Michael - I can't really ID that plant from these pictures.  I downloaded to zoom in but it just gets grainy right away.  Tempting to think it is some kind of Nephentis.  Can you get a close up shot of a pitcher?  

Tony - The flytraps at Lowes are common Dionaea muscipula.  They aren't much different from more rare collectible varieties it's really just a matter of taste.  They come in a range from bright green to dark reds and purples, some varieties have larger traps and different shaped 'teeth'.  Flytraps in my opinion are the easiest carnivores to grow from seed so I like to just buy seeds from a reputable breeder for the varieties I want.  There are also mega seed packs available sometimes that have 10-20 varieties.  I think to start with a stable plant from Lowe's wouldn't be bad.  Keep in mind carnivores don't take much nutrition from soil at all and as a result are very slow growing.  Even the smallest flytraps you see retail are 1-2 years old.

Then the Lowe's flytraps might be the best to practice on. If all goes well with that then I can graduate to another type of insect eating plant. I always had an interest in insect eating plants but never went all out in making a special habitat to grow them in. Guess I just didn't have the patience back then. It's off to Lowe's this weekend!

Well here they are, this is what they look like out of the box

Looks good Barry.  Everyone is always so shocked at how small carnivorous plants are when they receive them lol

no kidding.. i look at my rooted cuttings.. then look at my ceph.. then look back again.. these things are small and so.. fragile.. but damned cute and they eat bugs!

Greg,
The pitcher is definitely a Nepenthes. I was trying to ID that other weirdo plant. 
I've had carnivorous plants before -even several other Nepenthes, but nothing that just grows and grows like this one. I have over 200 plants in the house and it's just too high maintenance for my tastes.
I slip it a grasshopper every once in a while and I guess it eats other insects. I do give it really diluted ground up fish fertilizer every once in a while but to be truthful I know very little about it. It's been in the same pot for 5 years - from the time it was very small. I'm afraid if I transplant it it'll start singing "feed me Seymour".
My thing is trees and plants that are considered the best at filtering the air and producing oxygen - especially at night.

All

Up until this post started, I didnt know that I needed a carnivorous plant in my collection, and now!!!! look what we have! A beautiful Nepenthes pitcher plant! To watch over all my baby figs.

Mark, way to go. I got me one of those dudes a couple weeks ago. Kinda cool aren't they?

Michael are you saying you don't want the nepenthes?  ;-)

If you can get a close up picture of the pitcher I can probably tell you what variety it is.

I will have to wait on picture as I took the pitchers off. I think it's a common one. it's half red and half green. Very distinct line. I saw some little tiny ones for sale for $40 so it can't be that rare.
I'm not sure if I want to throw out just yet but if I keep it will have to tame itself a bit. I made some babies for the neighbors. I might have an extra or two -- need to chop the bejesus out of it again, decide to up pot and find a spot to hang from, or get rid of. Slowly replacing houseplants will new ones that produce food.
Do you want - plant, cuttings or babies?
mgg
I would like an ID and as soon as it produces pitchers I'll post. I do like the carnivorous aspect, but it only catches the big stuff.
That may or may not have answered your question. sorry if not.

P. florian from a few days ago that showed up as a frozen iceblock didn't make it.  Monday it was 9 degrees here in National Park NJ.  Yesterday it was 35.  Today it is 61.  At this rate it will be 139 by Saturday, but at least my replacement showed up during the mildest day!

Also today arrived P. agnata Red Leaf


and Drosera aliciae


All from Ron West at Cascade Carnivores.

You guys need to stop this. If I start up another growing hobby, you will see the sky light up from my wife's fusillade of expletives.

I added this one today also. Its a Typical Cephalotus

Dale

I hear you loud and clear. I have figs covered outside, figs in our " sun room", figs in our " spa bathroom" and fig cuttings in our walk in closet clothes racks. And on the weekend, I purchased a carnivorous Nepenthes pitcher plant. This is bad enough, but I have about 7 of my dwarf banana trees in the spa as well? And i replaced the lights in our bath/plant room with grow lights! wifey??? Oh well!

I really ike that last one is it difficult to keep alive?

I am not sure yet. My first one of these. Maybe Greg will chime in on your question. I have been reading a little on it. Sounds
like it may be fairly easy.

