FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Can I feed something to insects like betta pellets to nourish & fatten them up? Before I give to plants?

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You don't need to do that. The only thing that the flytrap is getting out of the insect is the nitrogen that they're made of- the plant doesn't need all the other trace nutrients that would come from gut-loading the insects beforehand.

Fishkeeper wrote:You don't need to do that. The only thing that the flytrap is getting out of the insect is the nitrogen that they're made of- the plant doesn't need all the other trace nutrients that would come from gut-loading the insects beforehand.

I mean fatten up with nitrogen or food that promote nitrogen in bugs

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I am not in biology whatsoever but I would imagine you could not alter the nitrogen content of a bug enough to make a difference. If you did alter the nitrogen so greatly it made a difference it would probably kill the bug.

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You're better off sourcing a bug that has naturally high nitrogen content. Bloodworms fit this wonderfully. You can find them freeze dried in any aquarium section.

Nick wrote:You're better off sourcing a bug that has naturally high nitrogen content. Bloodworms fit this wonderfully. You can find them freeze dried in any aquarium section.

By far my favorite aside from the occasional betta pellet

I third the notion! My plants either catch naturally or they get freeze dried bloodworms.

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What about live bloodworms?

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There are 2 things called bloodworms in the insect world. The freeze dried little guys we use for our plants are the larve of mayflies or midges, i cant remeber which. I remeber trying to find live ones, it was near impossible to find them, they dont stay in thier larval state for very long, and they need to be kept in water, that was too much hassle for me so i gave that venture up. The other things called bloodworms are giant red worms and if i remember correctly i think they have teeth and can bite. Fishermen like to use them so alot of places carry them live in stock, just letting you know. Led me to a bit of confusion when i was originally looking for them.

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Don't bother with live insects unless you catch a random bug outside. Your place will be overrun with bugs if you try to purchase some. You don't need to feed your traps at all for them to be healthy, and you don't wanna overdo it. A small bottle of freeze dried blood worms will last you multiple growing seasons and you don't have to worry about them getting out of their container, breeding, eating, pooping, etc. that entire time.

Live bugs aren't any better for your flytraps than freeze-dried bugs. Live bugs are better for reptiles because reptiles need all the little traces of nutrients, but flytraps just need the 'meat' of the bug. It is vastly easier to feed your plant a bunch of dead bugs than to try to fatten up live ones. Get a can of freeze-dried bloodworms from the pet store.

Nick wrote:Don't bother with live insects unless you catch a random bug outside. Your place will be overrun with bugs if you try to purchase some. You don't need to feed your traps at all for them to be healthy, and you don't wanna overdo it. A small bottle of freeze dried blood worms will last you multiple growing seasons and you don't have to worry about them getting out of their container, breeding, eating, pooping, etc. that entire time.

How can I overfeed?

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uusa2000 wrote:

Nick wrote:Don't bother with live insects unless you catch a random bug outside. Your place will be overrun with bugs if you try to purchase some. You don't need to feed your traps at all for them to be healthy, and you don't wanna overdo it. A small bottle of freeze dried blood worms will last you multiple growing seasons and you don't have to worry about them getting out of their container, breeding, eating, pooping, etc. that entire time.

How can I overfeed?

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I feed my drosera once a week, whereas my nepenthes or cephalotus every 2-3 weeks. This is because I once overfed a nepenthes pitcher and it rotted quickly. You can overfeed and it'll kill off traps/pitchers/leaves depending on the species. This my reasoning for different feeding schedules. My two cents.

But to be honest, they are carnivorous plants and essentially would do fine without food as they are slow growing and require minimal nutrients. I just like explosive growth on my plants

cjpflaumer wrote:I am not in biology whatsoever but I would imagine you could not alter the nitrogen content of a bug enough to make a difference. If you did alter the nitrogen so greatly it made a difference it would probably kill the bug.

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Bigger bug = more nitrogen

Prepping bugs would be useful if you were already raising some sort of feeder insect, but by raising them, the whole "prepping" process would basically be feeding them to grow them to the size at which you'd wish to feed them to your plants, so I suppose then it is not really prepping.

If you feed some caught insects, there will probably be no difference to your plants, as (I would would assume) much of the food you give the insect is used to produce energy for the insect, and not as much towards actual mass (think: the 10% law of trophic levels).

Benurmanii wrote:
Bigger bug = more nitrogen

Prepping bugs would be useful if you were already raising some sort of feeder insect, but by raising them, the whole "prepping" process would basically be feeding them to grow them to the size at which you'd wish to feed them to your plants.

Yeah bigger bug definitely will carry more nutrients but also carries the higher risk of rotting the trap if it's too big.

What I just meant is regardless of what the feeder insects ate, their nitrogen content would probably be fairly steady either way due to their body regulating their natural balance. But hey, I may be completely wrong lol.

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