reptile collection comparisons....

P

patrick

Well-Known Member
okay. so which zoos got the best collection? whats at yours? (amphibians included) i'm going to try an remember off my head what's at display at melbourne zoo's frog and reptile houses (there are too many off display to remember)..

(a "/" means mixed exhibit)

EURASIAN
reticulated python / mangrove snake
taiwan beauty snake
blood python
philippine sail-finned waterdragon / malayan box turtle / elongated tortoise
golden coin turtle
star tortoise / jeweled lizard
philippine crocodile

AFRICAN
jackson's chameleon / rhinoceros viper
madagascan day gecko
egyptian cobra
aldabran giant tortoise

AUSTRALASIAN
fijian crested iguana / tokay gecko
australian freshwater crocodile
mary river tortoise
pig-nosed turtle
frilled lizard
black headed python
lace monitor
(too many other australian species to remember)

AMERICAN
green iguana / constrictor boa
gila monster
eyelash viper
honduran milk snake
western rattlesnake / hognosed snake (?) / cornsnake
spiny terrapin / basalisk
dying poison dart frog
blue poison dart frog
splashback poison dart frog
 
Jacksonville Zoo has three reptile houses and an additional amphibian "conservation center". Definitely one of the best reptile collections in SE United States. I cant remember the whole collection off the top of my head but here are the highlights.

AFRICAN
Egyptian Cobra
African Bullfrog
Pancake Tortoise
Gaboon Viper
African Rock Python
Green Mamba
Nile Crocodile

NEOTROPICAL
Caiman Lizard
Green Anaconda
Bushmaster
Panamanian Golden Frog
Cane Toad
various Poison Dart/Arrow Frogs
Cacealian
Aruba Island Rattlesnake
Beaded Lizard
Eyelash Viper

FLORIDA
Greater Siren
Lesser Siren
American Alligator
Gopher Tortoise
Eastern Box Turtle
Indigo Snake
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
Scarlet Kingsnake
Cottonmouth
Canebrake Rattlesnake
Yellow Rat Snake
Eastern Glass Lizard
Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake
 
Sorry Patrick, Jacksonville has three zoogeographic regions (Africa, Neotropical, Florida) each with their own reptile house. Maybe in the future, there are still expansion plans in the masterplan.
 
In England the two zoos I think that have the best collections are london and Chester. I don't know much about London's collection, but here is something on Chester's:

In the Orang-utan house:

Red tailed racer
Green tree monitor
Mountain horned lizard
Reticulated Python
White lipped pit viper
Mangrove snake
King ratsnake
Green tree python
Mangrove monitor
Crocodile monitor

In the elephant house:

Pig nosed turtle/Pla Eesok/Clown loach/Denison's barbs/Asiatic arowana
Elongated and Spiny turtles were kept in here, but elongated left the collection and the spiny laid an egg, so they were moved off-show. They are with the Belanger' tree shrews.

Okapi house:

Gaboon viper

Tropical realm:

Tuatara
Gila monster
Radiated tortoise
Galapagos tortoise
Rhinoceros iguana
Sudanese uromanyx/Egyptian tortoise
Lesser antilles iguana/Mountain chicken
Standing's day gecko/Madagascan tree boa
Rhinoceros viper
prehensile tailed skink
Juvenile Komodo dragon
Caiman Lizard/smoky jungle frog
Lace monitor
*Philippine crocs will be on show very soon*
Mission golden eyed tree frog/Red eyed tree frog

There are more, but I can't remember them (lol)

Off show there are lots of species:

Fiji banded iguana
Eyelash viper
Zhou's box turtle
Three striped box turtle
Both species of Four eyed turtle
Mossy frogs...
 
New Zealand has quite poor collection (internationally) but quite good considering no snakes are allowed...

Usually NZ natives such as:
Tuatara
9 or so gecko species
4 frog species
Plus:
4 or so Australian species of frog
4 or so Newt species
4 Turtle/Tortoise species
3 monitor/dragon species
 
Fire bellied, axolotyls (not sure if they are technically newts) of varying colours...
 
axolotyls are salamanders - but not newts. newts are a family of salamanders.

in australia i have seen, alpine crested, european common or smooth newts and japanese fire bellies. all are illegal except for axolotyl (which makes no sense), so you don't see them in stores anymore at all.

melbourne still keep japanese newts (the best)

can you keep clawed frogs (xenopus) in NZ?
 
in NZ there are tuatara in several collections and often a selection of the native skinks and geckos, but you'd be lucky to see any native frogs. Very few places display them, and certainly not all four species. There are only three Aus frogs in NZ (whistling and two bell frogs) although banjo frogs turned up in the wild a few years ago (swiftly stamped out; but it means there are some species being kept illegally -- not however in the zoos). African clawed frogs are kept in some zoos and aquariums but mostly they are used in university zoo labs (it is illegal to keep them privately). Same goes for cane toads.

