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Transplanting-

Hello all,

I want to start by saying how fabulous and informative this site is.

So, my brother gave me a VFT, which I LOVE, but I want to make a nice living environment for it.  I have a large glass jar (similar to those you'll find in a coffee house w/ biscotti in them!)  My question is how do I do this?  I've read just about all the messages in this forum, and I am aware that taking the plant out of the original container may disturb the roots too much.  I currently have rocks surrounding the plant inside this jar, and some extra water that sits on the bottom making a lovely, moist atmosphere.  My problem is that I realized that there is some funk growing inside, in the water and on the rocks.  Not good, kinda gross!  The good thing is that my VFT is growing like MAD!  It is time to move it into a larger glass jar, and I want to it right.  Any suggestions?  

Next question... I live in Brooklyn, NY.  We don't really have any bugs to catch.  What do I feed these creatures?  I read that you can purchase grasshoppers at a local pet shop, but won't they be way too big?  I spent about 1 1/2 hours last weekend running after a stupid fly, and you know what?  my husband called me crazy!  and I was...

Thanx for any help... now off for my orchid question...
 
Can't help out much with the glass jar situation, but most people who can't find many insects buy small crickets or worms at their local pet store. You can use pieces of worms by freezing them first. As for the crickets, you can put them in the freezer for a few minutes to knock them out...place them in a trap...they wake up and wiggle...snap!

I don't know what Brooklyn is like, but isn't there a park or playground where you can look under rocks for insects? If you have a small plot of grass somewhere you can build a bug trap - half bury a plastic jug or container, bugs walking in the grass will fall in and not necessarily be able to crawl out. Oh - and sometimes I'll fish bugs out of my pool. Do you have mosquitos there? A jar of standing water to encourage mosquito larvae, I'm sure those can be fed to your plant. ( sure am rambly today)
 
Hmmm, no bugs. I am surrounded by brick and concrete. I will find an occasional spider in my apartment, but slim pickins. Will the VFT move and pick something up from the surface?
 
Surely you must have flies!  Maybe not now, but when it gets warmer.  Flies are great and easy to catch.  I've been catching them for over a decade (not for cp's).  All you need is a clear plastic cup and a flat piece of wood or cardboard.  Takes a little practice, but once you get the hang of it, you can catch multiple flies at a time
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so... I have 9 traps or so. Does that mean I need to catch 9 flies two times a month?, or do they share! Are roaches too big? (Not that I have them, but my sister does!, Ah, New York!) Can I put dead bugs in there?

What about my transplanting question? Can anyone help?
 
Still can't help with the transplanting question, can a moderator put this in the VFT section?

VFTs don't have to be fed at all. It helps with growth and the overall health of the plant (plus it's fun), but not a requirement. Even if you got just a few bugs a year, it will be just fine. And whatever one trap catches will transfer the nutrition to the whole of the plant. Generally, you want to give your trap an insect that is 1/2 to 3/4 the size of the trap - so it will be inside the trap. Anything hanging out increases the chance that the trap will rot and die.

Dead bugs are generally not the best thing to put in there, as the traps trigger with movement and dead bugs are usually dry and nutrition-less. I've put freshly squashed bugs in and triggered the traps with a piece of hair or string but it can get tricky.

Maybe you can cut up some roach bits :shocked: to the appropriate size, and trigger it. I'd suggest doing this for only one trap as an experiment. Some bugs are not good for traps (such as ladybugs), and you'll be able to see if your trap enjoys the bits, or dies because of it.

Check under some loose bricks
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Crickets shouldn't be hard to find in the pet stores.
 
Oh, you guys are just fabulous, so much info! Thank you. Yes, I am a VFT idiot, do I feel them with tweezers, or I can just plop a bug anywhere into my jar?

You most definitely can move my questions to anywhere you see fit. After I clicked the submit button, I realized I posted my question in the wrong place. Sorry about that. Don't you get annoyed with people who don't pay attention?! How will I find it again after it is moved?
 
Oh, don't worry about it. We all start somewhere, I'm a newbie myself, I've learned almost everything from this forum and its members. Only moderators and such can move messages, you will see a link to the new spot if it gets moved.

If the bug is alive, just plop it into the jar and let nature take over. If it's dead, you need to tease the small hairs on one of the inside sides of the trap until it fully closes - that's why you need something thin like a piece of hair. If you use tweezers you could damage the trap, plus the trap will stop closing if you stop moving the trigger hairs or the tweezers are in the way.

Live bugs are the best of course.
 
