FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

i tried to feed a trap a small cut up worm, the worm was wiggling around and everything, but the trap would not budge at all! I even tried touching th hairs myself, still would not shut! why is this???

maybes the trap is old

Poorly cared for plants, or old traps which have eaten more than 2 or 3 times won't close over prey.

If you wait for a new trap to grow, that one should be active, if it isn't, you'll need to improve your care for the plant.

what are your conditions for the plant?

There are quite a few reasons why a trap won't close, but it's usually nothing to worry about. The leaf continues to photosynthesize and provide food for the plant in that way even if the trap has already closed its maximum number of times or has been "sprung" (stays in the open position) by having dried out too much at some point, possibly damaging the sensitive trigger hairs.

The one thing to worry about is whether the trap won't close because of mineral salt overdose. If you're using pure water (distilled, rainwater or reverse osmosis water) and the growing medium is known to be very low in TDS (adds very little to the total dissolved solids in the water within it), then a trap that won't close is probably nothing to worry about.

We'll need some more info on how you grow your plant but Steve has the main reasons already said.