FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hey everyone,

I noticed my vft caught a bug and I figured it was this other tiny leaf hopper that I was having trouble catching, and by some miracle it caught it. But I could tell by looking at it that it hadn't been stimulated enough to seal shut and would re-open in a few horus time.

So I watched a video on massaging a trap shut using your fingers, so I tried to do that gently for 40 seconds, as it said. But I thought I heard some small noise when I first started - like a tiny crunch - I figured could've been something to do with the bug inside and I hoped I hadn't torn anything to do with the plant.

Anyways, afterwards the the trap looked like it was definitely sealing and the critter inside was definitly moving around and triggering stuff on its own. But I looked at the trap, and I saw this little red part which you can see at the bottom of the trap like a little red line in the photo.

Is that because of me?
Did I hurt the trap?
Did I cause major damage?
Will this trap die?

I feel so bad! I'll just leave it alone next time and let nature do its thing! Can anyone just let me know if this damage is bad?

Thanks for any advice! :'(

Probably, but it'll eventually die off anyway and be replaced, so no worries.

Thanks for letting me know. Today, lessons were learned :'(