Composting Grubs For Sale - Free Shipping
Table of Contents
What are your composting grubs?
Composting grubs are black soldier fly larvae. They are a popular feeder insect for reptile owners. But composting is one magical power these creatures possess. Many gardeners and conservation enthusiasts love adding them to their composting piles. What makes them so great they have no limits on what they can consume. Traditional composting worms (like red worms), can't break down meats, dairy, or citrus products, which is a huge part of people's diets. So with these composting grubs, you can now compost without discrimination and add any meat, dairy, or citrus product.
Composting Grubs Eat Chick-fil-A Sandwich
Here's a demonstration on how voracious these composting grubs are. What them consume this entire chick fil a sandwich in under 24 hours.
How do we ship Composting Grubs?
They are shipped with USPS priority mail, and will arrive at your doorstep. However, if you'd prefer them to be held for pick up, we can mark the package "Hold at PO for Pick Up" and the post office will call you when they arrive. You will need to notify us that this is your preference.
Do you guarantee live delivery?
Yes. Composting grubs are very hearty. They can tolerate warm climates, and cold climates. This means they can help compost all year long (assuming your compost pile is not frozen).
What should I do after getting them in the mail?
If you have an active compost pile, the best thing to do is add them to the compost. The transit dehydrates them a little bit, but the decaying material in the pile will help hydrate them and nourish them.
Difference between Composting Grubs and Composting Worms?
Red worms are the traditional composting worms. Many people purchase them for vermicomposting, to help break down decaying material, and to create that amazing, black fertilizer. But composting worms don't have the production skills that composting grubs have, and their diet can tolerate much less.
Firstly, composting grubs will yield much more compost than red worms. Red worms will consume and produce about their body weight per day in compost. That's not bad. But Black soldier fly larvae will produce between 1.5x - 2x their own weight per day. They're nearly twice as productive as the red worm for composting.
But the biggest benefit is that black soldier fly larvae will compost nearly anything. Red worms are very limited with what they can compost. They can't break down meat, dairy, or citrus products. These will all kill them if introduced to their compost pile.
On the other hand, black soldier fly larvae will break down these material, and also spicy foods, fatty foods, and oily foods. There is almost no limit for what they will not consume. You can catch up with more details on the amazing differences between red worms and composting grubs here.
How much can composting grubs compost?
Composting grubs are extremely hungry and will consume nearly double the amount of traditional composting worms. 1 pound of composting grubs will produce 1.5 - 2 pounds of compost per day. That's an amazing yield, and will help any avid gardener create their desired compost or compost tea.
How many composting grubs should I buy?
It's not an exact science. But we recommend 10,000 black soldier fly larvae for 15-20 lbs of scrap food in a bin that has a base that is 3 square feet.
How to set up a composting bin for composting grubs?
Black soldier fly larvae go through a metamorphosis. Which adds a little bit of complexity to their compost bin set up. As the grubs grow older, they will become darker in complexion. This is a sign that they are ready to transform into the pupas, which they'll then turn into harmless soldier flies.
Having said that, our composting grubs are very very young. Which means you'll maximize their composting abilities. We wrote a complete guide on how to set up a proper black soldier fly larvae composting habitat.
Are composting grubs good for the environment?
Yes. When food waste breaks down naturally, it emits methane, a potent green house gas. Black soldier fly larvae help eliminate this by breaking down the material before it has a chance to produce that methane. This is the first step when building a small scale circular-agricultural set up. By allowing your composting worms to breakdown your waste, you decrease your dependence on external compost, and utilize the compost produced by your composting grubs.
Once you've created amazing organic fertilizer, you can then enrich your gardening capacity with greater, more fruitful yields. This, again, reduces your dependence on external food sources, which fulfills the circular-agricultural cycle.
Learn more about how beneficial composting worms are for the environment, and how they reduce greenhouse gases.
Can I add them to my garden?
There is no benefit to adding composting grubs to your garden. They will not aerate through the soil, and are likely to get eaten by birds. Like composting worms, they will only eat decaying material. So there is no concern that they will eat living plants.
Can I feed them to my chickens or reptiles?
Absolutely. Chickens love black soldier fly larvae. Black soldier fly larvae are loaded with copious amounts of calcium. This means they are great for egg-laying chickens, and also for male chicks and chickens. The calcium boost will help yield stronger bones, which will help the chicks grow into meaty meals.
And they are amazing for reptiles. Most domestic reptiles need a high amount of calcium. Dusting common feeders like crickets and superworms with calcium powder is a common solution. But the best solution is when your feeder insects naturally inhibit the calcium requirements, and black soldier fly larvae have those nutrients.
