They’re plants, but with a really cool biological twist.
They’re plants that happen to devour insects.
Super cool and very interesting pets.
But would they be considered pets, you ask?
Absolutely, and today we’re going to discover the amazing world of the most famous of the
carnivorous plants: venus fly-traps and pitcher plants, both of which are growing in this
new lush terrarium kingdom and carnivorous plant garden I recently acquired.
Now these carnivorous plants will truly blow your mind, guys especially when we do what
excites carnivorous plant-lovers the most - feeding them insects!
Stay tuned until the end to watch the epic feeding session of our new carnivorous plants.
I’ll also be talking about how to care for them properly for those wanting to keep carnivorous
plants, and as always, I’ll be needing your help naming them in this video!
So AC Family, it’s an eye-opening and trap-opening episode of discovery, so gather round and
let’s all welcome to the Antiverse, organisms that deviate from the traditional order of
nature, who reverse the regular prey-predator relationship, and are living proof that animals
aren’t always above plants in the food chain.
Here on the AntsCanada Ant Channel.
Please subscribe to my channel, and hit the bell icon.
Welcome to the AC Family.
Enjoy!
Once upon a time, I sought the help of some special plants to help control the population
of one of my massive ant colonies.
I’m talking, of course, about the pitcher plants that I put inside the Hacienda Del
Dorado, the home of my then over-populated colony of Yellow Crazy Ants.
The plan was to use these carnivorous pitcher plants as a biological population control
so the ants wouldn’t overpopulate indefinitely, but turns out, the outcome was totally unexpected.
At first, it seemed to be working with ants being eaten at a good rate, but the ants came
out victorious in the end.
Can you believe the ants found a way to kill the pitcher plants, by throwing their leftover
prey insect parts and debris into the bellies of the pitcher plants?
Ingenious!
They literally overfed the pitcher plants to death.
Also, it turns out ant poop which ordinarily would act as delicious plant food fertilizer
for regular plants, is deadly for carnivorous plants, so they ended up dying.
I’ll be getting more into the science of all that later.
But, if you’re like me, who’s attempted to keep carnivorous plants in the past and
they always ended up dying, then you’ll understand by the end of this video why most
people fail at keeping these very neat living pets, and most don’t even realize that their
dead carnivorous plants are actually still very alive, but just appear dead.
As a kid, I remember always asking my parents to buy venus fly traps that were on sale at
Home Depot, but I couldn’t figure out why they kept dying after a few months no matter
how much I care for them!
I eventually concluded that the plants were just difficult to keep, but in actuality,
these carnivorous plants are quite simple to keep when you know the basics, and soon
you too will know how to properly care for these carnivorous plants, and perhaps even
take a stab at keeping these seemingly half animal-half plant creatures.
So now let’s take a look at our new carnivorous plant garden kingdom!
AC Family, welcome to the new territories I’ve called Carnivora.
It’s a gorgeous terrarium, wouldn’t you agree?
Inside we have two carnivorous plant species.
One is this world-famous Venus flytrap Dionaea muscipla.
This venus fly trap has several traps growing at the end of each leaf.
Inside the traps, you will find what are called trigger hairs.
When prey such as small insects and spiders touch these hairs in succession, the leaves
snap shut, trapping them inside.
This venus fly trap is a large, gorgeous, and impressive one.
There are also two more baby venus fly traps growing here and here between some rocky parts.
Further to the right side of the tank, are these pitcher plants.
It’s known as the purple pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea.
These plants have modified leaves called pitfall traps.
The opening lip here secretes nectarine juice that attracts insects.
Little do they know that these openings are slippery, with hairs that point inward to
trap insects stopping by for a taste.
The insects fall into the hollow parts of the leaves, where they will then be digested
in fluids.
What I also love about Carnivora, are these patches of Holland moss spread all over the
tank.
It’s decorative and looks really neat against the rocks and white sandy pathway of the terrarium.
Now this terrarium has been built strategically and specifically for these carnivorous plants.
And to understand how to properly care for them, I’ve learned that you gotta understand
their evolution.
AC Family, so get this!
Some plants millions of years ago, adapted to living in nutritionally poor environments
that most other plants had trouble living in.
