If you grow your plants outside, the answer to your question is never. They will catch all the food the need on their own. I was skeptical of this myself when I started growing Venus Fly Traps, but in fact it is rare to see an open trap! They are very good at luring and capturing their own food.

If you grow your plant inside, or if you just can't stand the temptation, feeding them a couple of insects a month would be sufficient...after all, it is so much fun to watch those traps slam closed! Under no circumstances should you feed your Venus Fly Trap any kind of people food. This will be very harmful to the plant and kill the trap that you feed the food to. Hamburger, pork, chicken, pasta, potato chips, avocado are all not on the menu for Venus Fly Traps. Venus Fly Traps are insectivorous plants, which means they only eat insects. So, feel free to feed them ants, spiders, earwigs, flies, or any other creepy crawly that you can catch!

Comments (50)

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questions
written by tosha, May 16, 2008

can i feed it worms? if i dont feed it will it die?

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worms may work
written by Matt, May 16, 2008

You can try worms, but I haven't personally done that. You're better off sticking with insects. I have read that people feed Venus Fly Traps maggots, which is kind of like a worm, but it's safer to stay with insects.

No, if you don't feed your Venus Fly Trap it will be fine. Just give it plenty of sunlight, and clean water.

Good luck with your new plant!

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...
written by Richard, June 22, 2008

Should I remove old dead insect corpses after the trap has reopened or just leave them?
Cheers,
Richard.

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Re: ...
written by Matt, June 23, 2008

You can remove them if you'd like, but it is usually better to just leave them. Sometimes the corpses of the dead insects will attract a second meal for the trap, such as an ant or a spider coming in to try to eat the corpse.

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i bought a small fish tank
written by nicole, July 12, 2008

I bought a small fish tank with the pebble catch on the bottom.. to have water under the plant for humidity (indoor plant). I was wondering if buying the tank was a good idea beings as it need a dense amount of humidity?

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...
written by mat blades, August 16, 2008

if you have 4 or 5 Venus fly traps and you feed a bug just to one of them would it be o.k to feed bugs to all of them? j.d

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Re: ...
written by Matt, August 16, 2008

I assume what you mean is that you have one venus fly trap plant with 4 or 5 traps. If that's the case, it would probably be overkill to feed all the traps at once. Most growers agree that 1 or 2 bugs a month is sufficient.

If you mean you have 4 or 5 different plants, you can feed all of them a couple bugs a month.

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my venus fly trap
written by Oscar, October 31, 2008

hey my name is oscar and i wanted to say that i bought a venus fly trap in food lion on Oct. 28,2008 and the next day i found a mosquito and fed it to my fly trap and i wont shut it's mouth to eat it and none of my traps are opening their mouths so only one is barely shutting and the others wont open their mouths can you e-mail me back if you have a solution.

Thanks...

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...
written by alejandro, November 07, 2008

i have a question you said to feed them once a month what happens if i feed them more often and if i can when please get back to me ASAP its for a science fair project

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What thing that venus trap can eat
written by Ryan Martin, November 09, 2008

Hey can my venus trap eat maggot worm??

because i start worry i bought it yeasterday it never open yet

can you help me??

ryan martin

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Re: What thing that venus trap can eat
written by Matt, November 09, 2008

It's best to only feed your venus fly trap things that it would catch in the wild. I don't think maggots would hurt it, but this is something that it likely wouldn't catch in the wild.

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Is my new Venus Fly Trap dead? :(
written by Emma, December 15, 2008

I just received my new Venus Fly Trap in the post - it was apparently posted on the 10th and I didn't receive it until the 15th which makes me worry that it might be dead?

The pot is still moist and it looks green enough but the open traps don't close when stimulated (I was convinced it must be dead after such a long journey so decided to go for broke) Do they still close around prey in winter or could it be dormant? One trap had also strangely closed around a hunk of soil

Any chance it's still alive?

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Re: Is my new Venus Fly Trap dead? :(
written by Matt, December 15, 2008

Oh yes, your plant is almost certainly still alive. 5 days in the mail is nothing. I just got plants in the mail that took over 3 weeks to get here and they're still alive.

Typically when the plants are in the mail, the traps get tripped so much that they will no longer respond. That's why they won't close for you. Also, when the plant is dormant, sometimes the traps won't close or they'll close slowly.

