Nick the Nepenthes

Nick the Nepenthes Origin: The Philippines' Jungle Trap Type: Digestive pools-of-death Favorite Food: Crickets Dislikes: Leaf-eating animals Care Level: Easy Scientific Name: Nepenthes ventricosa Quick Fact: Nepenthes can grow large enough to eat tree frogs and small mice

Nick the Nepenthes (pronounced "nuh-pen'-thees") is a friendly looking carnivorous plant. He is natively from the Philippines where he grows up in trees and rocks. He has long leaves with traps that hang off the end. These traps are called pitchers (like what you have in the fridge for drinks) because they are long tubes with an opening at the top. Like a pitcher, they fill up with water, which makes a stomach to digest bugs in. Bugs are naturally attracted to the fun colors and smells on the pitchers, but once they get close--watch out!

After a bug lands, they quickly slide down the slippery walls on the pitcher. Sharp, downward pointing hairs force the bugs down even more where they eventually fall into the watery trap. They are then digested and the nutrients are absorbed into the wall of the plant to help it grow bigger. Nick can get very large--he may even outgrow his cage after several years. He is also extremely easy to take care of and can live just fine without much light. In the wild, he can get big enough to eat tree frogs and mice! Don't worry though, he is the nicest and most passive of all the My Carnivore pets.