Venus Fly Trap Feeding
Venus Fly Trap Feeding
Some may say the feeling of exhileration they get from feeding their "pet" Venus Fly Trap can be likened to that of feeding a kitten or parakeet. While Fly Trap require only proper water and sunlight to be nourished as established in a previous hub on Venus Fly Trap care, one can feed a Venus Fly Trap actual food.
According to, carnivorous plant expert, Joel Garner, Fly Traps are to be fed live food. If you are like me the thought of feeding your Traps crickets, flies, fleas, beetles, worms and more is not so appealing.
Watch the video below as Joel demonstrates and explains a way to feed your Venus Flytrap with ease and pure enjoyment!
Feeding Venus Fly Trap Dead Prey Steps
- mist spray Venus Fly Trap with water
- use needle-nosed tweezer to insert worm into Trap leaf
- watch Trap leaf enclose
- between fingers gently squeeze the trap leaf four-12 times
Venus Fly Trap During Feeding
Though the plant name implies, flies are not the only insects to feed your Venus Flyrap. Larger Flytraps can eat small crickets. Wingless fruit flies can feed the smaller traps; all of which can usually be found at your local pet store. These are examples of living food for Venus Fly Traps.
As previously stated, how to feed a Venus Fly Trap plant is by feeding the plant living organisms. In the video above the freeze dried worms are received because Joel manipulates the trap leaves by gently squeezing them anywhere from six to twelve times. This activity tricks the Flytrap into thinking its prey is alive!
As demonstrated it is imperative to use needle-end tweezers so as not to harm the trap leaves during insertion of the food or removal. To help the feeding process inside the Venus Fly Trap leaves are hairs called trigger or sensitive hairs. When touched these hairs force the Flytrap leaf shut, enclosing whatever is inside. If following Joel's example, the misting of the trap prior to feeding the water allows the freeze dried blood worm to stick to the inside of the trap, thus easier for the tweezers to pull out.
Whether your Venus Fly Trap food is living or dead it takes anywhere from four to 14 days to digest, depending upon the ease of digestion. For example, hard shelled insect beetle lady bug are not easy to digest. It is possible that a Flytrap could reject its feeding and abort its food, turning black without fully digesting the prey.