Evolution designed these plants then to acquire their needed nutrients, not from the soil
like most regular plants, but from consuming insects!
They’re literally designed to grow in nutrient deficient soils and be insect-eaters.
This means then that Pitcher plants and venus fly traps, like most other carnivorous plants,
hate nutrient-rich environments, hence the pitcher plants in the Hacienda Del Dorado
dying out.
This is the first mistake new carnivorous plant owners make.
The plants need nutrient-deficient material to grow.
These plants here are growing in peat moss and horticultural sand, with no added fertilizer,
no rich nutrient soils from our Nucleus, as that would kill them!
And they are also growing at locations suspended above the ground, so that water doesn’t
drown the roots.
They need good drainage as the roots can rot easily.
Speaking of water, they’re only allowed to have distilled or rainwater ‘coz even
tap water might have too many minerals and nutrients in it for them.
And guys, you will love the watering system I bought for the plants of Carnivora.
Are you ready for it?
It’s coming in 1 - 2 - 3.
A magical mist blankets Carnivora twice a day for a few minutes.
Of course, if you have carnivorous plants, misting and watering will also do, but I have
to admit, this way is so much cooler.
I always have fun marveling at how the tank transforms into a Silent Hill scenery once
I turn on the mist machine.
It’s eerie, mesmerizing, and I end up staring at it hypnotized by the beautiful swirls of
fog!
And now that the inhabitants of Carnivora have had their hydration, it’s now time
for what you’ve all been waiting for.
It’s feeding time!
Our resident Carnivorans are about to get fed.
Now the thing about these carnivorous plants is, they don’t need food regularly, and
certainly not every day.
That was a mistake I used to make keeping these as a kid.
They only need insects when you see that they’re kind not doing so well or appear unhealthy.
It’s really hard not to feed carnivorous plants insects on a regular basis, especially
because that’s the whole allure of keeping them.
If they’re kept outside, the plants may be able to catch enough insects on their own
and you won’t have to worry about feeding them.
But today I’m going to be feeding our carnivorous plants because they’re kept indoors, and
I’m giving them a bit more than usual for a very important reason I’ll be getting
to in a bit.
Let’s start with our big venus fly trap.
I want to start with this dead trap-jaw ant I recovered from our Jawbreaker’s graveyard
site.
Watch what happens.
It may surprise you!
Placing one in now, the ant touches the trigger hairs and bam.
Trapped!
Now to give another one to this trap.
Swallowed!
Now here’s the thing I wanna show you guys.
Because these ants were already dead, the venus fly traps opened a couple of days later,
revealing the undigested ants inside.
You see, venus fly traps like their meals alive and moving.
The movement inside the trap stimulates the plant to digest the insect.
Some say urea produced by the insect elicits digestion, but whatever the case, our dead
ants were rejected and barfed up!
OK so let’s feed a living insect now, this cockroach nymph.
Moving it in with my tweezers… and oh no!
It got away!
Causing the venus fly traps to close without food in their traps is apparently a waste
of energy.
I mean, for a plant, movement like opening and closing of anything takes a lot of energy,
which is why you should never touch the trigger hairs of the traps, as it would cost the plant
valuable energy.
Let’s try the other side.
The legs tickle the trigger hairs and bam!
Successfully eaten!
The movement of the roach will now elicit the digestive juices to come flowing and digest
the roach.
I used a toothpick to push the roach deeper in.
Now let’s feed the pitcher plants!
These plants don’t need struggling prey so I’ll be feeding them some chopped up
mealworm.
And in you go!
It will drop to the bottom where it will soak and digest in fluids, thereby nourishing the
pitcher plant.
And let’s feed this one, too!
In you go!
And there you have it!
Our carnivorous plants have been fed!
Pretty cool right?
Now the reason I’ve decided to feed the plants now is because they need to undergo
a hibernation period.
These carnivorous plants are from North America, and like North American ants, benefit greatly
from a three month hibernation period where they receive less light and water.
Right now they’ve been used to 12 hours of light every day and regular foggings, but
starting today I’ll be reducing their light to 4 hours a day and a little less water.
During hibernation the plants look black and pretty much dead.
