​​​​​​​​​RED WIGGLER WORMS

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​Red Wiggler Worms (Eisenia fetida) are one of the best indoor composters there are. Compact, efficient, and odorless, they provide an excellent in-classroom enrichment project for a vermiculture unit such as Waste And Our World.

They are also popular for use in homes to efficiently recycle your kitchen plant waste into a nutrient-rich organic fertilizer called vermicast, or worm castings. 

Worms are sold by the half pound, and we provide approximately 5 pounds of substrate.

Housing and additional substrate not included. 

Red wiggler worms:

    -cannot be released outdoors and can last indefinitely

    -are non-native and destructive

    -are NOT bait worms: do not use them as fishing bait. 

RED WIGGLER KIT (no bin)                       $45.00​

1/2 pound of worms  in 5 pounds of custom mixed substrate, including cocoons, mature castings, and some food. Bin not included. 

Also included is our very amazing instructions, and a lifetime membership to the Worm Rancher Club, which gets you all the worm advice you'll ever need from our laboratory experts. 

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RED WIGGLER COMPOSTING BIN RENTAL

(EDMONTON ONLY)                               

ONE-TIME DEPOSIT                                  $45.00

Refundable if bin is returned in good condition: with healthy soil, no die off, and no other issues

MONTHLY FEE                                            $10.00

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Mantis - Worms - Isopods - Beetles​

Available year round unless the weather is below -20 or so. These creatures all ship on Mondays: in order to be in time for shipping the following Monday, your order must be placed and paid for by the previous Wednesday at noon.

​​​​MANTIS

Ootheca are available in March and April. 

Hatchlings are sold in batches of 3, and are available from April to October, as quantities last. 

Mantis: available as ootheca (egg cases) or as hatchlings. We do not sell adults. All are Tenodera sinensis, the Chinese Mantis, and though they are approved for agricultural release in most of Canada,  we do not advocate for releasing non-native predators into the wild. These mantis grow to be 4 inches long and eat everything from butterflies and bees to wasps and spiders. 
They will not naturally survive most winter temperatures across Canada, though there are some regions they are naturalized.

MANTIS OOTHECA (egg case)                     $16.00 

Egg cases need to be hatched. Note that wait times for hatching can be extremely lengthly: though the average is 4 weeks, it`s common for them to take up to 10.

MANTIS HATCHLINGS KIT                        $39.00
Includes 3 mantis nymphs in 3 rearing containers, and a cup with a lot of flies as starter food

FRUIT FLY CULTURE KIT (2 parts)           $19.00

Best for ootheca. Includes 1 living culture of flies and food, and supplies to make a second habitat after the first expires

FRUIT FLY REFILL (1 part)                         $12.00

Just a cup of live flies, no extra supplies.

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TRIASSIC TRIOPS - $19.00

Available year round.

Triops are actual prehistoric creatures that have not changed in over 200 million years. Considered "living fossils," these make an excellent side project for your classroom or at home, or anywhere you can keep a small aquarium, though their success rates can be unpredictable.

Just fill a clean glass or plastic container with bottled spring water, and watch them grow from near invisibility into 2-inch aquatic critters! 
Your kit will contain Triop eggs, food, instructions, and everything you need to raise them. Life cycle experiments can be repeated and completed by adjusting temperature and light levels.

Triassic Triops cannot be released outdoors.

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TRIASSIC TRIOPS - $19.00

DARKLING BEETLE KIT

(SUPERWORMS)

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​Darkling Beetles (Zohopbas morio) are a small, non-biting beetle with hardbodied larvae popular in the pet industry as food for reptiles. If you rear the larvae, they undergo a full metamorphosis just like butterflies! They are very harmless making them great for handling, teaching about life cycles, and observing in the classroom. The larvae also will eat styrofoam and turn it into compost, which is pretty cool.

Superworms cannot be released outdoors.

Superworm Kit (zophobas morio)                   $24.00

12 superworm larvae of varying sizes, plus supplies for rearing: 1 lb bedding/food, containers for rearing and pupating, egg carton

Butterfly Wings N' Wishes respectfully acknowledges that we are located on Treaty 6 territory, a traditional gathering place for diverse Indigenous peoples including the Cree, Saulteaux, Niisitapi, Metis, Nakota Sioux, Dene, Inuit, and many others whose histories, languages, and cultures continue to influence our business, our way of life, and our community. Their spiritual and practical relationships with the land create a rich heritage for our learning and our life as a community.​

​​​​​​​​​ISOPODS

​Available year round. 

​Raise your own colony of these amazing little backyard allies - actually not bugs, but tiny land crustaceans which breath through gills.

 Also called the rolie-polies, wood louse, doodle bug and potato bug, these fascinating arthropods are simple to feed and maintain in colonies, will reproduce in captivity, and one species can even cohabitate with red wigglers for a compost bin that is abut 3 times as efficient as worms on their own. 

Most species will need to be on a soil-based substrate with decomposing plant material: hardwoods such as oak, apple, or birch are good for them. They also eat some household veggies and fruits, occasional protein scraps, and with their habit of skeletonizing leaves, they make a fantastic in-class addition to a composting program.

They are friendly and cannot climb glass or plastic, nor do they stink or bite and can be handled with care. 

​Some species of isopods do very well in reptile or community vivariums as a clean-up crew, though you will need to research which species of isopod is appropriate for the habitat you have. 

No isopods can be released outdoors. Cultures may come with some microfauna.

Porcellio laevis, common morph

Ideal for volume composting, will eat things Red Wigglers will not. When combined with red wigglers, the bin is more efficient, but castings are harder to harvest. Great science project companions. 

SMALL  (12-15 isopods)                                 $15.00

LARGE  (30-35 isopods)                                 $30.00

Porcellio laevis, "dairy cow" morph
Same as above! But FANCY. This is a spotted variant, very pretty, but just as easy to care for. Ideal for volume composting, will eat things Red Wigglers will not. When combined with red wigglers, the bin is more efficient, but castings are harder to harvest. Great science project companions. 

SMALL (12-15 isopods)                                    $20.00

Porcellioniedes pruinosus "POWDER ORANGE"

P pruinosus is not very good for handling, so these are not great if you are wanting to interact with them. They do, however, make a great addition to almost any terrarium: being extremely hardy, with a wide diet. They are a medium sized isopod, growing to about 1 CM in length. 

SMALL (12-15 isopods)                                    $15.00

Armadillium maculatum, "ZEBRA ISOPODS"

Specialty care required: these are not quite as hardy as the other two, and prefer drier conditions. Howevver, they do roll up into a perfect sphere when disturbed (like an armadillo), and are beautiful, so definitely worth it. Their diet consists primarily of decomposing plant material such as hardwoods.
SMALL (12-15 isopods)                                    $25.00

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