Prochilodus246
Well-Known Member
This is mainly for @Springbok as they wanted to know my opinions on the collection so here they are:
Collection: Tropiquaria, UK
Date of visit: 28/10/2022
Reason for Visit: Final Zoo on Annual Zoo Trip 2022
We arrived at Tropiquaria on a slightly drizzly morning and the car park was full of a film production crew in which we were told that they were filming an episode of BBC's Dr Who. First impressions I must admit was the feeling that the place was a little tired and was in need of some TLC but we were pleasantly surprised on the varied number of species that the collection had to offer.
Before entering the tropical hall there were two enclosures with a run in-between for a Northern treeshrew and my that tree shrew was quick. There was no opportunity to photograph it as it was just so speedy all we saw was a flash of brown. Therefore, I still lack this species in my photography lifelist.
We then went out in to the tropical hall with free roaming roulrouls and very a inquisitive white-cheeked turaco and superb starling. Situated around the perimeter were various herptile enclosures as well as a large aviary in the far-left hand corner. Many of the enclosures seemed well planted and the space was good for almost all the residents. My only niggle would be the size of the caiman enclosure which the pool seemed on the small side. Another oddity I found was a tank that had obviously housed some sort of turtle in the past was home to golden skiffia. It was open topped which would have made sense to the previous residents but to house some Extinct in the Wild fish that are of immense conservation concern just seemed peculiar to me.
In the far left of the hall raised off the ground was an aviary like structure home to Madagascar fody and potentially some bishop species. I found it strange that they were kept in an aviary where in other photos from a few years ago had the birds free flighted in the tropical hall. This may have only been temporary as they may have been new birds in quarantine or perhaps a bird flu concern.
Note: All species lists are species I saw personally, some species signed but not seen are not included on the lists
Amazon milk frog
African bullfrog
Oriental fire-bellied toad
Fernand's skink
Yellow-spotted monitor
Spectacled caiman
Boa constrictor
Sudan plated lizard
Jamaican boa
Crested gecko
Green iguana
Carpet python
Solomon Island skink
White-cheeked turaco
Crested wood partridge
Superb starling
Madagascar red fody
Golden skiffia
Northern treeshrew
Then we headed down into the basement which is home to the collections Aquarium as well as a few invertebrate tanks.
The layout of the aquarium was very standard with rows of tanks on either side of the wall. There isn’t really too much to comment on except for the fantastic conservation work Tropiquaria participates in with the sheer amount of goodeids that it breeds on its premises with the vast majority being of major conservation concern. As with all aquariums signage was appalling but I managed to identify all the species I saw with ease however signage was good on the habitats in which the inhabitants were from e.g., Lake Malawi
African knifefish
Axelrod’s rasbora
Barred splitfin
Black band myleus
Blotched upside-down catfish
Blue grey mbuna
Blue mbuna
Bumblebee cichlid
Clown anemonefish
Blue discus
Dwarf rainbowfish
Empire gudgeon
Eyespot climbing perch
Giraffe catfish
Golden skiffia
Harlequin rasbora
Indian glassy fish
Japanese rice fish
Lake Chilingalli pike-cichlid
Lemonpeel angelfish
Lyretail cichlid
Malawi shelldweller
Marlier’s julie
Molly
Norman’s lampeye
Ocellated lamprologus
Pajama cardinalfish
Pygmy Corydoras
Pygmy swordtail
Rainbow goodeid
Red lizard catfish
Red neon blue-eye
Palette surgeonfish
Sardine cichlid
Sawbwa barb
Siamese algae eater
Spotted ctenopoma
Spotted metynnis
Spotted sailfin suckermouth catfish
Spotted skiffia
Sterba’s corydoras
Striped Barombi Mbo cichlid
Striped goodeid
African longfin tetra
Big belly seahorse
Blue streak hap
Demanson’s cichlid
Eyespot puffer
Glowlight rasbora
Goldtail demoiselle
Green swordtail
Japanese koi carp
Omani blind cave fish
Panda corydoras
Panda garra
Rummy nose tetra
Tiger barb
Axolotl
Bahia scarlet tarantula
Mexican red rump tarantula
Guyana pink toe tarantula
Giant African land snail
Ramshorn snail
Amano shrimp
Giant fan shrimp
After spending almost an hour within the aquarium we made our way outside to see the larger species that the collection had to offer. A few species were lifers being the Central American agouti, North American red squirrel, Raccoon, Red-fronted lemur as well as a few others.
