Some of the indoor houses opened today. Reptile Tropics (Tropical Trails) looked pretty much the same but with residents in different places and, I think, fewer birds. Apparently Emerald tree skinks are still to arrive. The Desert House (Arid Lands) had far fewer budgies than when I was last in there. As far as I could tell, other birds were the same as before. With social distancing and people behind you, you feel you can't hang around in one spot for long in these houses. Amphibian Ark promises Lake Titicaca water frogs, Luvistan newts, and Laos warty frogs still to come. Residents there have moved round but they often do.
Croc Swamp - I am by no means a croc expert, but I'm sure two crocs labelled as Cuban were gharials. There appeared to be gharials in three areas. Another croc labelled as Cuban could have been, and then there was the saltwater croc in her usual area.
@gentle lemur, who I was pleased to bump into, will probably be able to clarify.
It was my first visit since last August as I was frustrated by there being so little to see with so many houses closed. Obviously there have been many changes since then, which have already been reported here, but I was eager to see the newly named indoor areas. My first comment is that much of the labelling has yet to catch up. Reptile Tropics and the Desert House have new names on the website, but not on the buildings themselves; the labels for the reptile exhibits are OK, but the ones for amphibians and crocs are dodgy.
The waterfall at the entrance of Reptile Tropics was turned off and the aquarium, which previously held blind cave fish, was boarded up. The first vivarium holds a blue tree monitor and the second Nguru spiny dwarf chameleons (although I only saw one, after several minutes of searching). The pool enclosure has the Vietnamese box turtles and their previous enclosure, near the Emergency Exit, had been combined with the small crocodile exhibit and now holds the old mangrove monitor. The enclosure opposite for the red-footed tortoises has been enlarged by combining it with the one that held the Home's hingebacks, which were not on show. Other species on show were the leaf-tailed gecko, monkey-tailed skink, Vietnamese mossy frog, Guiana dragon & yellow-spotted Amazon turtle (their tank seemed to be leaking badly), red-tailed rat snake, Amazon tree boa & yellow banded dart frog, Annam leaf turtle, Philippine water monitor, lesser Antillean iguana, Boyd's forest dragon and Fea's frog. The species that were on show last year, but were not on show today, include Parson's chameleon, south-east Asian box turtle, Mexican beaded lizard, mangrove snake and Utila spiny-tailed iguana. There were noticeably fewer birds than before. It took me a while to realise that I hadn't seen any Java sparrows or speckled mouse birds, which were the most numerous previously - I think some birds may have been shy of seeing visitors again after so long. The aviary in the corner seemed to be under repair.
I saw some of the familiar birds in the little lobby between the buildings plus a nice pair of Mauritius pink pigeons. The Desert House was little changed, it was nice to see several cavies again and I noticed a Wonga pigeon building a nest.
@Gigit has already reported on the Amphibian Ark, it seems that they are waiting for new exhibits for some of the species she mentioned - two small corrections, Lauristan newts and Laos warty newts. Quick photos of the tanks at the back of the service area showed labels for fire-bellied newts and Kaiser spotted newts, so we can look forward to some exhibits for
Caudata eventually. I did see two strange small green frogs in one of the dart frog tanks, but they had no label and the condensation on the glass prevented me from getting a clear photo.
Finally the crocs, I saw only one adult Cuban croc in the pool near the entrance, the two smaller
Tomistoma were opposite. I think the Komodo dragon has grown a bit, as has the small Cuban croc, which was previously in Reptile Tropics and is now in the waterlily pool, but I didn't see the alligator snappers. The old
Tomistoma and the salty were in their familiar pools.