When I was a kid, we didn’t have the info-rich worldwide web so I couldn’t figure out why
my venus fly trap plants from Home Depot would die out every winter no matter how much I
tried to care for them well.
Turns out, they weren’t actually dead.
They were just shriveling up to preserve all their nutrients and energy to survive the
hostile hibernation period.
Take note all you who want to keep venus fly traps, that they will shrivel up and blacken
every winter, but are still very much so alive, and will miraculously revive bright and green
in the Spring.
Like ants, though you don’t have to put your venus fly traps through a hibernation
period, it is said doing so prolongs their life span and they truly benefit from the
yearly dormant period.
These new carnivorous plants of ours are truly awesome additions to our growing menagerie
of pets and terrarium kingdoms!
Let me know in the comments what we should name our carnivorous plants, and I will choose
my top favourites for us to vote on in a future video.
Perhaps something like the Snap Dragons for the venus fly traps, or the Decanters for
the pitcher plants!
Haha!
I’ll be announcing the winning names in an upcoming episode.
In terms of long term care, you must make sure to trim off any blackened leaves or traps
as they may spread fungus outbreaks.
This purple pitcher plant which is also North American, also requires a hibernation period,
as does this species moss, according to some sources, which also comes from a temperate
climate.
So Carnivora is winding down for its winter slumber, but around February I’ll switch
their photoperiod back to 12 hours a day of light and have regular mistings again.
By then, a new vitality will invigorate all of Carnivora here, and to be honest, it’s
kind of no different from keeping ants.
In Canada, I used to love hibernating my ant colonies because it meant that I could take
a break from the demanding duties of maintenance for a good 3-4 months.
It kept the hobby fresh and always gave me something to look forward to.
How about you guys, are any of you hibernating your ants right now?
How are you guys doing with the wait?
Well, we ant-keepers, carnivorous plant enthusiasts, and hey, a whole lot of animal keepers too
are all on the same boat, going through the same hibernation wait.
It’s amazing to think that many plants and animals require a dormancy period to stay
healthy.
It’s amazing how deeply biologically tied many organisms are to their respective native
climates.
It’s why apples don’t grow in tropical regions, and why many captive lizards need
a hibernation period in order to successfully breed.
As we all move into 2020, a new decade, I felt this could be the ultimate reminder and
metaphor for new beginnings.
Life sometimes needs a break, so it can come back strong and more vibrant than ever before.
Thank you guys so much for watching!
I truly love you guys so much.
It’s ant and plant love forever!
Alright, AC Family, do you like our new carnivorous plant terrarium?
I hope for it to flourish and eventually move the plants and moss into something much bigger
and more epic, but all that in time.
I wanna take the time to wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020, and thank you guys so much
for watching my videos week after week.
It means a lot to me that you guys love nature as much as I do.
So if you haven’t yet, please do subscribe to the channel, and hit the bell icon for
notifications now, and choose ALL, so you get notified every time I release these high
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Just a reminder, I wanted to let everyone know that this is your last chance to avail
of our big AC annual holidays Promo: the 20-2020 sale at my website AntsCanada.com.
That's 20% off all Hybrid Series ant farms and gear packs from now until January 2020,
plus a free copy of our newly updated "Ultimate Ant Keeping Handbook", right now at AntsCanada.com.
Click the link in the description to get your AC ant farm today!
AC Inner Colony, I have left a hidden cookie for you here, if you would like to watch more
scenes of the plants of Carnivora, as well as feedings.
They’re gorgeous plants and I believe you guys will love them!
And now it’s time for the AC Question of the Week.
Last week, we asked:
What is your favourite thing in the ant terrarium in a bottle we made?
Congratulations to Jaime Whitsett who answered:
My favourite part is the path.
It is absolutely gorgeous.
Congratulations Jamie, you just won a free Ultimate Ant Keeping handbook from our shop!
In this week’s AC Question of the Week we ask:
What type of water do our carnivorous plants need?
Leave your answer in the comments section and you could also win a free e-book handbook
from our shop!
Hope you could subscribe to our channel as we upload every Wednesday and Saturday at
8AM EST.
Please remember to LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE, and SUBSCRIBE if you enjoyed this video, to help
us keep making more.
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