The outside was larger than I anticipated with a large paddock for emus and wallabies at the centre of it all. The enclosures were pretty standard for the inhabitants but personally I felt that the white raccoon dogs could have done with some more space. The species log for outside was also standard with ABCs like ASCO, mara, meerkats, sulcata tortoises and various lemurs etc. There were a few nice treats in the form of birds such as the vasa parrots which are a species I always enjoy seeing along with an Eastern rosella.
I also felt that a glass viewing window would have been good in the Scottish wildcat enclosure as viewing proved quite difficult due to the mesh.
Black-cheeked lovebird
Eastern rosella
Greater vasa parrot
Orange-winged amazon
Emu
Greater rhea
Central American agouti
Patagonian mara
Lowland tapir
Raccoon dog
Northern raccoon
North American red squirrel
Ring-tailed lemur
Red-fronted lemur
White-fronted lemur
Black & white ruffed lemur
Black lemur
Lar gibbon
Asian small-clawed otter
Scottish wildcat
Serval
Red-necked wallaby
Common marmoset
Domestic ferret
Domestic rabbit
Guinea pig
Meerkat
After visiting the outside enclosures, we made our way back inside over a small boardwalk which led us towards the Nocturnal House. By the boardwalk was an enclosure for Long-nosed potoroo which are always a delight and a species rapidly increasing in UK collections and I saw some at every zoo I visited on this trip. At the end of this boardwalk was an enclosure for Lesser hedgehog tenrec and Cape genet. The genet’s enclosure I also found to be rather small but the genet was active throughout our visit and making full use of the climbing equipment provided for it. The nocturnal house had many interesting species like the Northern flying squirrel and Kinkajou. The kinkajou’s enclosure was also fairly small for two of them but like the genet they were making full use of the climbing equipment.
Cape genet
Lesser hedgehog tenrec
Long-nosed potoroo
Forest African dormouse
Kinkajou
Northern flying squirrel
Sugar glider
All in all, we spent around four or five hours at Tropiquaria and is definitely a place to visit if you enjoy fish and also held a few interesting mammals. I would happily revisit the collection but maybe not until they receive some new species in the aquarium as I can imagine it can get a bit samey after a while. A thoroughly enjoyable day and a good way to end my zoo visits from the couple of days I spent in the South West of England.
No. species seen: 117
No. lifers: 56
Collection: Tropiquaria, UK
Date of visit: 28/10/2022
Reason for Visit: Final Zoo on Annual Zoo Trip 2022
We arrived at Tropiquaria on a slightly drizzly morning and the car park was full of a film production crew in which we were told that they were filming an episode of BBC's Dr Who. First impressions I must admit was the feeling that the place was a little tired and was in need of some TLC but we were pleasantly surprised on the varied number of species that the collection had to offer.
Before entering the tropical hall there were two enclosures with a run in-between for a Northern treeshrew and my that tree shrew was quick. There was no opportunity to photograph it as it was just so speedy all we saw was a flash of brown. Therefore, I still lack this species in my photography lifelist.
We then went out in to the tropical hall with free roaming roulrouls and very a inquisitive white-cheeked turaco and superb starling. Situated around the perimeter were various herptile enclosures as well as a large aviary in the far-left hand corner. Many of the enclosures seemed well planted and the space was good for almost all the residents. My only niggle would be the size of the caiman enclosure which the pool seemed on the small side. Another oddity I found was a tank that had obviously housed some sort of turtle in the past was home to golden skiffia. It was open topped which would have made sense to the previous residents but to house some Extinct in the Wild fish that are of immense conservation concern just seemed peculiar to me.
In the far left of the hall raised off the ground was an aviary like structure home to Madagascar fody and potentially some bishop species. I found it strange that they were kept in an aviary where in other photos from a few years ago had the birds free flighted in the tropical hall. This may have only been temporary as they may have been new birds in quarantine or perhaps a bird flu concern.
Note: All species lists are species I saw personally, some species signed but not seen are not included on the lists
Amazon milk frog
African bullfrog
Oriental fire-bellied toad
Fernand's skink
Yellow-spotted monitor
Spectacled caiman
Boa constrictor
Sudan plated lizard
Jamaican boa
Crested gecko
Green iguana
Carpet python
Solomon Island skink
White-cheeked turaco
Crested wood partridge
Superb starling
Madagascar red fody
Golden skiffia
Northern treeshrew
Then we headed down into the basement which is home to the collections Aquarium as well as a few invertebrate tanks.
