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Black blob taking over!

It all started a few days ago, a time when my vtf akai ryu was screeming famine. So, as the sight of her empty belly/traps was breaking my heart, I went in my garden in search of edible food.

And thus I met Mr.Woodlouse (armadillo bug or slater for friends). He didn't seem to have too much plating and enough meat in his exosqueleton, so I mercilesly captured him and viciously fed his to my poor vtf. But little did I know then that it would lead to the coming of the terrifying black blob!

Now, the leaf is still closed but with the edge curling outward and the bug sort of digested I guess, as the inside of the leaf, when I peak inside between the two-edges...is filled with some weird black, watery goo.

Seriously, what gives? Was it because I shouldn't feed them woodlice or because the leaf was already exhausted and this episode pushed it beyond the brink?
And what do I do with it? Wait, open and clean, or cut?

Sorry for the long post, I watched too many "horror" movies yesterday and am still in the mood. =)
 
I have read od varying opinions as to whether woodlice are safe. However there are two other potential factors that may come into play - the size of the prey, relative to the size of the trap, and whether the trap itself was one meal or a short time away from being expired. The latter is self- explantory. If its number was up, being old, it wouldn't have mattered. The rule of thumb that we regurgitate is that the prey should be no larger than 1/3 the size of the trap. Anything bigger puts that trap at risk. Other factors, and I speak from experience, is that if your set up is closed off, such that there is no air circulation, the plant will be stressed and the woodlouse would have been the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back." Related to that but can be independent, is that if your set up is a mini-greenhouse effect, such that the temperature is very high from sunlight, that will also make the plant sickly - like a pet dog locked inside of a car, on hot summer's day. Even in Canada this can happen. Been there, done that. So there are a few variables in which to consider.

BTW, love the prose!
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well if you could look inside your stomach it won't be so pretty either ^_^


traps only last so long before they start to curl backwards. don't open the trap to look inside, it will only expose the inside to airborne fungi spores and bacteria. one of the reasons the trap seals so tightly is to keep fungi out.

if the trap is rotting theres nothing you can do to save it anyway. but by the sounds of it it seems like the trap's days were numbered anyway.
 
i say cut the trap out
 
If you ever feed your VFT too ig a meal it will close, but then will not open/half open again which will reveal a black, slimey, half digested fly/spider /armadilo bug. The trap will most inevitably rot, so if you're afraid of your other traps catching fungus, then cut it off, but leaving the trap on would sure be a photosynthesize-sic benefit.
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Nice story BTW.
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Jason
 
Oh yeah, how large was the bug in relation to trap size?
 
Well, that's the thing, it's not rotting at all! It started only just now (about a week later) to get a more yellowish tint to the tip of the edge, but it's barely noticeable. It's only the inside that's black and really liquid, and no sight of fungi yet. *Goes double-checking again* (Not that I can see anyway)

Apart from the yellow and the outer-curling edge, the stem and leaf are still strong, hard and pretty much the same red as all the others. Though it is bending a bit from the weight. (Water is heavy after all, and it's almost like a runny nose...)

The size? Well, about 1/2 the trap size. I fed it to one of my older, and thus bigger trap to make sure Mr. Woodlouse would fit inside and be nice and cozy.


PS : Today I fed my first live spider to my typical vtf =D
Whoever thought of that fridge trick, I want to hug right now. That was fun! ^_^
 
I am guessing your only real problem is that the trap didn't seal properly (you should not be able to open it and look inside) and so you have something else eating the dead insect in addition to the plant (bacteria or fungi). I wouldn't worry about it, just let it do it's thing and once the trap turns 100% black (if it ever does) cut it off.
 
