venus fly traps traps are dying after consumption of bugs.. is this normal?

Question

medium is 50/50 sphagnum (peat) and regular sand.. in a terrarium in a windowsill in south louisiana.. nepenthes co-habitate.... distilled water only..

Answer 1

IF THE BUGS WERE POISONED TO SUCH DEGREE THAT THEY WOULD ACUTELY POISON THE PLANT, THEY WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO GET TO IT, DONT YOU THINK. we observe pesticide poisoning usually when it is sprayed on the plant to control bugs. so i would forget about that.

But, plenty of people overfeed them. sometimes they overfeed themselves, but mostly people simply tend to feed them, they think they should do it!!! if i had 10cents for everybody who asks me "how do you feed your flytraps?" i would be rich. maybe it is your case too?? how did the bugs get in the plant? pls ask youself how much meat you think it will eat in a year - the answer is very little.

many people have them die of other problems, too. (fertilizing, poor soil, poor water, too little light, too low air humidity) pls go to www.sarracenia.com and do your homework to rule out the possibility that it could de dying even without the bugs. how long have you kept the plant? if not for long, i would check the conditions

last important question: has the weather changed or been unusual lately??? it could be too hot or too dry air around it, this is no1 killer in summer. do you keep it in ambient air or in a container????

Answer 2

We had some venus flytraps that rarely if ever ate at all. We never did the feeding we just let nature take its course. They lived for about two years before the cat knocked them down. Got to be the size of an outstretched hand with a few of the traps almost 1 1/2" long.
I couldn't find the same site I saw before but there was this guy who used distilled water to mist his and then once a month would put a drop of fish fertilizer onto the base of the plant. He had plants that were the size of a kitchen table. He also left his outside year round to go dormant. For people in harsher winters it was recommended that you put them in a paper sack and store them in an unheated garage.
Good luck!

Answer 3

It may not be realted to the bugs at all. The venus flytrap is associated with shagnum bogs, which are typically acidic, so that may be the principal cause of their death. If the water they are in is not acidic enough, they they will die after a short while. The insects they consume are simply to add extra Nitrogen to their diets. They dont need to feed on insects necessarily, buthtye are also selective on the species they will feed on. They can choose to not eat a given species of insect if it will disagree with them. So, in my opinion I dont think it is related to the insects but possibly to the water pH or teh substrate.

Answer 4

If the bugs have been sprayed with pesticide, yes. Fly traps are very, very sensitive to environmental factors, giving them non-distilled water can kill them because of the chemicals in tap water. They need pure, filtered water. When you feed them, try to make sure the source isn't contaminated.

Answer 5

no