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What to Expect When Receiving Discoid Roaches in the Mail - VIDEO
What to Expect When Receiving Black Soldier Fly Larvae in the Mail - VIDEO
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Conditional Live Delivery Guarantee
The Conditions
- Customer must be home to receive delivery. Or package must be held at Post Office.
- Destination temps must be 45 degrees F or above. No exceptions.
- Customer must provide correct shipping address.
- Applies to paying customers only. Winners from the CritterFam contest are excluded from the guarantee.
If the conditions for the Live Delivery Guarantee are met, Customer must do the following:
- Send us pics of the deceased. Pics can be sent to contact@thecritterdepot.com
- We must be notified within 24 hours from the moment customer receives package.
If conditions are met, we will ship a replacement package free of charge.
Shipping In Winter - Full Disclosure
- We will not ship when Destination Temps are below 25 Degrees F
- Live Delivery is Not Guaranteed when Destination Temps are below 45 Degrees F
If you are ordering crickets, superworms, or any other live product during the winter, you need to be realistic: we’re trying to ship a live product through sub 30 degree temperatures affordably.
We take extra measures during the winter to try and increase their chances of survival. However, history has proven that customers are 4x more likely to receive perished crickets when shipped in the winter. This is fact.
Shipping in the winter has always been our biggest challenge. And every other crickets vendor has the same problem. No one wants to send you dead crickets. We want to provide you with excellent service, because we know you care about your pet. But the reality is we can’t control the weather. And there’s only so much packaging we can do before we have to increase our costs.
We still have success shipping in the winter.
If you decide to order for a winter delivery, here's what you can do on your end to ensure you receive happy, healthy live products:
- You MUST be home to accept the delivery. The live product cannot be left outside in the freezing temperatures, or it's certain they won't survive.
- If we ship with the Post Office, we highly highly highly recommend that you communicate with your post office. And that you ask them to hold the package for pick up.
- If there is a problem, we must be notified within 24 hours of receiving the live product.
We only ship Live Products on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays
Before YOU and every other customer collectively sends us disgruntled emails on Monday asking where your order is, please know that we only ship live products on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. And this isn't because we're lazy. It's because we need to be proactive, and make sure the live products don't get stuck in transit over the weekend. If they get stuck over the weekend, there is an increased probability that they will not survive the transit. And perished animals in your mail box don't do either of us any good.
When Will My Order Ship?
Great question. In fact, it's too great of a question. This question makes up 80% of our incoming emails! And all we can think of in the office is what better things we could do with that time. So here's the nitty gritty breakdown for when your order will ship:
- If order was placed on a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday then your order will be shipped on the following Monday.
- If order was placed on Sunday, or Monday then your order will be shipped on Tuesday.
- If order was placed on a Tuesday then your order will be shipped on Wednesday.
And please know that these shipping schedules can change depending on Post Office holidays. But if you still have questions about your shipment, please do not hesitate to email us as contact@thecritterdepot.com.
Ok Bug-Boy. But What about The Tracking?
Great question. We will upload tracking information within 36 hours after the order has shipped. So if your order ships on Monday, the latest we would update tracking information for your order is by Wednesday morning.
And What About DOA's?
DOA's (dead on arrival) are a part of the business. It's not profitable for us to send out deceased animals. So please know that we take every possible precaution before shipping.
But we care about our customers, because you're the ones putting us in business. And we guarantee live delivery as long as specific conditions are met. So if your order does not arrive alive, please let us know. As long as conditions are met, we will have another order reshipped free of charge on the next shipment date (this excludes winter reshipments, which will be reshipped at our discretion).
We Ship with The Post Office and with FedEx
We ship with the post office for a few reasons.
- They keep their packages inside their climate controlled buildings. This is a game changer. Instead of leaving the packages out on a dock, they are brought inside the building. Which can drastically increase the survival rate for the crickets and superworms.
- They Deliver on Saturdays. Since they deliver on Saturdays, we're able to ship on Wednesdays. Most packages are delivered within 2-3 business days. So if we ship on Wednesday, that 2-3 day window falls in the same week, which avoids any Sunday transit delays.
- Cost Effective. And one reason why we're able to keep our prices so low is because we use the post office. USPS Priority mail is a great, and reasonable priced service. And any savings we gain, we pass right back to the customer.
The post office is our preferred shipper. But depending on your proximity & time of year, we may upgrade your shipping service to FedEx for these reasons:
- The Post Office is unreliably slow during holidays. The drawback with the post office they don't guarantee delivery dates. They will advertise 2-3 days for their Priority Mail shipments. However, the don't guarantee you package will arrive in 2-3 days. And this becomes painfully obvious during the holidays, specifically between Black Friday and New Years. Which puts us in a tough spot because our preferred shipper with climate controlled facilities is no longer dependable. So we'll ship with FedEx for this reason.
