Don't bother feeding them, they'll get their own food. Don't even think about it! If the plant is inside it will not last long. These are OUTSIDE plants. Bring it home and put it OUTSIDE in full Sun.

In the wild, a VFT doesn't know between a bad bug or a good bug. The traps will close regardless what it is, once the trigger hairs are stimulated, it will close just the same if it's a fly, ant, bug, slug, a frog, a grass blade, small twig... what ever.

My VFT captures ants (don't know how they get in), flies, mosquitoes with some bloated with my blood. I wish I had taken a picture when a 1 1/2 inch trap caught 2 flies.

I don't bother feeding them, they can do that themselves. I rarely see them close on a bug, I only see the results when i get home. After 9 years with them, I had only wintess the event only 5 or 6 times and that's it. I wouldn't worry about it.

If a traps dies for eating the wrong bug, well that's too bad. A new one will take its place in a couple of weeks. I wouldn't sweat it.

Alvis, I can't stress enough that you need to put this plant in the sun. Lots and lots of sun. Otherwise, I would recommend you don't feed it. They can last a LONG time (years) without any insects at all! The most important things are SUN and lots of *distilled* water. Tap water is bad and bottled water is just as bad. You need distilled water. It should be in any grocery store in the section with the gallon-sized water containers.

Remember that every bug they digest takes energy. So if you feed every trap at once, you're exhausting the plant and possibly killing it.

But if you insist on feeding it (because after heeding my advice you put the trap in FULL sun and the plant has now gone years without trapping an insect on its own), it should be something soft like a maggot or a very small caterpillar. Avoid beetles or ladybugs because their exoskeletons are hard and difficult to digest.

Happy growing, brother

I have my plant in one of those 'Intelligent" plant lights which seems to be providing enough light (it allows you to set the 'season' and I'm currently in 'Summer' mode). I've had it since November, and while I didn't provide a dormancy period for it this past winter, it still seems to be growing well; too well, I think, because now the new leaves/traps are crowding one another in the pot (4 inch square plastic pot that the plant was shipped in), blocking a few leaves from getting full light, but still with no visible distress. I have also been using nothing but distilled water from the drugstore. My main reason for this question is based on the FAQ from the ICPS website which states in part to not feed a VFT certain bugs, so I was curious as to anyone else's thoughts on that topic.

I agree with with littlekitnerboy about the sun but not feeding. I keep my plants full. Time-lapse video shows the spurt in growth from a plant that is digesting bugs compared to slower growth from a plant that doesn't eat. It's their miracle-gro. I started with three flytraps around five years ago they've budded like crazy. I've probaby sold/given away at least 200 and still have around 25. I think one reason they've been so robust has been the feeding. But each line of genetic stock has different characteristics, so maybe not all plants are this way.

I like to feed mine slugs (but you have to make sure they don't ooze out before the leaf is fully closed). They don't leave any skeletons behind and it's poetic justice.

The only thing that's been bad for me to feed them has been cutworms, but that's probably obvious.

I also agree with the need for increased sun exposure and disagree about not feeding. In addition to trace vitamins/minerals the plant does obtain energy from the prey it digests.

Also the exoskeletons are not "hard to digest" rather they are undigestable. The plant still gets the nutrients from the soft innards of the insect.

Your vft will be best off with its winter dormancy. They do decline and eventually die without one.