Reptile mixed exhibits

Smannsaker

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
Mammals, birds and fish have been housed together for a long time. I have seen relatively few mixed exhibits with reptiles. What mixed exhibits have you seen, and do you know the degree of success? It is to be noted that I have seen a lot of mixed exhibits containing turtles, so maybe only suggesting the most interesting of those would be great. I also wonder if there have been any attemps of housing snakes with other animals?
During my recent visit to Tierpark Hamburg they had an exhibit with gila monsters, chuckwallas and toads. However, I am unsure if the gila monsters actually were together with the rest because they were in a cave when I saw them, and didn’t see an opening.
 
Bristol has Fly River turtles with various large Asian fish in the Aquarium. Also, the West African Dwarf Crocodiles share their pool with several species of Lake Barombi Mbo cichlids.
 
turtle fish are a pretty common combo probably found in most zoos that keep turtles and fish
 
Central Park Zoo has a dwarf crocodile with short-tailed fruit bats.

Bronx Zoo has gavials with various large fish and turtles with fruit bats and birds flying overhead.
 
I once saw an african spurred tortoise mixed in with a red kangaroo at Jungle Cat World.

Louisville has Aldabra Tortoises sharing an exhibit with oriental white storks, demoiselle cranes, and bar-headed geese.

The Granby Zoo, Ripley's Aquarium Toronto, and Shedd Aquarium all mix their green sea turtles with various fish, such as sharks in the former two's case (sand tiger sharks and green sawfish with Ripley's, and blacktip reef sharks with Granby).

Really, we could leave it at turtles are the easiest type of reptiles to keep in mixed exhibits that to their herbivorous and placid nature.
 
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I rarely see turtles not in a mixed species exhibit. Same with skinks and chuckwallas.

Some exhibits from National Aquarium in Baltimore, ones that have reptiles other than turtles:
  • central bearded dragon, frilled lizard, northern blue-tongued skink, shingleback skink, spiny-tailed monitor
  • eastern carpet python, tailed sole, toothless catfish, water python, western rainbowfish, yabby
  • chequered rainbowfish, fly-specked hardyhead, freshwater crocodile, jardine river turtle, northern Australian snapping turtle, threadfin rainbowfish
  • dyeing poison dart frog, emerald tree boa, yellow-banded poison dart frog
  • Brazil nut poison dart frog, emerald tree boa, giant leaf frog, sabana Surinam toad, splashback poison dart frog, tarantula
  • Amazon River exhibit: Guyana side-necked turtle, giant south American river turtle, banded leporinus, silver arawana, pirapitinga, silver prochilodus, common severum cichlid, zebra shovelnose catfish, red-headed amazon side-neck turtle, big-headed turtle, yellow-spotted amazon river turtle, big-headed amazon river turtle, ripsaw catfish, sailfin pleco, leopard cactus pleco, common pleco, white-blotched river stingray, smoothback river stringray, red hook myleus, silver dollar, Raphael catfish, sunshine pleco // big-headed amazon river turtle, redtail catfish, giant talking catfish, leopard cactus pleco, lyretail pleco, smooth-fronted caiman, giant south American river turtle, yellow-spotted amazon river turtle, white-blotched river stingray, pirapitinga, ripsaw catfish, uaru, rummy-nose tetra, royal panaque, spotfin tetra, Columbian tetra, freshwater angelfish

Some others I have written down that I've seen:

Adventure Aquarium: dwarf caiman with bucktooth tetra
Bronx, I haven't really done sign photos here so missing a lot: Merten's water monitor with a turtle species, freckled monitor / yellow spiny-tailed monitor / bearded dragon, radiated tortoise / spider tortoise / spiny iguana / four-lined plated lizard, frilled dragon / inland bearded dragon, chuckwalla / eastern collared lizard / shield-tailed dwarf agama
Fort Worth: amazon tree boa / smoky jungle frog, west african dwarf crocodile with cichlids / tetras / catfish / treefrogs, caiman lizard / savanna side-necked turtle / river stingray / hatchetfish / mata mata / south american map frog / fish, spiny tailed lizard / african pancake tortoise
Henry Doorly: common death adder / brown tree snake, frilled dragon / blue-tongued skink, mexican spiny-tailed iguana / baja blue rock lizard, collared lizard / blue rock lizard / chuckwalla / mexican horned lizard, spiny-tailed iguana / sonoran box turtle, arizona black rattlesnake / mojave rattlesnake, sidewinder / mottled rock rattlesnake / great basin rattlesnake, plenty of others
Virginia Aquarium: tomistoma / loaches / barbs / etc
Virginia Zoo: pancake tortoise / painted agama / egyptian uromastyx, banded rock rattlesnake / speckled rattlesnake, jeweled lacerta / hermann's tortoise, emerald tree boa / red-eyed tree frog, annulated boa / dart frogs, cottonmouth / canebrake rattlesnake, sailfin dragon / roti island snake-necked turtle, caiman lizard / mata mata, chinese water dragon / chinese crocodile lizard
 
The Granby Zoo, Ripley's Aquarium Toronto, and Shedd Aquarium all mix their green sea turtles with various fish, such as sharks in the former two's case (sand tiger sharks and green sawfish with Ripley's, and blacktip reef sharks with Granby).

