@Great Argus No, there were some boa constrictors mixed in there. Behind me on the other side of the hall was 2 exhibits, one with gila monsters and one with a desert tortoise mixed with a some sort of lizard. There’s other tortoise and reptile species in the entrance and exit paths.
For many years there were bats on the other side, and the room was dark like a nocturnal house, but I guess they’ve gone away from that.
I can recall Indianapolis Zoo having a similar setup years ago, and there were some terrariums without any natural substrate but with beads and shiny, diamond-like 'rocks' on the bottom of each tank. Totally bizarre...a beauty in nature theme? Art as nature? Who knows!
Does it matter, though, as long as the animals are well cared-for? This isn’t particularly egregious or out-of-the-ordinary, and instead the main concern I would have is the size of the exhibits.
@jayjds2 I guess not. But it’s frustrating because they each used to have a natural exhibit. It seems to be the only part of the zoo that is regressing away from that.
@jayjds2 I agree with the others that this seems like an odd regression aesthetically from what was there before. Maybe these enclosures are easier to clean or they had issues with the natural substrate. Either way, my main concern is also the enclosure sizes: those four enclosures look like they should be two, three max.
These terrariums are far too small for their inhabitants. Just one look at the spacious rattlesnake exhibits at Los Angeles Zoo or San Diego Zoo makes me cringe at the comparison. Omaha has an enormous rattlesnake exhibit in the Desert Dome although there are a lot of snakes in that one! As far as aesthetics go, the renovation of these terrariums at Living Desert Zoo is awful...especially for a zoo that has built its reputation on naturalistic animal habitats.