You mean are cephalotus easy to keep alive?

I think so, and they are my favorite carnivorous plants.  They don't require the crazy humidity most other carnivores do either.  You can pretty much grow them as a regular ole' potted plant provided you remember to water them with rain water only and with the tray method, you keep a hydrometer nearby (good small digital one is $4 on eBay), and you have a humidity dome on standby.  I use clear plastic cups for my ceph. domes.  Cephalotuses love ants!

There is only one species of Cephalotus and the two registered variants--Eden Black and Hummer's Giant--are really not that far varied from the common form.  I love them all.

Thanks for your input Greg. Do you use frozen ants and
is it necessary for the ants to thaw and warm up?

I have never used frozen ants but I would and probably will.  I wouldn't warm them up but thawing is probably a good idea because putting ice in the pitcher is probably a bad idea.

The reality is we really don't need to 'feed' our carnivorous plants most of the time.

I will say from my own pitfalls when I started growing cephalotus to make sure you have the proper substrate and pot.  A good mix is 1:1 canadian peat and pumice with some fine live sphagnum mixed in.  A tall pot is necessary because cephalotus grows one very long root and is extremely sensative to root disturbance.  When I repotted my Hummer's Giant I had not anticipated all of the soil just falling apart in my hands but it did give me an opportunity to get this picture of cephalotus roots:



This was back when my only camera was my flip cell phone.  You can maybe see though that it's just one single root.  I was not even willing to break off the clump of peat on the end of the root there.

it's been a week and a day with my ceph. mine loves humidity. if i take off top cup, the lid will drop. i put the top back on, lid opens. i decided to leave the top on. i mist it every other day or so, then use paper towel to wick away moisture from the leaves. water it by letting it sit on water for few hours. then pour some on the top, but way from the crown. so far so good. there are so many opinion about ceph, it's crazy trying to find out what's the best approach. decided to go my own away. 

few things greg told me and others agree on are.. 

1) cephs don't like wet foot. that can lead to root rot. use tall container and make sure the root doesn't sit in water. 
2) cephs don't like too much moisture on the top. that can lead to crown rot. don't keep the top wet. live s.moss around the top will help with mold. 

pete

I have a butterwort and a sundew that I received bare-root and potted up about a month ago.  Both seem to be healthy but their diameter is not much bigger than a quarter at this point.  I have about 25 cups of rooting cuttings that are just now starting to undergo bud-break.  For weeks I saw no gnats.  Then this morning I saw the first gnat.  I haven't noticed my carnivores capturing any gnats but maybe now that gnats are starting to show up I will see this.  I"m wondering at what point do butterworts and sundews actually have the ability to capture insects?  Do they need to come out of a kind of winter dormancy before they are effective with gnats and what triggers this?  If they start feeding on insects will they increase in size and become uber-carnivores?  Should I be feeding them by hand until they reach this stage?  Thanks!

my CP are starving. i need to go look for ants soon. i heard prime rib is not good for them :)

OK, I'll try dropping a dead gnat, ant, etc on the leaves and see what happens.  How long does it take a sundew or butterwort to devour its prey?  I'm totally new at this as you can tell but anxious after seeing a gnat buzzing around this morning!

i'm totally new at CP also. from what i have read, they don't really need to be fed, however, feeding them will make they grow better. i have one ceph and one sundew. ceph is doing amazing. but my sundew is just struggling along. nothing indciating that it's dead or dying, but it's not doing too well. just limp and what not.

per what i have read, some sundew will curl the leave in few hours once it has caught the prey and you will be able to see it working. but not sure. i don't have gnat or anyting flying in my study to feed them, i'm hoping with weather improving in next few days, i might find an ant or something that i can drop on it and my ceph's big pitcher.

Butterworts (pings) can digest bugs pretty much as soon as they're stable.  Sundews can digest bugs as soon as they produce their trademark resin bulbs.  Carnivorous plants grow very slowly but they often see a little boost a month or so after a big meal.  Digestion on butterworts takes around 21 days in my experience and 8-15 days for sundews.  You rarely if ever need to feed them by hand, they're quite good at getting food.

Definitely do not feed them animal meat.  They cannot metabolize fat and other compounds in animal flesh.