the worms and therefore discourages any escape attempts. Whenever I open one up they are all huddled down at the bottom, and I've had a seller tell me that he does this on purpose otherwise they crawl all over the place. Definitely no good as a top dressing.