I only feed my pitchers once due to my fear of loosing a pitcher so I was wondering, in some of the slower coloring Nep pitchers if they are active upon fully opening or if their final colors (such as on the peristome) must fully develop before food is added to the pitcher?
Also should I be "irritating" the sides of the inner pitcher wall (such as wiping the insect up and down the wall to simulate struggle) slightly with the insects before I let them go into the fluid? The books seem to incline that it's the "struggle" of the prey which activates the digestive glands. I usually give the plants a gentle shake after feeding ("rocking" actually-just enough to make them wobble). And there's something weird with my house which makes assorted things shake anyway (probably either water pipes or poltergeists) so is this enough or should I be rubbing the crickets on the inner pitcher walls?
Thanks for any thoughts!
Also should I be "irritating" the sides of the inner pitcher wall (such as wiping the insect up and down the wall to simulate struggle) slightly with the insects before I let them go into the fluid? The books seem to incline that it's the "struggle" of the prey which activates the digestive glands. I usually give the plants a gentle shake after feeding ("rocking" actually-just enough to make them wobble). And there's something weird with my house which makes assorted things shake anyway (probably either water pipes or poltergeists) so is this enough or should I be rubbing the crickets on the inner pitcher walls?
Thanks for any thoughts!