The only newts/salamanders kept (as far as I'm aware) are the axolotl, and Chinese and Japanese fire-bellied newts.

There are about a dozen species of turtles and tortoises in NZ, some only in zoos (such as Ti Point or Auckland), some only in private collections. Most are scarce to rare.

I'm not sure if there are any monitors in public collections anymore. There are at least a few still in private collections. (NZ Jeremy says one sand goanna at Ti Point, which must be the only species on public display. Lace monitors used to be seen at several places but the last one died at Orana Park a couple of years ago)

Some Australian lizards are common in private and public collections (especially blue-tongues, and bearded and water dragons). Others are rare or scarce in both public and private, including Cunningham's and stump-tails. There are a very few leopard geckos around (almost all in private collections); and also Madagascar day geckos and Jackson's chameleons in zoos only. Auckland Zoo used to have Fijian banded iguanas, scheltopusik, Calotes versicolor, and some others but I don't know if they still do (haven't been there for a long time)

The only crocodilians I know of are the saltwater croc at Napier Aquarium and American alligator(s) at Ti Point
 
Last edited:
Patrick you forgot Australian frogs. There are a species of bell frog and green tree frog. But i'm not so sure if they have corroboree frog or not. I think they do though.
 
i havent been to adelaide zoo yet but when it comes to reptile collections i think both Taronga and Melbourne Zoo have outstanding reptile collections, imaginatively displayed. Melbourne is particularly imaginative when it comes to mixed-species exhibits, but I like the way Taronga's Serpenteria is designed, giving its collection a prominent and effective display whereas many zoos seem to stick reptiles wherever theyll fit.
Reptiles are so important to the environment that its important they are well displayed, though I think Taronga could be more imaginative when it comes to interpretation. In terms of tactile interps the life-size sculpture of the komodo dragons at the entry area are great. On the other hand, Melbourne Zoo does a wonderful job of interpreting zoo conservation with reptiles. And Melbourne Zoo's amphibian collection would have to be the best in Australia. Perth Zoo's collection of herpes is good, and full marks for integrating herpes into approtriate geographical exhibits, but their main reptile house looks a little like a converted chook shed.
Overseas the best collection of herpes I have ever encountered was at London Zoo. The sheer scale of the collection, interpretation, in-situ links, mixed species exhibits (including herpes and aves) and auxillary reptile enclosures including the Komodo House are all on a great scale.
 
The broadest reptile zoo-collection in my country is in zoo Plzen/Pilsen with over 200 species, but a great part of them is off-show.

Another collection with various reptiles exist in Prague zoo. Only about 120 species, but partly better housed (compared to Plzen), I would say. What I remember to see:

Elephant house:
alligator snapping turtle
caiman lizard/vietnamese pond turtle
cuban boa
green tree python/tentacle snake
caiman lizard (babies)
white lipped python
ruthvens kingsnake
gila monster
solomon islands skink
banded mangrove snake
red blood python
madagascar tree boa
cuban iguana (juveniles)
giant asian pond turtle/yellow tree monitor
oustalets chamaleon
rufous beaked snake
indian rock python

Chambal house:
indian gharial/common river terrapin/crowned river turtle/brown roofed turtle

Big cats house
common chuckwalla/desert spiny lizard/collared lizard/texas tortoise/socorro dove
green anaconda/central american river turtle/vermiculate river stingray/oscar
rhinoceros iguana/red acouchi/finches+doves
cuban iguana/cuban turtle
cuban iguana
cuban iguana (babies)/rhinoceros iguana (babies)/cuban curly-tailed lizard
green tree monitor/asian yellow pond turtle
black tree monitor/malayan flat-shelled turtle
chinese water dragon/indochinese box turtle
caiman lizard
gabon viper/green mamba

Singing birds aviaries
smooth snake/differnt small birds
sand lizard/slow worm/differnt small birds/native amphibians

Giant tortoise house
pinzón tortoise/santa cruz tortoise/aldabran tortoise/rodriguez flying fox
namaqualand speckled tortoise/armadillo lizard/bibrons gecko
crocodile monitor/malaysian giant turtle/giant asian pond turtle

Indonesian house
black mud turtle/red bellied short-necked turtle/different gouramis
fly river turtle/fish
common river terrapin (juvenile)/asian leaf turtle/vietnamese pond turtle (juveniles)/fish
komodo dragon/siamese tigerfish
oriental whip snake/archer fish/mono/argus fish
sumatra orang/lar gibbon/common river terrapin/painted terrapin/vietnamese pond turtle/asian spiny turtle

African house (small mammals)
south african leopard tortoise/great plated lizard/african helmeted turtle
sahara sand viper
javelin sand boa
ball python
rainbow skink/pancake tortoise/rainbow lizard/elephant shrew
ornated uromastyx/egyptian tortoise/elephant shrew
fire skink/yellow-throated plated lizard
east african fringe-tailed forest lizard/rufous egg-eating snake
madagaskar day gecko

There are another interesting reptiles off-show as chinese crocodile lizard, Auckland green gecko, satanic leaf-tailed gecko, bowsprit tortoise, radiated tortoise, flat-tailed tortoise or vietnamese longnose snake, but there is not enough place in exhibits for them right now.
 
