FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hey everyone, I have a question about what traps can digest and what they can't, in terms of insects that are 1/4 the size of the inside of a trap.

So, a week ago, I happened to find a very small, slow moving beetle in my home and thought this would make a good meal. So I just placed it inside the pot, it promptly crawled inside a trap nice and slowly and got trapped straight away. It obviously struggled, the trap sealed, and for over a week now, the trap looked pretty zip locked and air tight on the bug.

I just noticed the trap start to reopen this evening, but I still see the bug in there. It's obviously dead, but it doesn't look in any way digested. Did I make a mistake of picking something that had a kinda hard looking shell, even though it was tiny? Below is the best pic I could attach.

Earlier, I also made the mistake of trying to wipe away a cobweb that a little spider has been waeving around some of my traps and it accidentally triggered a trap to close. The trap is already re-opening, but I feel so bad that I triggered it by accident I just want to confirm whether it is OK to leave a spider in there in the long term. It's not doing any harm, but it's weaving a web around and inside a few traps. At the same time, trying to deal with the web looks like more trouble than its worth. Any advice?

Anyway, my main question was really about the bug digestion and what kind of remains are normal to see in a trap after eating. I think I read that a trap takes about 2 weeks to digest, so I was surprised to see it open up again after a week.

Thanks for any advice!

Usually the exoskeleton of the bug is left. After that it usually falls off after some breeze and top watering...

Thanks for sharing your experience. I was also wonderfing if a week is pretty quick for a flytrap to finish digesting, or if it's normal that after a week it starts to reopen?

Yes, a week is pretty typical. The traps only work 3-4 times or so before they die.