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can i feed my vft w crickets?

wat if i put crickets n the freezer and then left them on the traps
would taht b good?
 
Don't leave them in long ehoough that it kills them. Just freeze them enough to slow them down so they are barely moving. As they warm up they begin to move and will trigger the trap. As they keep moving the trap will seal. Dead bugs just lay in the trap. If it does close on them, it opens back up in a day or so without digesting the bug. I use the freezer on flys I catch and it works well.
 
If you put dead critters in the traps, just make sure that you wiggle the hairs every so often with a little piece of wire. That will continue to stimulate the traps and they'll eventually seal. This has always worked for me.
 
Why dont you just put it outside and let it catch its own food? You live in Oxnard which is PERFECT outdoor weather for vft's. The best way to take the best possible care of a Venus FlyTrap is to not take care of it at all. All you need to do is put it in a sunny location, give it pure water and leave it alone.

For more information I highly recommend that you read ALL of the FAQ pages located here.

Steve
 
Steve, where's the joy in that?? There is nothing more satisfying than the bzzt! bzzzzzt! bzzzt! of a fly that has been buzzing you for the past half hour meeting its doom in the maw of your poor hungry VFT where you have placed it as an offering to mollify your annoyance.
smile_s_32.gif
 
thats my problem.......I NEVER SEE IT EAT
all the traps are either open or closed, the closed ones never open back
and it never catches anything
its like my flytrap doesnt know how to eat anything

btw, i went to lowes and noticed that the containers were different from others, the containers could b opend and theres no little hole, just one big hole after u take off the top
are lowes containers better than the cup ones w a little hole on top?

are red colored flytraps better?
what bugs can u buy at a regular store that are apropriate for flytraps?
especially small traps
 
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.
 
wow thank u
u sound very experienced in raisin flytraps
how long have u been doin this?
 
  • #10
About 7 years now. And I manage to kill a few VFTs every year inspite of that. Hardest part for me is dormancy. That's what kills 95% of my plants. I can't put them outside 'cause it freezes to long and then warms up suddenly. Only have a poorly lit crawl space for a basement and the fridge is full of food. I don't know who's food as no one in the family will eat the majority of what's in there so someone else must have snuck in and put it there. So there's not enough room for all my plants to do dormancy. This year I have a cold frame that I'm going to insulate and then put that wire they use on house eaves to keep ice from forming in the bottom to keep it above freezing. Sounds good on paper anyway.
 
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