Baltimore has their one in their big reef exhibit with zebra sharks, blacktip reef sharks, several ray species, and dozens of fish species.
Which reminds me, Georgia Aquarium! Their green sea turtles are in with the whale sharks, zebra sharks, sandbar sharks, longcomb sawfish, bowmouth guitarfish, blacktip reef shark, manta rays, etc
 
I've only seen green iguanas mixed with green basilisk and green iguans with red-footed tortoises when it comes down to reptile mixed with reptile.
 
At Buttonwood Park Zoo, there's a caiman lizard in with Goeldi's monkeys and some waterfowl that I can't remember the species of now.
 
Frog on a snake / frilled dragon on inland bearded dragon / giant leaf frog and emerald tree boa hanging out together / ring-tailed lemurs and radiated tortoises

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The Detroit Zoo has many mixed reptile exhibits one of them has beaded lizards and an iguana together, another has pancake tortoises and another type of lizard. There is also two larger exhibits in the center. One has turtles and caiman, and the other has a lot of large turtles.
 
Barcelona Zoo has quite a lot of mixed Reptile enclosures:
- Chinese alligator and giant Asian pond turtle
- Cuvier's dwarf caiman, West African black turtle, painted forest turtles, Amboina box turtles and adult red-footed tortoise
- Central American spiny-tailed iguanas and juvenile red-footed tortoise
- Plumed basilisk and giant Hispaniolan galliwasp
- Ocellated lizard and juvenile Spanish pond turtle
- Yacare caiman and red-eared slider
- Asian water dragon and red-bellied side-necked turtle
- Elongated tortoise, spiny turtle and Utila spiny-tailed iguana
- Dabb's uromastyx and Egyptian tortoise
- Gila monster and spiny blue lizard
- Siamese crocodile and Nile tilapia
- Spurred tortoise (seasonal) and black-faced impala
- Spurred tortoise (seasonal), dorcas gazelle and Rothschild's Giraffe
 
Henry Vilas Zoo has a few:
- Huge BCI and puny Brazilian Rainbow Boa
- Desert Tortoise and Chuckwalla
- Standing's Day Gecko and Uroplatus sikorae
- They also have some colubrids mixed together, but I don't remember what species they are.
 
I've seen several zoos in Latin America successfully mix green iguanas with mammals such as marmosets and agouti or birds such as toucans and even burrowing owls. Similarly I've seen red footed tortoises mixed with brocket deer , marmosets , tamarins , tapeti rabbits , rhea and even with a cassowary.
 
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I believe Sacramento Zoo has a mixed species exhibit of green tree pythons, carpet pythons, and white's tree frogs (yeah they're amphibians but they're in there)

I also was at Shark Reef and saw a really weird mixed species exhibit of burmese pythons and pig nosed turtles, (with Asian arrowanas)

Nashville Zoo had another exhibits with desert tortoises, spiny tailed iguanas, and beaded lizards. There are a few other mixed species exhibits in there, but nothing that really pops out like that one.
 
I believe Sacramento Zoo has a mixed species exhibit of green tree pythons, carpet pythons, and white's tree frogs (yeah they're amphibians but they're in there)

This trio is long gone but not completely, as the Green Tree Python and tree frogs are still exhibited together in a much smaller exhibit.

Another old example I remember is Caiman Lizard, Matamata, Chestnut-eared Aracari, and White-blotched River Stingray in a tropical room at Fresno Chaffee Zoo. I remember seeing Spur-thighed Tortoise with Blue Duiker that visit as well, along with Galapagos Giant Tortoise with both species of rhea.

Seen a wide variety of reptile with reptile mixes.
 
Examples that come to mind:
  • Madagascar giant day gecko, spider tortoise (Sacramento Zoo)
  • Madagascar giant day gecko, flat-tailed tortoise (Sacramento Zoo)
  • Madagascar plated lizard, standing's day gecko (former) (Sacramento Zoo)
  • Alligator snapping turtle, American alligator, red-eared slider (Six Flags Discovery Kingdom)
  • Blue spiny lizard, Colorado River toad, chuckwalla, Gila monster (Oakland Zoo)
  • Ecuador spio, green anaconda (Cal Academy of Sciences)
  • Black-headed python, carpet python, woma python (Cal Academy of Sciences)
 
This trio is long gone but not completely, as the Green Tree Python and tree frogs are still exhibited together in a much smaller exhibit.

Another old example I remember is Caiman Lizard, Matamata, Chestnut-eared Aracari, and White-blotched River Stingray in a tropical room at Fresno Chaffee Zoo. I remember seeing Spur-thighed Tortoise with Blue Duiker that visit as well, along with Galapagos Giant Tortoise with both species of rhea.

Seen a wide variety of reptile with reptile mixes.

The Tropical Treasures at Fresno has had lots of things in it. It also has white-faced whistling duck Utila Island spiny-tailed iguana (at least as of this last summer), sloths, golden lion tamarin, Goeldi's monkey, and I have seen basilisks and South American lungfish there in the past. The basilisks are probably still there.
 
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