Are vfts picky eaters?

[missouri_slims]

I have gotten a few gnats and fed my VFTs. They close up but open back up by the next day without having consumed the gnats. What is the reason for this? Other than that, they are looking good.

 

[firewired]

Gnats are pretty darn small for a VFT. Unless your trap is tiny, it's probably not enough food for them. Each trap can only eat three times, so they like to make the meal worth while. They will open up again if the critter is too tiny, or if it doesn't really "feel" anything in there. Good luck.

- Joel

 

[Amateur_Expert]

are the gnats dead? because if they are the vft will not know its really food and not a rock or a drop of water that fell into its trap. after the trap is triggered it will close but in order for it to fully close and start digesting the insect inside needs to continuously trigger the hairs inside the leaf to encourage and convince it to fully close. In other words - if an insect is dead the trap won't know its food so it will open again. it needs to be alive and kicking (literally

) so it can reasure the trap whatever fell in there is worth digesting.
There are some people that have other ways of triggering the inside of the trap. I've heard of people using toothpicks or sometimes pressing the leaves together every so often, but i don't know if its effective it is or how exactly they do it. Try catching live food
I use a pair of tweezers - i grab the bug and while still holding the insect with the tweezers stimulate the hairs until they close around the tweezers so the bug doesn't get out, now the bug is free to move around, the VFT will now its dinnertime and will completely close.
If you have to feed it dead stuff you could do the toothpick or the squeezing thing but ask first so you know how to do it correct or risk loosing a leaf

anything else pm me

 

[Starman]

Hmmm, if tghe gnats dissapear from the trap, then it means the food is too small. VFTs let small prey go out of their trap so they dont use energy trying to digest something tiny. Find something bigger!

Dino

 

[missouri_slims]

Thanks for the info. The gnats were dead. I used a toothpick to get the traps to close. I will try to find something alive from now on. And bigger.

I did find an alive, but hurt, fly and my green dragon seems to have consumed it.

 

[Jason Wong]

Well, mine's lactose intolerant...

 

[jon]

Quote[/b] (Jason Wong @ July 19 2004,10:09)]Well, mine's lactose intolerant...

Ya, mine has multiple allergies.... and A.D.D., once it closes it gets distracted and goes looking for more food...