When your plant starts coming out of dormancy, it'll put out new traps and those will work fine.

If you have any more questions, you should join the forum and ask them there.

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Should I feed my Venus Fly-Trap in the winter?
written by Allie Baker, January 29, 2009

The question pretty much says it all, but it's indoor so I'm not sure what to do.

Please e-mail me back ASAP.

Thanks! Allie

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Re: Should I feed my Venus Fly-Trap in the winter?
written by Matt, January 29, 2009

Hey Allie,

No, there is no need to feed your VFT in the winter time. In fact, you don't ever really need to feed them.

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what can i feed them
written by tasha, February 14, 2009

am i able to feed my flytrap fruits and vegies?

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should i water my VFT? if so how many times a week?
written by Nath, February 22, 2009

Hi,
i just bought me VFT but i dont know very much aout it... the only thing im wondering about is how many times i should water it.

Thanks, Matt

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Re: should i water my VFT? if so how many times a week?
written by Matt, February 22, 2009

Nath,

The best thing to do is use the tray method. Did you read the article titled "Water and Venus Fly Traps" under "Basic Concepts" on the left main menu? It should tell you everything you need to know.

If not, you should join the forum and ask more questions there. I hope to see you on the forum!

Matt

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.....~*........
written by Amy, February 24, 2009

I got my VFT today and i was reading these comments..so my VFT is in a plastic container sort of like a terrarium...and im keeping it inside...SO DO I EVER HAVE TO FEED IT?? WILL IT DIE IF I DONT??


thanks,
Amy

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Re: .....~*........
written by Matt, February 24, 2009

Amy,

You should remove it from that plastic container and set it in a sunny windowsill in a tray of distilled water until the weather is nice enough outside to put it out. You don't ever have to feed a venus flytrap, but you do have to give it a lot of sun.

You should join the forum and ask questions there. I hope to see you in the forums!

Matt

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Algea?
written by Alex, March 13, 2009

Not sure, but I read something about if a Venus Fly Trap is fed too much, algea grows near or around it? And I see these threey tiny milimeter sized bushes. Is this bad?

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Re: Algea?
written by Matt, March 13, 2009

Alex,

I've not experienced the little bushes you're describing. You should join the forum and post a photo there and perhaps we could figure it out.

Matt

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my venus fly trap
written by sam, March 22, 2009

hello i bought a vft yesterday i was wondering where should i put it i live in turkey so in the winter it quite cold but in the summer its really hot. plus the trap is green on the inside instead of red was wondering is there a problem with my plant thanks sam

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Re: my venus fly trap
written by Matt, March 22, 2009

Sam,

This really is a question for the forum. Follow the link to the forum at the top of the page and ask there. I'd have to know more about your weather, but it's likely that you can leave your plant outside most of the year and perhaps all of the year.

Matt

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why my venus fly trap not producing leafs
written by Aaron, April 30, 2009

Help! My venus fly trap Won't make any more traps! I fed it,give them enought sunlight, and Water them! and is April, is not going to dormant is it!.

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venus fly traps
written by somebody, May 21, 2009

actually, when venua fly traps that aren't grown in the wild , the trap ( only that trap not rest ) that ate the insect will fall off so feed only one trap once a month

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I just got a VFT
written by Bianca, May 25, 2009

I am just wondering how many times i should SPRAY IT with water?
OR if putting pebbles and then water works better?if so how much water do i put in the terrarium?
I bought mine they said it was 4" ...with about 7 traps how big can they get? how many buggs should i feed it a month if there are 7 traps?
and what kinda container should i put it in?
SORRY for all the questions i just want mine to live for a while and get big!
thank you so much

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Re: I just got a VFT
written by Matt, May 25, 2009

Hello Bianca!

That's a lot of questions. You should join the forum and ask those there. This section is for comments primarily, if you have something to add to the answer of the FAQ.

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i gust got my FVT yesterday
written by lauren, June 07, 2009

i realy dont know if i shoud spray my VFT do people do that?

how often do i feed it?

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Re: i gust got my FVT yesterday
written by Matt, June 07, 2009

Lauren,

It's not common for people to spray their VFT. For your second question about feeding your VFT, read above. If you have more questions, feel free to join the forum and ask them there.

