My local zoo has Bengal Monitor, Green Iguana and Red Sand Boa in a mixed aviary-style exhibit.
Reptile mixed exhibits
- Thread starter Smannsaker
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That’s a concerning exhibit, do the iguana and the monitor have a barrier that separates the fore mentioned species
No, but they were basking together relatively harmlessly. The monitors are really small, less than two feet, and I don’t see a reason for the iguanas to attack the monitors.
Luke da Zoo nerd
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Minnesota Zoo has Dwarf crocodiles with cichlids, and Henkel's leaf tailed gecko's with Tomato frogs? Both of those actually don't seem that concerning to me.
That’s because crocodiles and cichlids often work together well. Plus the geckos and frogs are from the same range and occupy different place in the terrarium.
If my memory serves me correctly, San Diego safari park mixes desert tortoises with burrowing owls. And then the zoo mixes gharials with numberous turtle species.
One other I don’t think has been mentioned yet is snapping turtles with alligators, which I think is a relatively common mix.
I bet I’ve seen loads more, just can’t remember any.
One other I don’t think has been mentioned yet is snapping turtles with alligators, which I think is a relatively common mix.
I bet I’ve seen loads more, just can’t remember any.
Luke da Zoo nerd
Well-Known Member
Exactly!
Luke da Zoo nerd
Well-Known Member
At the Omaha zoo they have American Alligators, American crocodiles, And numerous fish, And Alligator and common snapping turtles all in the same exhibit.
Virginia Living Aquarium has their american alligator with a large alligator snapping turtle, as well.
ZooAmerica has desert tortoises with roadrunners, burrowing owls, and gambel's quail. They're technically in a separate, rocked off area at the front of the exhibit (that the birds can go in if they want), but they can climb out and roam around if they try hard enough.
ZooAmerica has desert tortoises with roadrunners, burrowing owls, and gambel's quail. They're technically in a separate, rocked off area at the front of the exhibit (that the birds can go in if they want), but they can climb out and roam around if they try hard enough.
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This seems to be a somewhat common mix. I've also seen it at National Mississippi River Aquarium and Doc's Zoo.
At the Chattanooga Zoo, there’s an exhibit with the species shown in the photo below. In addition, there were many Indian Peafowl in the exhibit, although they were able to climb out and wander the zoo.
That’s an odd one, do the turtles and ducks cooperate well?
Not sure, didn’t see any of them in there besides the deer and the peafowl. I assume they were indoors somewhere due the near freezing temperatures we have had recently
I was worrying that the turtles would nip the ducks, therefore starting a rivalry between them.
Well there are reasons the iguanas could attack the monitors ; food competition, personal spaces and territory defending.
One of the most remarkable reptile mixed exhibits I have ever heard of was created at Dallas Zoo in 1966. At one point, the enclosure contained rhinoceros iguanas, Andros Island iguanas, Exuma Island iguanas, Cayman Island iguanas, green iguanas, Cape spiny-tailed iguanas, a Malayan water monitor and a lace monitor, all apparently without issue. When a paper was written about the exhibit only one inhabitant, a Nile monitor, had died in the enclosure.
A paper about the mixed enclosure is included here:
https://library.iucn-isg.org/docume...Natural_History_and_Husbandry_of_Reptiles.pdf
A paper about the mixed enclosure is included here:
https://library.iucn-isg.org/docume...Natural_History_and_Husbandry_of_Reptiles.pdf
Now that's a lot of iguanas! It seems like they had their base species, and then just kept adding more iguanas whenever ones got dropped off. I wonder how big the enclosure was, since the males were very territorial? And if the monitor died because of the iguanas or something unrelated? And how long they kept it like that?
The North Carolina Zoo has/had several mixed reptile exhibits. The Cypress Swamp used to house an alligator snapping turtle with two older American alligators. The Streamside also has/had several mixed exhibits. One in particular housed a black rat snake, yellow rat snake, corn snake, spiny softshell turtle, and three-toed amphiuma. The turtle and amphiuma were separated by a fake log over a glass barrier that the snakes could climb over.