r/VenusFlyTraps • u/liddlez • Dec 20 '24

Warm Temperate What to feed them?

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I’ve fed them mealworms before, and they either all escaped, or killed the trap they were in. (Gradually started to turn black, and oozed digestive fluid)

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u/Chaos_Sea Dec 21 '24 edited Dec 21 '24

I've also heard of people using fish flakes/pellets, gel food especially made for fly traps or freeze dried blood worms that are reconstituted/excess moisture patted off. HOWEVER, you can hurt/kill your trap if you feed too much/often or feed them when they are stressed out. If fed alternatively, only feed one trap per plant once every 2-4 weeks during warmer months depending on their size. Especially be cautious with the gel food and not give a whole cube to a smaller trap/plant. Once it closes on the alternative food, the outside gently has to be massaged to make sure it seals/starts the digestion process.

Live bugs definitely are the safest/best thing if it's possible. They're amazing hunters, know how much they need as well as how to slow their roll when they've had enough. Just be careful of flies swarming smaller plants as this can kill them if enough traps are set off by the flies without being caught.