Feeding=death

[rottingfox]

awhile ago i fed a few of my vft's small crickets. everything seemed fine......but in a few days before they could open ,the ones that had the crickets were turning black and dieng. one even just ate a hole in itself, then died. is this normal? im also having problems with my other plants- (if interested in helping see sundews forum)

-any help? or suggestions
-----kelly

 

[scottychaos]

did the crickets come from a pet store?
its possible they were "fortefied" with extra vitamins or some such, which is done for reptiles..(usually live crickets at pet stores are meant for pet reptiles or amphibians)
so that could be the problem..
but I wouldnt worry about it, you probably just over-fed the plant, but it wont die.
I would cut off all the black traps, leaving the green leaves behind.
the plant should recover fine..
is it outdoors?
if so it will catch its own food and you dont need to feed it yourself at all!
(actually, no one needs to feed ANY VFT at all!

even if its indoors in a terririum..they dont *need* bugs to survive..)

and..by this time of year its getting cold enough that VFTs naturally stop eating anyway..(the traps stop working)..so "feeding time" is already over for the season!

Scot

 

[rottingfox]

thank you....i feel better now, and yes, the crickets were from a pet store.

I live in arizona though, and it wont get cold enough inside my house, so when i put them in the fefrigerator, do i leave them in there pots? and after there dormancy, is it okay to plant them in the pete thats in the terarium or could it shock them and kill them?
also-(sorry for all the ?'s) will gnats survive after the refrigeration?

 

[droseradude]

You should try ants!

they are small, and readily available. But make sure they don't come from some place you put an ant trap at, you don't want poisoned ants in your vft traps.

 

[vft guy in SJ]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (droseradude @ Sep. 22 2003,11:31)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">You should try ants!

they are small, and readily available. But make sure they don't come from some place you put an ant trap at, you don't want poisoned ants in your vft traps.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
I would advise against trying to feed your VFT ants. The ammount of energy the plant uses to try to catch an ant is not worth the ammount it will recieve IF its lucky enough to actually catch and digest it. Ants are small enough to simply walk out of the trap before it can seal and begin digestion.

Steve

 

[MaskedNinja]

Ants work well just make sure they have a good size to them.

Travis

 

[vft guy in SJ]

Thats either a VERY big ant.. or a pretty small trap. My seedling traps have caught a couple, but I still would advise against trying to feed them to vfts, again, the nutritional value is not worth the effort to catch and digest them.

Steve

Edit: I should add that the occasional ant catch will not hurt a VFT. Just dont make ants a feeding staple.
Steve