What should i do if the bug was too big for my Venus flytrap?

Question

So i just got my first venus flytrap today for $3.99 at target. It's nothing special, just your tyipical Venus flytrap. but it won't really eat seeing how most of the big ones were already closed when i bought it and the baby ones are open but they're wayy too small to feed. My brother keeps thinking that i got ripped off cause it won't eat. so i killed 3 flies and put them in the baby fly traps and one of them sort of closed and with the other one i sort of just forced it to eat it. but the flies were a little too big but i was scared that it would die! thats why i purposely killed the flies. Anyways, the fly was a bit a little too big for the fly trap so it didn't fully close on it. the head and the wings are sticking out. Is this a good thing or will it die? please help! 10 points for best answer!

Answer 1

You will need to wiggle the bug a little bit.  This will trigger the plant to close tighter.  Naturally as the bug squirms to get out the plant closes tighter to keep it in.  It can take anywhere from 5-10 days for the plant to digest the bug.  When it reopens the exoskeleton will remain and you should probably take this out.  Each trap usually only catches about 3 bugs in its lifetime, but each plant has several traps on it.  You should remove the black dead ones for the health of the plant.

http://www.botany.org/bsa/misc/carn.html

hope this helps you out.  

Answer 2

its a bad thing caues it supose to eat it whole  

Answer 3

You do not need to feed your fly trap anything other than sunlight. If you do feel like feeding it, don't feed it anything other than insects. The insect must be alive when you feed it to the trap, or it won't actually form a seal without a lot of prodding.  The movement of the trapped insect signals the trap to continue to tighten its grip and form a seal.  This way the trap doesn't waste energy closing on something that isn't  alive, such as a fallen leaf or a rain drop.  

The rule of thumb is that the insect shouldn't be larger than 1/3 the length of the trap.  If the trap is unable to fully close on the insect, then the trap will turn black and die.  This happens fairly often in nature (my fly traps often catch wasps, which are usually too big for most traps).  It isn't terribly harmful to the plant.

There are three major points to keeping a Venus fly trap healthy.

1) Sunlight - at least 4 hours of direct sunlight a day

2) Water - rain, distilled or reverse osmosis water only

3) Soil - Nutrient poor soil such as peat moss

Venus fly traps like lots of light. Try to give it at least 4 hours of direct sunlight a day. The more you can give it the better. It is best to grow your fly trap outside where it can get plenty of sun and catch its own food.

Venus fly traps need clean water. Usually tap water will not do. It is best to use distilled water, rain water, or reverse osmosis water. Venus fly traps need water with a TDS (total dissolved solids) measurement of 50 ppm (parts per million) or less. In order to get this, you probably need to use distilled water or reverse osmosis water or rain water. Their soil should be kept wet at all times. It is best to use a tray and set the plant in about 1/2 inch of water. Humidity isn't that important. Fly traps can live fine in low humidity conditions. I have about a hundred plants and I live in Colorado where the humidity in the summer is very low. They do great so long as they get plenty of sunlight and clean water.

I would guess that your plant came potted already, so the media that it is potted in is probably fine. But if you need to repot it, which wouldn't be a bad idea, you should use a combination of peat moss and perlite.

Good luck with your fly trap and enjoy growing it!

You can read more about how to care for venus fly traps here:

http://www.flytrapcare.com

And if you have more questions, feel free to join the forum and as them there:

http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/