Crocodile House » Paignton Zoo

05-05-2008

Thanks for the update will now have to try to sort out when in july or august i come down to see it.

05-05-2008

I've seen your photos Gigit, thanks for uploading. The exhibits look okay, but I have to say the python enclosure doesn't look as good as I thought it would. I guess if there was to much foliage in there they may've escaped. It just seems a bit barren and concrety, that's all.

Nice photos of the crocs though. Thanks again,

06-05-2008

I visited today, it's pretty good.
Liked the snake enclosure, although it is a bit barren and concrete-like, and found the skeleton snake exhibit thing weird lol. There was a hammock with a human keleton in inside the enclosure with the snakes. Turned out to be part of a story, which said the guy was killed by one of the most dangerous animals on the planet, which was a mosquito with malaria.
On another topic there was some stupid bloke feeding the zebra sausage roll, saying "Christ, if the zebra doesn't want it, it must be bad".
Can't think why else a zebra wouldn't want to eat it...

06-05-2008

Does anyone yet know the sex ratio in the Cuban crocs? ISIS is not a big help here (1.0.2)? Why have they not sexed their crocs or have they (and why is it then not corrected in ISIS)? Plan to go and ask ..... perhaps (if you girls and boys do not come up with a valid response)!

I suppose they are the ONLY species Paigton really has set their eyes on breeding???

06-05-2008

Spoiler Alert!! I won't let on what happens when you put your hand in the crcodile's mouth! I guess they think they need these child centred activities in an exhibit where the animals are generally motionless.

06-05-2008

I'll try to find out for you on one of my visits. When they planned the official opening by Nigel Marvin, they were going to have a few guided tours, but that was all cancelled when the opening was delayed. It would have been the ideal time to ask questions.

06-05-2008

Thanks for photos! I see the python exhibit is glassed, nevertheless.

06-05-2008

Not really. There's a glass wall, about 4 foot high, and you look over it into "the pit". That's the only glass in the snake exhibit.

07-05-2008

I've been to Crocodile Swamp again and found a student to question. The Nile crocs are a male and female. There is only one Cuban Croc there at the moment but it is going to be joined by 2 females. I asked if it was a male, but she thought it was a female too. If I find out anything more definite, jelle, I'll let you know.

07-05-2008

I've put 3 more photos in the Gallery to try and give a better impression of the exhibit.

07-05-2008

Jelle, I heard from a keeper that the Cuban croc on show is a male and the two currently offshow are female. They will be joining him.
The two Nile crocs are separated by a sluice gate which can be opened if they want them to be together.

12-08-2008

I visited Paignton today, for the first time for several years. The zoo was very busy as it's August and there was a long queue for the crocodiles - perhaps as they are the feature of the zoo's advertising this year. The queue was the length of the ramp up to house at about 1.30 pm and even longer at 4 pm.
My impression of the house was mixed. The crocs looked well, 2 big Niles on the left as you enter with a Cuban on the right; then past the snakes, another Cuban and the salty.
My main criticism is that the path/walkway through the house is too narrow at this busy time particularly where there are interactive things for kids on one side and animals on the other. I thought the snake bits were tacky and didn't really show the snakes off well: the rock pythons basically have a wall and the other pythons have a sort of ghost train without a locomotive - speaking as a teacher, I found the 'educational' messages were really facile and looked like an afterthought. Likewise a Victoria regia water lily, with Malawi cichlids in the pool is not really relevant to any of the crocodiles they keep. If they had just had the crocs, they could have saved money by having a building with a lower roof and given more space to us poor humans and to the crocs as I think the crocs could use more land space (particularly if they ever try to nest). If they had to add snakes, why not the anacondas from the reptile house, which I think could show themselves well in an semi-aquatic display.

Alan

__________________
When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

14-08-2008

Really annoys me when a collection throws in a tank of Malawi cichlids without any thought to habitat or connection to the rest of the exhibit. There are plenty of South or Central American cichlids which would better fit a general riverine theme and complement the giant waterlilys.

I have seen anacondas in a proper underwater display and they do look really good. I can only guess that they are difficult to manage on a daily basis, let alone hiding/stalking in a large pool.

24-10-2008

For those of you interested in zoo buildings, this is from Paignton's website:

Paignton Zoo Environmental Park, which is holding its first Green Solutions Festival between Tuesday 28th and Thursday 30th October, has found its own green solution to keeping crocodiles in tropical luxury.

Crocodile Swamp is home to three species of crocodiles as well as turtles and giant snakes. The water in the pools is maintained at 25C, whilst the air temperature is kept at a minimum of 22C. But the Zoo has worked hard to make the spacious 500 square metre glasshouse as environmentally efficient as possible.

Paignton Zoo Clerk of Works Adi Board, who supervised the project, said: “The exhibit makes maximum use of natural light and passive solar gain, employs materials such as high efficiency polycarbonate cladding and thermal screens to reduce heat loss, and solid walls to absorb and retain heat.”

Crocodile Swamp is heated by renewable energy, using a wood fuel biomass boiler to meet 80% of the heating requirements. Curator of Plants and Gardens Kevin Frediani said: “Although the equipment costs more than conventional oil or gas boilers, as renewable energy technology it qualifies for a grant from the Low Carbon Buildings Programme, a government scheme to support the installation of renewable energy technologies. More and more wood fuel systems are being used as an alternative to conventional fuel systems.

“The boiler uses wood chips or pellets as fuel, burning between 50 and 70 tonnes annually. The Zoo hopes to use its own chipped waste timber and also local forestry thinnings – this way we buy local and help to support the local economy.”

The boiler can hold 100 cubic metres of woodchips. A small amount of ash is produced as waste - this is mixed with green waste and sent for composting.

Kevin added: “The running costs are less than half that for an oil or gas boiler and we’ve reduced our environmental impact as a result of using a renewable source of fuel. Compared to an oil-fired boiler, we save over 74 tonnes of CO2 each year – that’s over 740 tonnes saved over the next ten years, a significant contribution towards reducing Paignton Zoo’s environmental footprint.”

Crocodile Swamp cost £1.5 million. The project has been part-financed by a grant from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The Zoo is a registered charity.