11 replies to this topic

[TheInactiveMoth]

Hi all,
I just bought my first ever VFTs at the weekend (royal red & sawtooth) and now, for the first time in my life, I have mouths to feed. There aren't a lot of insects around the place, so I was wondering about alternative foods.
What can I feed them other than flies? I can't bear not feeding them - it's too much fun! I fear my hunger for feeding them is greater than their hunger for flies...   
Thanks!

Edited by TheInactiveMoth, 14 June 2011 - 17:19 PM.

[Elliot]

TheInactiveMoth, on 14 June 2011 - 17:16 PM, said:

Hi all,
I just bought my first ever VFTs at the weekend (royal red & sawtooth) and now, for the first time in my life, I have mouths to feed. There aren't a lot of insects around the place, so I was wondering about alternative foods.
What can I feed them other than flies? I can't bear not feeding them - They it's too much fun! I fear my hunger for feeding them is greater than their hunger for flies...   
Thanks!

They should catch their own food, the constant struggling of a trapped insect is necessary for the trap to seal and the digestive enzymes to be released, so you can't feed them meat or dead insects.

Elliot

[Deadly Weapon]

I have fed my VFT's some dead insects with success. You just put the food in the trap and when trap is getting more and more closed you have to imitate the struggling prey by squeezing the leaf lightly against the "prey" for about 10s. Any bug is okay as long as it fits well in the trap.

Edited by Deadly Weapon, 14 June 2011 - 17:44 PM.

[petesredtraps]

Put a piece of meat outside and wait for the maggots,and feed them live,the VFTs break them down very easily. On another relevant note,sometimes young VFTs are too small to really catch anything,and Wacky Traps just can't. I've often wondered if there are any foliar fertilizers that have been proven to work well on VFTs ?

[TheInactiveMoth]

Thanks for the advice! However, I'd prefer to feed them something dead, as my Dad is a vegetarian and wouldn't allow it...

[Deadly Weapon]

Here Jeff Dallas from Sarracenia Northwest says it is ok to spray vft's leaves with orchid fertilizer once in every two weeks during growing season.

[Marcus B]

Deadly Weapon, on 14 June 2011 - 18:12 PM, said:

Here Jeff Dallas from Sarracenia Northwest says it is ok to spray vft's leaves with orchid fertilizer once in every two weeks during growing season.

I spray mine with the same spray that I use on my Cephs, Miracle Gro for acid loving species, 1:10 dilution of recommended concentration, but mostly they do fine catching their own prey, if they are outside.  Dead insects can also be fed with the aid of a fine brush to stimulate the trigger hairs until the plant tries to seal on the bristles.

[Daniel G]

http://sarracenia.com/faq/faq2440.html

Enjoy your read!

[TheInactiveMoth]

Oh my, I really should find bugs shouldn't I? Perhaps I can find some dried bloodworms...

[zeeland]

I feed them sometimes dead fish out of my aquarium  and it works

[TheInactiveMoth]

Zeeland - I don't think I'd want to do that....

[MICKEY]

buy a fly trap there cheap they may come with bait if not some fish or meat or dog droppings,work as bait
tiny earthworm might work and they don't have faces