Matt

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hi
written by memo , July 08, 2009

hey how big its have to be my plan for feed her

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tiny bugs
written by ruby, July 09, 2009

i went to snip the dead traps from my venus fly plant

and i noticed in the soil that there are tons of tiny little bugs.
there are a lot crawling in there

i wonder is this natural? are they suppose to be there?
because i really don't know why they are there ;~;

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Re; what can i feed them
written by Cicca205, July 31, 2009

NO, Defiantly not. Do not feed them anything that they would not catch in the wild... It wouldnt work anyway cus the pray that the trap catches needs to struggle to signle the sealing proccess.

Hope i helped

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Should I spray my VFT?
written by Sarah, July 31, 2009

I mean like, spray water into it. Would that be easier than just pouring it?

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Dead Insects
written by Baysaun, August 24, 2009

can i feed it dead insects

i just fed it a dead moth

i found it this afternoon so it still has nutriants

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vft eating
written by Matthew Thomas, November 10, 2009

How often do Venus fly traps eats? Do you have to feed them every week or every few days? If you have to feed them every few days how many days? And how many ants will they eat?

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Feeding?
written by Selene, December 11, 2009

I just bought myself a Venus fly trap today and i was wondering about buying wingless fruit flies from the pet store. they are rather small and i was wondering how often i should feed them to my plant? if you could email me back that would be awesome. selene

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I live in buffalo...
written by EricNibZ, January 25, 2010

Hi! I live in NY very close to buffalo and I will be getting a VFT very soon, I was wondering if it is still ok to have my venus flytrap outside in the summer and NOT feed it. In other words will the amount of insects we have here be enough to sustain its life?

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...
written by EMM, February 18, 2010

I had got a VFT today and I wanted to know if I can feed it DEAD bugs thank Emm

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its winter
written by 123456789, February 23, 2010

I gote my VFT today and it NOT opining its mouth and i put 2 bugs in
what is happening to it?

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by the way.............................
written by 123456789, February 23, 2010

by the way it not red inside its all green is this bad?

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i did the last 2 comments
written by 123456789, February 23, 2010

i heard that the one of the mouths of the VFT that ,that mouth when it eats it die's then it grows another one back is that true?

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i did the last 3 comments
written by 123456789, February 23, 2010

please get back to me please and how long does a VFT live?

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ANSWER PLZ
written by DAISY GOMEZ, March 05, 2010

CAN U PLEASE BE MORE SPACIFIC ABOUT WAT THEY EAT CUZ IM GETTING 4 FOR MY SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT.

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Just Wondering
written by Brenden, March 08, 2010

I was just wondering that if vft ate a spider will it be bad for it? I'm new to vft's so answer if you can.

Brenden

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Is something wrong?
written by Tyree, March 30, 2010

I bought a venus at Lowes and left it outside while it rained.When iI checked it I can see some type of worm it caught and I'm afraid it might kill my Venus.Also some of my traps are slowly turning black. Can you help me?

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i need help to look after my venus fly trap will you help me ?
written by alice, April 07, 2010

heyyah my names alice
i brought a VFT today and i killed an ant and
put it in one of the traps but some how it never closed
theres new ones growing i was just wondering
if its ok ? and is there new ones growning becuase
the rest are damiged ?
also the inside og the traps are not red there green ? is this normal for any of this to be happening ? please reply
from alice x

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Ladybugs
written by Kaeli, May 20, 2010

um well my Venus fly trap caught a lady bug!! i was wondering if that was okay... Im not even sure but it aready closed shut and i just got it the other day and i really dont want it to die! please reply ASAP

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...
written by justin w b, July 05, 2010

I just got my venus fly trap 3 day ago I fed each trap one thing is it ok it has 12 large traps and 2dozen tiny ones 2 large are green on the inside and wont open some are black ane some at the bottom have crooced teeth that are brown,

p.s.this is wate i fed it a fire-flie,an oke bug ,flie ,a bo-weevle respond asap

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Ask questions in the FlytrapCare Forum, not here
written by steve_d, July 05, 2010

Justin, please join the FlytrapCare.com Forum and ask your questions there. Thanks--

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