- Faster Shipping/Shorter Transits. Faster shipping and shorter transits have obvious benefits. The live product will get delivered faster, and in a preferred habitat. And FedEx does guarantee their delivery dates, which is beneficial for the customer.
Unfavorable Shipping Conditions
Temperatures are a big consideration when packaging and shipping live products. And at any time, we may decide to postpone deliveries if we feel the live product will not survive the transit. If that is the case, we will make our best effort to contact the customer so that can make other arrangements if desired.
But if the temperatures are too cold, we can package the crickets with heat packs. And if they are too hot, we can package them with cold gel packs. But these alone doesn't guarantee live delivery.
But either way, we need to keep a close eye on the weather when we get into the extremes. So please keep that in mind when expecting deliveries.
Winter Shipping Policy
- We will not ship when Destination Temps are below 25 Degrees F
- Live Delivery is Not Guaranteed when Destination Temps are below 45 Degrees F
If you are ordering crickets, superworms, or any other live product during the winter, you need to be realistic: we’re trying to ship a live product through sub 30 degree temperatures affordably.
We take extra measures during the winter to try and increase their chances of survival. However, history has proven that customers are 4x more likely to receive perished crickets when shipped in the winter. This is fact.
Shipping in the winter has always been our biggest challenge. And every other crickets vendor has the same problem. No one wants to send you dead crickets. We want to provide you with excellent service, because we know you care about your pet. But the reality is we can’t control the weather. And there’s only so much packaging we can do before we have to increase our costs.
We still have success shipping in the winter.
If you decide to order for a winter delivery, here's what you can do on your end to ensure you receive happy, healthy live products:
- You MUST be home to accept the delivery. The live product cannot be left outside in the freezing temperatures, or it's certain they won't survive.
- If we ship with the Post Office, we highly highly highly recommend that you communicate with your post office. And that you ask them to hold the package for pick up.
- If there is a problem, we must be notified within 24 hours of receiving the live product.
Remember...
Dead crickets or superworms don't do you (the customer), or us (the cricket grower) any good. So let's work together to ensure your live product survives the transit.
We can only ship Live Products on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays
We want to get your products delivered quickly just as badly as you do. But the reality is that shipping live products isn't the easiest task. And that means we have to be disciplined and strategic when we ship. Otherwise, there's an increased probability that perished crickets will show up on your doorstep. And that doesn't do any good for the customer or shipper.
We Ship with The Post Office and with FedEx
We ship with the post office for a few reasons.
- They keep their packages inside their climate controlled buildings. This is a game changer. Instead of leaving the packages out on a dock, they are brought inside the building. Which can drastically increase the survival rate for the crickets and superworms.
- They Deliver on Saturdays. Since they deliver on Saturdays, we're able to ship on Wednesdays. Most packages are delivered within 2-3 business days. So if we ship on Wednesday, that 2-3 day window falls in the same week, which avoids any Sunday transit delays.
- Cost Effective. And one reason why we're able to keep our prices so low is because we use the post office. USPS Priority mail is a great, and reasonable priced service. And any savings we gain, we pass right back to the customer.
The post office is our preferred shipper. But depending on your proximity & time of year, we may upgrade your shipping service to FedEx for these reasons:
- The Post Office is unreliably slow during holidays. The drawback with the post office they don't guarantee delivery dates. They will advertise 2-3 days for their Priority Mail shipments. However, the don't guarantee you package will arrive in 2-3 days. And this becomes painfully obvious during the holidays, specifically between Black Friday and New Years. Which puts us in a tough spot because our preferred shipper with climate controlled facilities is no longer dependable. So we'll ship with FedEx for this reason.
- Faster Shipping/Shorter Transits. Faster shipping and shorter transits have obvious benefits. The live product will get delivered faster, and in a preferred habitat. And FedEx does guarantee their delivery dates, which is beneficial for the customer.
Unfavorable Climates
Temperatures are a big consideration when packaging and shipping live products. And at any time, we may decide to postpone deliveries if we feel the live product will not survive the transit.
Often, the live product will only survive extreme temps if they are held in an air conditioned post office for pick up. At any time, we may have the package marked "Hold for Pick Up." In these situations, the package will be held for pick up and the customer will need to make arrangements to pick up the live product.
But if the temperatures are too cold, we can package the crickets with heat packs. And if they are too hot, we can package them with cold gel packs.
But either way, we need to keep a close eye on the weather when we get into the extremes. So please keep that in mind when expecting deliveries.