Meagan,

Just to clarify, you pretty much have to feed live bugs to VFTs. The trap works in 2 phases, first the bug trips the trigger hairs and the trap closes, second, the bug continues to struggle tripping the hairs more causing the trap to seal and start digesting. The reason for the second phase is that things like wind and rain can cause the trap to close and it would be a waste of energy for the plant to go through digestion for nothing.

As for feeding, 1 bug per month is all you really need and even then it isn't a must.

Transplanting is a touchy subject, some say never do it some say do it when ever. My feelings on it are, if you are transplanting VFTs you must be very careful. If you don't care about losing the pot I recommend cutting it in half and then taking the whole mess of dirt and roots and planting it in a bigger pot, just fill in the extra space with a mix of 1:1 peat:silica sand or peat:perlite

Hope all that makes sense

Pyro
 
  • #10
If you never feed it, it will slowly start to decline health-wise over the course of a few years... Bugs are definatly the best way to go. Hey, do you have those little jumping spiders that are black and white? They arent TINY, but they are small enough for most mature VFTs... They are perfect, and I'm sure you can find them crawling on sun-beaten grey brick walls...
 
  • #11
I do have some kind of weird black jumping something-or-others, but they are FAST! I can never catch them. They are in my bathroom, so maybe I can leave the VFT in there with the cover off?

Pyro... what exactly is "peat"? as in moss? I have sheet moss, will that work? I also have reptile sand and the packaging says "better than silica" is it ok do you think? I have also heard to put charcoal into closed terrariums to guard against fungus, mildew and odor, can that hurt the dudes?
 
  • #12
Sphagnum peat moss.

Sheet moss will kill it.

Better than silica for reptiles... Silica is better to mix with the moss...

BTW, the moss is like dirt, its not actually growy...
 
  • #13
Megan, you're definitely on the right track. Transplanting is ok if it's absolutely necessary. If your plants are healthy then don't mess with them... they're happy. As far as feeding goes, VFT's live for months without food (bugs). As long as they look healthy I would keep up the same routine (ie watering). Just make sure you give them good water (rain, distilled, or RO) and look at them daily. They really like that.

Oh yeah... Make a mix of 50/ 50 sphagnum peat and perlite and a little charcoal is probably ok (but not necessary). Sand, better than silica, is a little suspicious. Silica is absolutely perfect. Any kind of sand with lime is bad. Bottom line... if you don't know what's in it, don't use it.
 
  • #14
See, I think I do need to transsplant it, or at least just put the already planted VFT in a new jar.  The jar I started them in is becoming too small.  I didn't antisipate them growing so fast.  I soon will have my own little shop of horrors right here in Brooklyn!  As well as I mentioned earlier, there is some funk growing inside the jar and scary stuff floating in the water.  I rcv'd the plant in March, and I haven't watered it since.  The lid on the jar stays on all the time, and it keeps everything nice and moist.  So if I don't replant it, do I just surround the pot w/ silica and peat so that it isn't loose inside the jar?  I have it fitted with rocks that are the size of a thumb currently.

Also...I CAUGHT A FLY!  I fed them last night and couldn't wait to get up this morning to see the trap shut.  Thanx for all the support!
 
  • #15
  • #16
Can someone post a picture of how these mixtures and sand should look if you transplant a VFT??

thanks
 
  • #17
Ooohhh, good question! I'd like to see that too. Where can you buy this stuff? I would assume the internet, but would a specialty flower shop have it?
 
  • #18
Meagan,

Your questions were kind of answered but I am going to chime in again
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"peat" is sphagnum peat moss, you can find this in most any garden center. It is usually kind of dry when you buy it and should appear light and fluffy, almost like saw dust, and be a chocolate brown in colour.

Your "better than silica" sand is a definite no-no. Reptile sands now-a-days are designed to be compatable with reptile digestive tracks. Silica sands tend to lead to gut impaction so non-silica sands are better for them. They are also laced with calcium which is lethal to CPs. A good check for if a sand is safe is to drop a little vinegar on it, if it fizzes it is no good.

As was pointed out, sheet moss is lethal to CPs so do not use it.

If you are not going to re-pot then your set up is just fine. I was a little unclear with my wording about putting the peat:sand mix around the plant. If you pull the soil out of a 3" pot and then drop the whole thing in say a 5" pot, there will be a significant amount of empty space in the new pot. This is the space I was saying to fill with the new soil
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Does that make better sense?

If you are just transfering your plant into a bigger jar there is nothing extra that you need to do.

Pyro
 
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