reptile house at national zoo

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reaperreptiles

New Member
So I live in virginia and went to the national zoo in DC
​
a few weeks back. Spent most of my time in the reptile house....off course. They had a large variety of reptiles but to my surprise they were all in pretty crappy condition. A lot of there snakes were skinny or kept in cages far too small for the size of the animal. Most of there iguanas and agamids had massive amounts of stuck on shed, missing scales/toes, and a few even had some mouth rot!? There chameleons were way too dry (humidity wise) and looked sickly and very skinny. I approached the 'expert' they had working in the house 'educating' people about these animals. Wow, was I surprised to see someone with such little knowledge of reptiles. She kept trying to tell me that the reptiles only grow to the size of there enclosure after I asked her why they had a huge diamondback in an enclosure the size of a 20 gallon. She also tried to comvince me that anacondas never leave the water and are strictly aquatic!!!!! This women followed me through the house commenting on ever remark I made. She followed me outside and once again, tried to tell me that alligators are illegal as pets in every state?! The only thing I got outta the house was watching feeding time...LOL
PHP:
 
Yeah, I think we are lucky! The Houston zoo has a really nice and kept up reptile house. They even have two parson chameleons that they bought from Mike over at FLChams.com! I guess I'm not to surprised that a zoo has bad enclosures for their herps. They are a lot harder to take care of than most think. We hopefully she actually learned something from you!
 
i am planning a trip to the Toronto Zoo with my gf in the next little bit, and am definatly planning on spneding some time chacking out the reptiles, i hope i am not disapointed, but ill let ya all know.
 
Hi, I worked for a college summer in the National Zoo Reptile House in 1987. I worked under the tutelage of some world class keepers and it was a privilege that I have fond memories of. I have not been back in over 10 years so it sounds as if it has gone down hill a bit (I was there when Trooper Walsh figured out how to get Komodo dragons to cycle in captivity which produced Kracken - the first zoo bred Komodo hatchling). Those were great days for a young reptile nerd!
 
...theres a guy around here who has a pet Gator...and they used to sell em over in a pet store downtown..i work in a pet store and talked to a guy today who sells Reticulated pythons
 
reaperreptiles said:
So I live in virginia and went to the national zoo in DC
​
a few weeks back. Spent most of my time in the reptile house....off course. They had a large variety of reptiles but to my surprise they were all in pretty crappy condition. A lot of there snakes were skinny or kept in cages far too small for the size of the animal. Most of there iguanas and agamids had massive amounts of stuck on shed, missing scales/toes, and a few even had some mouth rot!? There chameleons were way too dry (humidity wise) and looked sickly and very skinny. I approached the 'expert' they had working in the house 'educating' people about these animals. Wow, was I surprised to see someone with such little knowledge of reptiles. She kept trying to tell me that the reptiles only grow to the size of there enclosure after I asked her why they had a huge diamondback in an enclosure the size of a 20 gallon. She also tried to comvince me that anacondas never leave the water and are strictly aquatic!!!!! This women followed me through the house commenting on ever remark I made. She followed me outside and once again, tried to tell me that alligators are illegal as pets in every state?! The only thing I got outta the house was watching feeding time...LOL
PHP:
Click to expand...

I hope you are able to take time to write a letter to the Zoo and explain some of the problems and if possible tell them who the person was giving out the crap for information. What a disgrace in our national zoo. Might also ask for a reply and if you don't get one, or get a brush off maybe a few of us could do letters.:):) I for one will be happy to write one.
 
reaperreptiles said:
They had a large variety of reptiles but to my surprise they were all in pretty crappy condition. I approached the 'expert' they had working in the house 'educating' people about these animals. Wow, was I surprised to see someone with such little knowledge of reptiles. She kept trying to tell me that the reptiles only grow to the size of there enclosure after I asked her why they had a huge diamondback in an enclosure the size of a 20 gallon. She also tried to comvince me that anacondas never leave the water and are strictly aquatic!!!!! This women followed me through the house commenting on ever remark I made. She followed me outside and once again, tried to tell me that alligators are illegal as pets in every state?! The only thing I got outta the house was watching feeding time...LOL
PHP:
Click to expand...

This doesn't surprise me. I went there years ago and had a long chat with a curator while he fed their chameleons. The guy was friendly, knew some basics, but not the cutting edge at the time. He was very eager to learn so it was a great discussion. Also, I bet many of the animals the have are private hobbyist abandonments so they may be in pretty bad shape to begin with. Unless a zoo is extremely lucky or the zoo leadership happens to consider the herp house their "star" program they won't attract the best staff or have a budget for the best enclosures. It's an old old zoo (I know, doesn't excuse poor care!). I'm curious...was this woman an actual curator (animal caretaker) or an interpreter (someone who just talks to visitors)? I'm always appalled how ignorant the so-called "interpreters" are about basic biology.

I'm not certain, but American alligators may not be legal to own in any state without a specific permit because they are a native species, were at one time a threatened species, and are managed as a game species. Correct me anyone?
 
Carlton said:
This doesn't surprise me. I went there years ago and had a long chat with a curator while he fed their chameleons. The guy was friendly, knew some basics, but not the cutting edge at the time. He was very eager to learn so it was a great discussion. Also, I bet many of the animals the have are private hobbyist abandonments so they may be in pretty bad shape to begin with. Unless a zoo is extremely lucky or the zoo leadership happens to consider the herp house their "star" program they won't attract the best staff or have a budget for the best enclosures. It's an old old zoo (I know, doesn't excuse poor care!). I'm curious...was this woman an actual curator (animal caretaker) or an interpreter (someone who just talks to visitors)? I'm always appalled how ignorant the so-called "interpreters" are about basic biology.

I'm not certain, but American alligators may not be legal to own in any state without a specific permit because they are a native species, were at one time a threatened species, and are managed as a game species. Correct me anyone?
Click to expand...

Carlton, Silver City out of Florida, sell and ships them all over the country. My sis has a friend who sell lots of them in Missouri. Wait with my mind I better check, it could be crocodiles. But I am almost sure it is croc's that are illegal. It is one of the 2. yes I just checked Silver City Serpentarium has them for sale every week that would be alligators for sale not crocs.
 
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It all depends on what county and state u live in. In pa u don't need any license to own venomous or gators. Here in VA u don't need a permit for gators but u do for venomous. It varies state to state. As for a letter, no I have not written one. As for abandoned animals no, the majority of the zoo's animals are from breeders or straight wild. I used to date a guy who's father was the vice pres. Of the Smithsonian department. The zoo is owned by them so I know alot about the zoo's current animals. The women asked me if I would like to sell them a veils Chameleon BC there's was 'supposedly' about to die.
 
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