Southern US Zoos are well known for their reptile collections. Dallas, San Diego, Atlanta, Knoxville, and Fort Worth. Here's a link for Fort Worth's new Reptile House "Museum of Living Art"

Fort Worth Zoo

The site shows a collection list and site plan of the new building.
 
Zoo Wroclaw in Poland has the biggest reptile house I even seen. It is two-storey building with several crocodile pools in the hall and maybe 50 or more terraria. Zoo has also separate crocodile house with four indoor/outdoor enclosures and an aquarium.

In its heyday there were about 200 species. Recently the collection fallen somehow, with people reporting overcrowding with common species. With the new director Ratajszczak, it should improve. There are plans to convert crocodile house into pygmy hippo and mandrill house.

BTW, terrarium enthusiasts I know are critical of most zoos. Many reptiles are really sensitive and zoos often do it wrong. I was surprised to learn that diferent tortoise species should not be mixed and you get aggresive tortoise species which bully less aggressive ones. Apparently also, lettuce and fruit are wrong food for a tortoise.
 
Chlidonias said:
Very few places display them, and certainly not all four species. There are only three Aus frogs in NZ (whistling and two bell frogs) although banjo frogs turned up in the wild a few years ago (swiftly stamped out; but it means there are some species being kept illegally -- not however in the zoos).
Click to expand...

Auckland has info on all 4 native NZ frogs, not sure if they keep all four it is almost impossible to see any in their displays...

Chlidonias said:
I'm not sure if there are any monitors in public collections anymore. There are at least a few still in private collections.
Click to expand...

Ti Pi still has a sand monitor, it was very large and elderly I believe:

Exotic Lizards

Here's a review I did on NZ's only reptile park:

http://www.zoobeat.com/17/ti-pi-reptile-park-12666/

Chlidonias said:
Auckland Zoo used to have Fijian banded iguanas, scheltopusik,
Click to expand...

They are both still there I think, I believe the Iguanas are off exhibit since the closure of the aquarium, I know for sure the Scheltopusik is (saw it a week or two ago)...
 
Last edited:
I just edited my earlier post to add in the bit about the sand monitor (and also about crocs which i forgot about)
 
glyn said:
i havent been to adelaide zoo yet but when it comes to reptile collections i think both Taronga and Melbourne Zoo have outstanding reptile collections, imaginatively displayed.
Click to expand...

i also really like both zoos reptile houses. melbourne probably has the best collection and taronga has these great outdoor exhibits that i love such as the freshwater crocodiles and komodo dragons.

i also like the way tarongas house, is blocked into habitat types (desert, then forest etc..)
 
I have a list of Taronga's (the habitat distinctions have been becoming murkier in recent years). I've tried to arrange them in some sort of taxonomic order.
*Saltwater Crocodile
*Freshwater Crocodile
*American Alligator
*Tuatara
*Komodo Dragon
*Lace Monitor
*Mitchell's Water Monitor
*Short-tailed Monitor
*Fijian Banded Iguana
*Fijian Crested Iguana
*Green Iguana
*Eastern Water Dragon
*Coastal Bearded Dragon
*Chameleon Dragon
*Central Netted Dragon
*Tawny Crevice Dragon
*Sailfin Lizard
*Frilled Lizard
*Basilisk
*Gila Monster
*Giant Cave Gecko
*New Caledonian Giant Gecko
*Rough Knob-tailed Gecko
*Southern Leaf-tailed Gecko
*Scheltopusik
*Night Skink
*Hosmer's Skink
*Land Mullet
*Cunningham's Skink
*Eastern Water Skink
*Eastern Blue-tongued Lizard
*Shingleback
*Veiled Chameleon
*Jackson's Chameleon
*Northern Snake-necked Turtle
*Eastern Snake-necked Turtle
*Short-necked Turtle
*Saw-shelled Turtle
*Matamata
*River Cooter (American)
*Star Tortoise
*Elongate Tortoise
*Pacific Ground Boa
*Boa Constrictor
*Reticulated Python
*Amethystine Python
*Green Python
*Black-headed Python
*Children's Python
*Diamond Python
*Eyelash Viper
*Rhinoceros Viper
*Arafuran File Snake
*Taipan
*Mulga Snake
*Fierce Snake
*Red-bellied Black-snake
*Broad-headed Snake
*Collett's Snake
*Stimson's Python
*Egyptian Cobra
*Corn Snake
*Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
*Desert Death Adder
 
Oh - I just realised I forgot frogs.
*Corroborree Frog
*Red-eyed Tree Frog
*Green and Golden Bell Frog
*Dwarf Tree Frog
*Cane Toad
*Green Tree Frog
*Dainty Tree Frog

I know there are others off display. (Sorry for double post.)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top