The layout of the aquarium was very standard with rows of tanks on either side of the wall. There isn’t really too much to comment on except for the fantastic conservation work Tropiquaria participates in with the sheer amount of goodeids that it breeds on its premises with the vast majority being of major conservation concern. As with all aquariums signage was appalling but I managed to identify all the species I saw with ease however signage was good on the habitats in which the inhabitants were from e.g., Lake Malawi
African knifefish
Axelrod’s rasbora
Barred splitfin
Black band myleus
Blotched upside-down catfish
Blue grey mbuna
Blue mbuna
Bumblebee cichlid
Clown anemonefish
Blue discus
Dwarf rainbowfish
Empire gudgeon
Eyespot climbing perch
Giraffe catfish
Golden skiffia
Harlequin rasbora
Indian glassy fish
Japanese rice fish
Lake Chilingalli pike-cichlid
Lemonpeel angelfish
Lyretail cichlid
Malawi shelldweller
Marlier’s julie
Molly
Norman’s lampeye
Ocellated lamprologus
Pajama cardinalfish
Pygmy Corydoras
Pygmy swordtail
Rainbow goodeid
Red lizard catfish
Red neon blue-eye
Palette surgeonfish
Sardine cichlid
Sawbwa barb
Siamese algae eater
Spotted ctenopoma
Spotted metynnis
Spotted sailfin suckermouth catfish
Spotted skiffia
Sterba’s corydoras
Striped Barombi Mbo cichlid
Striped goodeid
African longfin tetra
Big belly seahorse
Blue streak hap
Demanson’s cichlid
Eyespot puffer
Glowlight rasbora
Goldtail demoiselle
Green swordtail
Japanese koi carp
Omani blind cave fish
Panda corydoras
Panda garra
Rummy nose tetra
Tiger barb
Axolotl
Bahia scarlet tarantula
Mexican red rump tarantula
Guyana pink toe tarantula
Giant African land snail
Ramshorn snail
Amano shrimp
Giant fan shrimp
After spending almost an hour within the aquarium we made our way outside to see the larger species that the collection had to offer. A few species were lifers being the Central American agouti, North American red squirrel, Raccoon, Red-fronted lemur as well as a few others.
The outside was larger than I anticipated with a large paddock for emus and wallabies at the centre of it all. The enclosures were pretty standard for the inhabitants but personally I felt that the white raccoon dogs could have done with some more space. The species log for outside was also standard with ABCs like ASCO, mara, meerkats, sulcata tortoises and various lemurs etc. There were a few nice treats in the form of birds such as the vasa parrots which are a species I always enjoy seeing along with an Eastern rosella.
I also felt that a glass viewing window would have been good in the Scottish wildcat enclosure as viewing proved quite difficult due to the mesh.
Black-cheeked lovebird
Eastern rosella
Greater vasa parrot
Orange-winged amazon
Emu
Greater rhea
Central American agouti
Patagonian mara
Lowland tapir
Raccoon dog
Northern raccoon
North American red squirrel
Ring-tailed lemur
Red-fronted lemur
White-fronted lemur
Black & white ruffed lemur
Black lemur
Lar gibbon
Asian small-clawed otter
Scottish wildcat
Serval
Red-necked wallaby
Common marmoset
Domestic ferret
Domestic rabbit
Guinea pig
Meerkat
After visiting the outside enclosures, we made our way back inside over a small boardwalk which led us towards the Nocturnal House. By the boardwalk was an enclosure for Long-nosed potoroo which are always a delight and a species rapidly increasing in UK collections and I saw some at every zoo I visited on this trip. At the end of this boardwalk was an enclosure for Lesser hedgehog tenrec and Cape genet. The genet’s enclosure I also found to be rather small but the genet was active throughout our visit and making full use of the climbing equipment provided for it. The nocturnal house had many interesting species like the Northern flying squirrel and Kinkajou. The kinkajou’s enclosure was also fairly small for two of them but like the genet they were making full use of the climbing equipment.
Cape genet
Lesser hedgehog tenrec
Long-nosed potoroo
Forest African dormouse
Kinkajou
Northern flying squirrel
Sugar glider
All in all, we spent around four or five hours at Tropiquaria and is definitely a place to visit if you enjoy fish and also held a few interesting mammals. I would happily revisit the collection but maybe not until they receive some new species in the aquarium as I can imagine it can get a bit samey after a while. A thoroughly enjoyable day and a good way to end my zoo visits from the couple of days I spent in the South West of England.
No. species seen: 117
No. lifers: 56
Last edited:
Since then, the collection has developed quite considerably. I only remember seeing tapir, mara, rhea and lemurs outdoors, so it is interesting to know that otters, emus, raccoons, wildcats and even gibbons are also present. The biggest development since my visit was the Nocturnal House, which sounds excellent, and along with the Northern Flying Squirrels that inhabit it makes me desperately want to return. Did you have any luck seeing the squirrels?
