Thought I would create a news thread for gorge since I am volunteering there.
Firstly going to do a review of the reptile house which is still a work in progress but the majority is now open to the public.
The reptile house is esentially a room with enclosures around the outside.
The first enclosure when you walk in is an enclosure for rhinoceros iguanas. The enclosure like all of them is made from mock rock giving it a realistic look ,like the majority of the enclosures in the reptile house. At the front of the enclosure is a body of water housing a pig nosed turtle and some fish.
The next enclosure houses a variety of lizards these include boyds forest dragon, bearded dragons and blue tongues.
Below this enclosure is one for a colony of ants and the burrow for a barking gecko.
The burrow for the barking gecko links to an enclosure out the back. This is fairly common for this reptile house and links the species to enclosures out the back. This allows animals who sleep the majority of the day to be on exhibit but not taking up as much space which is quite a good system I believe.
Next is a mock rock tree with exhibits for squirrel gliders in a tree hollow den(connected to an enclosure out the back), brown tree snake and for a small blood python. At the base of the tree is a taxidermied echinda. This is always fun to watch when people believe it is real and go looking for staff to tell about the escaped echidna.
After this is an exhibit housing 2 medium sized boa constrictors, green tree frogs and golden bell frog. There is also a pond down the bottom with goldfish.
In the middle of the reptile house is an aquarium section. It is two tanks with a mock rock backing. The species I know there are Australian mussels and electric yellow cichlid but I am unsure of the other species.
Next is another lizard enclosure. In this this enclosure are a ridge tailed monitor, hosmers skinks, central bearded dragons and central blue tongues.
Beneath this enclosure is a burrow for some hopping mice which connects to an enclosure out the back.
Next door is another mock rock tree. This one has a childrens python, leaf tailed gecko (both connected to an enclosure out the back) and an enclosure for some small skinks.
Another enclosure houses gila monsters, a corn snake and an albino python of some variety(I believe carpet). Underneath this enclosure is an exhibit for a jungle python.
Overall the reptile house has a very good design, allows nice viewing and has been finished well. Though I may have a slight bias so feel free to take a look for yourself.
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We have also recently opened a new meerkat enclosure for our 4 females. The enclosure is quite large and has a large amount of sand at the front for them to dig in. It also has a nice log in the centre that goes high into the air that the meerkats have been making use of. Photos are in the gallery.
Firstly going to do a review of the reptile house which is still a work in progress but the majority is now open to the public.
The reptile house is esentially a room with enclosures around the outside.
The first enclosure when you walk in is an enclosure for rhinoceros iguanas. The enclosure like all of them is made from mock rock giving it a realistic look ,like the majority of the enclosures in the reptile house. At the front of the enclosure is a body of water housing a pig nosed turtle and some fish.
The next enclosure houses a variety of lizards these include boyds forest dragon, bearded dragons and blue tongues.
Below this enclosure is one for a colony of ants and the burrow for a barking gecko.
The burrow for the barking gecko links to an enclosure out the back. This is fairly common for this reptile house and links the species to enclosures out the back. This allows animals who sleep the majority of the day to be on exhibit but not taking up as much space which is quite a good system I believe.
Next is a mock rock tree with exhibits for squirrel gliders in a tree hollow den(connected to an enclosure out the back), brown tree snake and for a small blood python. At the base of the tree is a taxidermied echinda. This is always fun to watch when people believe it is real and go looking for staff to tell about the escaped echidna.
After this is an exhibit housing 2 medium sized boa constrictors, green tree frogs and golden bell frog. There is also a pond down the bottom with goldfish.
In the middle of the reptile house is an aquarium section. It is two tanks with a mock rock backing. The species I know there are Australian mussels and electric yellow cichlid but I am unsure of the other species.
Next is another lizard enclosure. In this this enclosure are a ridge tailed monitor, hosmers skinks, central bearded dragons and central blue tongues.
Beneath this enclosure is a burrow for some hopping mice which connects to an enclosure out the back.
Next door is another mock rock tree. This one has a childrens python, leaf tailed gecko (both connected to an enclosure out the back) and an enclosure for some small skinks.
Another enclosure houses gila monsters, a corn snake and an albino python of some variety(I believe carpet). Underneath this enclosure is an exhibit for a jungle python.
Overall the reptile house has a very good design, allows nice viewing and has been finished well. Though I may have a slight bias so feel free to take a look for yourself.
________________________________________________
We have also recently opened a new meerkat enclosure for our 4 females. The enclosure is quite large and has a large amount of sand at the front for them to dig in. It also has a nice log in the centre that goes high into the air that the meerkats have been making use of. Photos are in the gallery.
