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WOW! Superfood!

I found out what it is flytraps really like! Small crickets from thet pet store. I fed about 4 to each plant, and the traps have doubled in size since if you compare the new traps to the old ones. A couple of my green dragon traps are pushing 2 inshes, and are still developing so they will get beyond 2. I am really amazed at this, I've fed them lots of other things and gotten a growth spurt, but this is an explosion, in 2 weeks I have gotten almost 3 of those huge traps(the third is still unfolding). Everyone should try this. Just make sure to put the crickets in the freezer for like 30 seconds, but not too much longer. This slows them down to almost comatose, so it's easy to pick them up with tweezers and feed to plant, make the traps close, then as they wake up they stimulate the trap more and get eaten.
 
WOW!
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I THOUGHT YOU SHOULD ONLY FEED A VFT ONE BUG AT A TIME...
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Spectabilis,
The only problem I have had with my plants is the traps don't last as long as they do with only getting the occasional bug. By that I mean, that although the traps still close 3 to 4 times on bugs like they normally do, they reach that quota quicker.

Other people have had problems with traps dieing after only a bug or two. Since mine sit on my porch rail in their water trays during the Summer, it's kinda hard to keep the bugs away. My VFTs are almost constantly feeding.
 
That would be logical. Because feeder crickets tend to live off of cardbord and because of this they have very low fat and protien levels. The plant probubly doesn't have to put as much work into digesting the prey because of this. It may sound weird at first, but remember that the plant is only interested in the nitrogen contained in the insects body, most of the other compounds are just waste products, or unrequired nutrents.
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Perhaps I will try a few baby crickets seeing as their is actually a place to get them here now.

-Darcie

P.S. please note that large mature crickets do tend to have more moisture then the plant can handle as well as legs that can get stuck out the sides, both factors can lead to rotting so newbies should feed crickets with causion.
 
What makes you think crickets live off cardboard Darcie?
This is most certainley NOT the case.
Just do a lill research and youll soon learn otherwise!
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"most of the other compounds are just waste products, or unrequired nutrents."
Most insects are a source of Chitin.
Chitin is thought to be an important polymer for use in Agriculture. Here are some informative links regarding Chitin.

http://www.psrc.usm.edu/macrog/sea/chitin.htm

http://wwwcsi.unian.it/chimicam/chimicam.html

http://www.oligopharm.ru/english/agro.html

http://www.seaborne.com/chitinguide.htm

http://www.meronbiopolymers.com/html/mbio2apln.htm

That should be enough for now.


One thing i will say about any feeder food is that they are only as good as what theyve been fed.
The phrase you are what you eat applies well here.

That said every animal that feeds on crickets would then die as a result of either nutrient deficiencies or starvation if they were mearly being fed "cardboard"!


Peace
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Yep, and they do die from it to, long slow miserable deaths. Anyone who actually uses crickets for animal feed knows you have to feed the crickets on better stuff for a while befor serving, although some also use gutloading and suplement dusting on them.

I didn't say crickets should live off of cardbord, I said that that is what they live off of at the pet shops.
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As to Chitin, not only do all insects contain this, it isn't very digestable. Chitin is what makes up the exoskeliton in insects and that doesn't get readily digested by the plant,l although I'm sure some is.

My point was that the other nutrients ubsorbed by CPs are negligable when looking for a food sorce. If you had to point out another nutrent they get from insects, phosphates would be next on the list.

I can asure you, I am a carefull reasercher.

-Darcie

P.S. Crickets have bacteria in their gut that can break down the cellulose in cardbord into usable food, most critters can't do that hence crickets help unlock the food sorce.
 
Crickets wouldn't survive long on cardboard. All the pet stores I've been to feed their crickets chicken mash. Crickets are expensive and the pet stores will try to keep them alive as long as possible.
 
Hello,

Oh, yea!  They love crickets.  I get a blunt toothpick to gently prod any legs into trap if needed.  You don't want any seepage.

I just fed some Crickets (the sandhill kind; they are softer and more digestible than the black variety) to my VFT'S last week.  I know the pet shop here uses egg crates as their shelter and gut loads them power food (for better nutritional value for Reptiles). I think their staple food is corn mash and they water them from gelatinous cubes. I'm probably the only buyer of Cricket's for Carnivorous Plants in this small city.

Legs and antennae are a problem as it's hard for me to get small enough ones here.  I did notice that they will jump out of their rear legs when I hold them.  No problem; I just feed the rear legs to smaller traps.  Some traps 'sealed' fine if I did it fast enough (still slight muscle twitching detectable to VFT)?

My big Green Dragon's traps (both) that were fed opened this week and are hungry for more. They will have to wait for at least 4 more weeks. For a single Adult VFT; one, maybe two crickets a month is more than adequate for entire plant.

I agree with Darcie that Nitrogen is an immediate benefit to the VFT; but they also need Calcium for Cell Wall structure,
magnesium for Enzyme function, Potassium, etc. . . to name a few. Given, these are in trace amounts.

It's earthworms that seem to burn my traps nearly everytime. I take this to be what is in their gut. Earth.
Too many microbes. I stopped using them.

There you go.
Gary
 
"As to Chitin, not only do all insects contain this, it isn't very digestable.  Chitin is what makes up the exoskeliton in insects and that doesn't get readily digested by the plant,l although I'm sure some is."

Did you even read any of the links i posted?

"My point was that the other nutrients ubsorbed by CPs are negligable when looking for a food sorce.  If you had to point out another nutrent they get from insects, phosphates would be next on the list."

My point is that there are many other substances aside from macro or micro nutrients that can be and are beneficial to plants that are present in any number of different food types.

"I didn't say crickets should live off of cardbord, I said that that is what they live off of at the pet shops"

Ive worked in the pet industry for 10 years and ive never seen any person or company provide cardboard as sustenance for thier crickets. Ive worked for stores where we fed everything from cricket food and fish food to dead fish and small lizards! But never cardboard.
I think you may be confusing this with what they reside in.
Cardboard egg crating is used to transport and house the crickets, it provides the dark nooks and crannies they like.


Peace
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  • #10
Heh I just had to jump in. I know for a fact that crickets can digest paper products, as I found out when I brought my card collection out of storage(and I know it was crickets cause I caught them red-handed&#33
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, so I wouldn't be surprised to find wild crickets munching down on a cardboard box, but I doubt they get fed that by the folks breeding them for food. I actually kept a tank full of crickets alive and happy for a professor and all I ever fed them was oatmeal. WHICH brings up a good point, crickets ARE expensive, so if you have alot of cricket eating critters you should invest in a cricket farm for yourself. Once you get it set up its easy to take care of. The most difficult part is getting them to lay eggs, at least thats what gave me trouble.
 
  • #11
Okay, I see your point, I misunderstood your comment. Of course they get lots of stuff from digesting prey
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I have seen them on oatmeal at places that stock reptiles, but I've also seen places that let them eat cardboard because they only keep them for a weak or so befor a new shipment comes. Of corse, it should be mentioned that they can live a very long time with no food at all. In my experience, crickets are only pricey in small numbers, but I'm sure it varries region to region. Either way, I fed some to the giants so we will see how they do with them
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  • #12
Oooh, cricket farm! All you need is a 10 gallon tank. Stock it with about 20-40 adult crickets and soon you will have 1000's of pinheads (newborn crickets). I use bark chips as the substrate and eggcrates for shelter. I use a large dish filled with moist dirt, that's where they lay their eggs. They seem to need warmth for the babies to hatch. During the summer its no problem, but in winter, without heat, i don't have any babies hatching.
 
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