geffcardo, you're making it waaayyyyyyy harder than it needs to be to grow these plants. Sit back and enjoy them! As for the traps not opening back up, thats probably got to do with being jostled about in the store as well as the poking and prodding from who knows how many fingers as well as the change in environment from the store to your house and the trip in between. Traps can only shut and reset a few times before they "wear out" and who knows how many times they were tripped shut before you got them. They'll need a couple weeks to settle in. Just keep them in bright indirect light for a while, then gradually increase the amount of direct light until they are able to take direct sun for several hours. Water with purified water and admire them. Remember they are plants. They photosynthesize like regular plants. They just use bugs to get nutrients that are missing in their habitat, but a regular diet of them is not necessary for their survival. Just the occasional bug is all they need. Don't worry about them "not knowing how to eat". That's like saying you don't know how to breath. It's built into them just like breathing is built into you. Just stick it outside and eventually a bug will land in a trap and get caught. You may have to wait until new traps grow to replace the old ones to see this. You may have to watch for a loooooooooonnnnnnnnngggggggg time to actually see a trap catch something. Usually all you see is a leg or something sticking out of the trap, if that. If you want to speed the process up, catch a fly and stick it in the freezer long enough for it to stop moving, but no so long that it freezes to death. Stick it on a trap and when it warms up it will begin moving and trigger the trap.
All the cover does is protect the plant while it's being shipped and while it's sitting on the store shelf. The condition of the plant inside the container is most important. I wouldn't buy a sick looking plant no matter what kind of container it was in.
Red plants aren't any better than regular plants. They are just red. Some people like the red ones some don't. That's the difference.
Don't waste your money on bugs at the store. They are no better for your plant than the ones it will catch on its own. If you want to check on what kind of bugs are being caught, just hold a bright light behind the trap so that you see the sillouette of whats inside it.