If you 've been patiently waiting for your Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)to open and it still hasn 't happened, your only option is to wait longer. In order to prevent bacteria and to enclose its digestive enzymes, the traps on these carnivorous plants remain firmly closed during the 5 to 12 days it takes to eat a meal. The trap will open sooner - in a mere 24 to 48 hours - if the trap was accidentally sprung by a raindrop, twig or curious human. A closed trap won 't open until the plant decides its time. In some cases, individual traps won 't reopen at all but will instead die and fall off the plant. This occurs at the end of each trap 's useful life. You can manually pull a trap open, but doing so could harm the plant, which will simply close the trap again in a few hours, if it is able. The Trap is Sprung It takes quite a bit of energy to trap and digest insects, so the Venus flytrap has gotten smart. Each trap, or pair of leaves, on the plant contains several tiny trigger hairs. When these are disturbed, the trap snaps shut, hopefully imprisoning a tasty insect. In order to conserve energy, however, the plant …show more content…
This built-in false alarm system is why Venus flytrap owners sometimes become frustrated with their plants. Venus flytraps are stimulated by live prey, so tossing a dead fly into one of the plant 's traps may cause it to close, but the trap will immediately open again rather than digesting the meal as desired. Feeding live prey is best, but if you do offer your plant a fresh kill, you 'll need to stimulate the trigger hairs repeatedly as a live insect would, To do so, place the insect into one of the traps. If the trap doesn 't close, use a pencil point or toothpick to stimulate the trigger hairs until it does. do not use your finger, as the oil from your skin is bad for the plant. Once the trap has closed, gently grasp the trap between your thumb and index finger and gently rub the trap until it closes more tightly, signaling the beginning