Several years ago I deliberately kept about 10 VFTs in dormancy through the spring and summer so I could have a terrarium to tinker with during the winter. In late november I found a bunch of small slugs in my basement. Well, my traps were all looking pretty hungry so I promptly fed two traps per plant a juicy slug. I didn't check on them again for a couple of days. Then, one morning before work I noticed a foul odor coming from the shelf where I was keeping the terrarium. All of the slug fed leaves were lying flat on the soil with what looked like viscous drool oozing out of them. The odor was horrible too. I can only surmize that the slugs secreted some kind of protective sludge in response to the digestive juices. I had to change some of the soil since the stinky goo had dribbled out onto the surface. The moral of the story; "slugs are like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're gonna git".
 
  • #10
Several years ago I deliberately kept about 10 VFTs in dormancy through the spring and summer so I could have a terrarium to tinker with during the winter. In late november I found a bunch of small slugs in my basement. Well, my traps were all looking pretty hungry so I promptly fed two traps per plant a juicy slug. I didn't check on them again for a couple of days. Then, one morning before work I noticed a foul odor coming from the shelf where I was keeping the terrarium. All of the slug fed leaves were lying flat on the soil with what looked like viscous drool oozing out of them. The odor was horrible too. I can only surmize that the slugs secreted some kind of protective sludge in response to the digestive juices. I had to change some of the soil since the stinky goo had dribbled out onto the surface.  The moral of the story; "slugs are like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're gonna git".
 
  • #12
Hum, sounds like what's happening here. Guess slimy kinds of bugs are a no no. So what happened to those traps afterwards?

Darcie : the trap *was* sealed real tight when it "got" the woodlouse, only the tip curled outward after a while and now I can peek inside if I look really carefully.
 
  • #13
Sszvein,
All of the slug fed traps died a gruesome death and had to be promptly removed. The plants themsleves were OK. However, I believe that had I waited longer the ooze would have contaminated the soil and possibly damaged the rhizomes. (This started the "Just so no to slugs" campaign at our house) I've also noticed that a larger carpenter ant will burn a hole through the side of a trap when the formic acid sack in it's abdomen begins to digest.
 
  • #14
That is very true, slugs do secreat large quantities of mucus as a defence mechanism.  They also house a lot of ickies and give most CPs issues. And some species of ants will also burn traps, now you just need to try moths and you'll have experience moths and earth worms and you'll have tried the most famious live things not to feed your flytraps, lol ;)

If the trap was closed and then curled back it means it fineshed digesting, but the meal was too big and the lobes got glued together :p It happens some times, you can either pop them appart and pull out the goo or just let it slowly defunk and then trim it off.
 
  • #15
Darn, that info would have been good notice before hands b4 I fed my flytrap every exsisting bug I could discover in my household.
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Thanks, Darcie. Why not moths though?
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[b said:
Quote[/b] ]If the trap was closed and then curled back it means it fineshed digesting, but the meal was too big and the lobes got glued together

This is exactly what happened. Exactly. Phew, at least now I know why. But let me add that you'll get kind of a nasty feeling into your tummy when you tease open the digestive-juice-sealed trap, and pull out a half dead, half digested, goo/mucus/slime covered whatever you guys feed to your flytraps, half fungus eaten, zombie fly. Plus it gives of a smell that could melt sweaty socks too. Yummy...

Jason
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  • #16
[b said:
Quote[/b] (flytrap59 @ Aug. 09 2004,7:08)]   All of the slug fed traps died a gruesome death and had to be promptly removed.
Noooo! Please don't say it like that! *weep* "Gruesome death he says..." Snif snif, we'll see about that.

Right, so maybe I saw a little big okay, so how do I "pop them appart and pull out the goo" without my trap meeting a "gruesome death" *mumble mumble*?
And will that trap be able to eat again afterwards?


(btw, just how long does it take to digest something? Couple of days? And when growers recommend one bug per week, they mean per plant, not per trap, right?)
 
  • #17
It usually take about a week for the trap to reopen. I remember reading feeding one bug per trap. One of things I gleaned from reading was that one shouldn't overfeed VFT's. Bugs are helpful and necessary for their health and growth, but too mich is detrimental. They derive much from sunlight. They need live food less that what we think they do. It's kinda like taking care of tropical fish. Better to err on underfeeding them a little than overfeeding.
 
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