FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

So I made an impulse buy of a VFT from the local hardware store. I had looked into them and thought they were interesting and that they would make an interesting "pet." So, the ones they had were all pretty poor looking. I bought the one with the least amount of brown. I trimmed off everything that looked to be dead and it has been about 6 days. I tried feeding the VFT an ant, which I had injured. It crawled around inside one of the traps for a while before eventually "rebooting" and taking off at which point I killed it. The trap never moved or even appeared to attempt to close. I'm thinking the plant might be dormant because I'm not sure that it got enough light in the hardware store and it is that time of year where I live (Maryland). Do VFTs stop eating when they go dormant, or is it possible that I got a breed that where the traps don't function? It is advertised as being capable of eating bugs though...

It came planted in what I believe to be sphagnum moss and in a tiny little plastic pot that has holes in the bottom. I've given it one good watering since I bought it and the moss is still damp. Should I put the pot in a bowl and just add water to the bowl so that there is always a quarter of an inch or so in there?

I'm trying to rescue this and make sure it doesn't die, but I've been accused of having a "brown thumb" and would like any help from the members of this forum.

Read all of this info. http://www.flytrapcare.com/venus-fly-trap-growing Then click the menu and read the advanced care guides. If you have more questions come back and ask.

It's possible that it's entering dormancy or you could have just fed a trap that is old and no longer working. I have traps on my plants that look perfectly healthy, but they no longer close and will eventually turn brown and die off.

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Thanks so far for the advice. I'm going to give it another week and hopefully it will start to re-bound. I don't know when the VFT was re-potted because it came in a pot, so it shouldn't be adjusting to being uprooted, but I also don't know how long it was sitting in that hardware store without any attention.

Still not sure why it wouldn't eat, but I'll wait until it grows some new traps and then I'll try feeding it again.

the traps will often not work on an unhealthy or stressed plant. sounds like that's the condition you got it in. with plenty of sun and the right water, it should recover. but now is the time when flytraps typically start to enter dormancy, so its traps may not be ready to eat anything until spring (or close slowly), even once it's recovered.