Ethics and Sourcing

I am a licensed importer through USFWS, and legally obtain all of my specimens. I also get a lot of my natural death specimens through my own raising, friends in the USA, and a hobby breeder in Europe. All of my insects are farm rasied unless otherewise stated.

I also buy extra animal bits from taxidermists and USDFW licensed/tagged hunters (paws, pelts, bones, teeth) to reduce their waste.

I get all of my rabbit heads, feet, and pelts from a small family farm that raises them for meat, and I purchase the parts they can't eat to reduce waste. Occasionally, I will also purchase their rabbits that happen to pass from disease, sickness, or otherwise rendering them unsafe for consumption.

What are “farm raised” insects?

Farm raised is the most common way of raising insects. They are produced in mass overseas, typically in Southeast Asia and similarly tropical regions. They are bred in captivity, and culled shortly after hatching out of their cocoons. Though they save some to create the next generation. An easy way to spot a culled insect is it being perfectly intact (no rips, tears, no legs or antennae missing). This is almost always a sign it was culled “ex-pupae”. These insects are also considered “A1” meaning they are perfect or near-perfect quality.

Sometimes, but rarely, natural death insects can be A1 quality. I’ve had a few hand raised moths pass away naturally and look perfect, but it’s impossible to raise hundreds of insects and have them all turn out A1 quality while letting them live their full lives.

When I raise my own insects, I call them “hand raised”, these always die of old age, or what I call “natural death”.

What does “ethically sourced” mean to you?

Some oddities and insect sellers may claim to be "ethically sourced", but I prefer not to use this phrase because I think it’s too ambiguous. Ethics depend on each person's morals and values. This means that some things may be ethical to some but not others. To me, "ethically sourced" means the creature got to live out its full life, and was not killed by humans. As I took many animal welfare and ethics classes as a part of my Bachelors of Animal Science major, it is very important to me to be transparent about these things, and to educate others as well.

I prefer to use words like "sustainably" or "responsibly" for my sourcing, as most butterfly farms are supporting native flora/fauna and are not impacting wild populations.

Personally, I also refrain from using "ethically sourced" when it comes to roadkill and foraged bones, since I don’t consider roadkill “ethical” by my morals. As well as foraged carcasses, since they could have passed in a number of unknown ways, and I try to be as transparent as possible.

I do not support the purchasing or use of Chinese farmed animals. The telltale signs are the mass sales of snake skeletons, mink skulls, cat skulls... essentially any animal that's culled in mass for taxidermy purposes.

If I’m able to find these skulls second hand, or from sellers I know didn't obtain these from Chinese farms, I will use them.

Another thing to note is that I will never use bats in my pieces. You can find more information about bat sourcing here.