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Young Cephalotus first mature pitcher (macros)

My young Cephalotus arrived on April 5, 2012.

I planted it in a 2:1 mix of silica sand/peat moss. The extra sand helps keep the soil from staying too soggy, which it seems to appreciate, but it does dry out faster than other soils.

The day after I got it, transplant shock set in, and the tiny red pitchers to start to turn black; I had put it under T5's so I didn't think to acclimate it more carefully. Every darkened pitcher you see below, except the smallest one in the center, was dead within a week.

April 6, 2012:
Click the image to zoom in.
<img src="http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=17016" width="500">

It slowly started growing additional immature pitchers to replace the lost ones. These things really are much more resilient than they're given credit for.

Months passed.

In early/mid August, I fed one of the immature pitchers two flightless fruit flies, as they were finally large enough that gnat-sized insects would fit inside.

A week later, I noticed one of the new immature pitchers was overdue to pop open - one that started developing just before this one had already popped.

I checked it again a week later and it was still not open but was getting larger.

After two more weeks of ballooning up more and more, it finally popped a couple days ago, revealing the first mature pitcher.

Here are a few macro shots, 5 months later.

September 6, 2012:
Click the images to zoom in.
Peristome focus:
<img src="http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=17017" width="500">

<img src="http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=17019" width="500">

Front rib focus:
<img src="http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=17018" width="500">

Comparison shot between the current immature pitchers vs. the first mature pitcher:
<img src="http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=17020" width="500">
 
fantastic color..
 
That is a beautiful little pitcher with some really great coloration... :)
 
Thanks :)

It's my first ceph, so I'm just glad it's still alive at all. lol
 
Exceptional coloration! I think it's happy.
 
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