The Lemon Fool

Found a fantastic place in Beaumaris yesterday which, as well as serving the most delicious coffee and walnut cake, had lots of venus fly traps for sale. I was very tempted to buy a couple because we seem to have problems with flies at home but when I read up on them it seems that they need feeding with live bugs etc. when there is a lack of flies. I'm a rescuer of spiders, silverfish and other creepy crawlies and I don't like the idea of feeding live things to a plant. Has anyone kept fly traps and is there any way of fooling them into thinking a little bit of raw mince is a dead fly?

R6

When I were a lad a chum of mine had a Venus fly trap and he fed it live and dead flies also mince and also cheese. The plant died after a couple of years, drying out I think he decided rather than the diet.

Rhyd6 wrote:we seem to have problems with flies at home

and

Rhyd6 wrote:I'm a rescuer of spiders,

My neighbour calls on me to rescue the spiders from her bath and release them outside.

I'm a rescuer of spiders

I guess it depends on what you mean by "rescue". They are very efficient disposers of flies. And indoor spiders don't much like being transferred to outdoors.

You used to be able to buy them in IKEA, I got all my Vegan friends one for Xmas.

Seems they're widely available now, including B&Q

Paul

Rhyd6 wrote:Has anyone kept fly traps and is there any way of fooling them into thinking a little bit of raw mince is a dead fly?

No direct experience, but aren't you supposed to tweak the trigger hairs - two different hairs, at an interval of less than 20 seconds?

BJ

Rhyd6 wrote:... Has anyone kept fly traps and is there any way of fooling them into thinking a little bit of raw mince is a dead fly?

Yes. To avoid false triggers they count how many times the hairs are touched. They close after touching the hairs two times in relatively quick succession.

https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/how ... n-to-shut/

I was fascinated by them as a boy, and had several in succession.

https://www.carnivorousplants.co.uk/res ... ete-guide/

Thank you all for your information, I shall buy a couple to take home with us and of course I shall have to return to the shop/cafe to make sure their coffee & walnut cake is up to standard

R6