paignton zoo burmese python? » Paignton Zoo

paignton zoo burmese python?
11-04-2008

has anyone seen the burmese python at paignton zoo? its the largest burmese i have ever seen i stood there watching it in amazement for about 10mins.
even though it is not the longest it is soo fat does anyone know what they feed it?
also does anyone have any general thoughts on the rainforest area? or to the mixed species of tokay geckos and snakes?
thanks stu

12-04-2008

As nobody else has responded so far, I thought I should as the forum's Paignton correspondent, although this is not my favourite subject! I don't often visit the tropical house as I feel repulsed by the snakes I have yet to spot a gecko in with them. Apart from that, I like the plants and the birds and was very interested to see the new Poison Dart Frogs. They look unreal -like plastic models you would buy in the shop on the way out!

13-04-2008

I like the snakes
Went there yesterday and read that they hatched 11 boa constritors last year.
Is the burmese python you're on about close to the exit of the tropical house? If that's the one you're on about, then yes, It's huge!

13-04-2008

hiya yer its the only burm in there i think its in with an african rock python and a retic python. i did enjoy the overall rainforest area with the redfooted tortoise and mata mata turtles in there and also spent about an hr in the reptile breeding center or nursery as there was so much to see.
but there was a few things that didnt seem as good such as gecko species in with snakes they may not have eaten the lizards but the geckos must have had some stress problems through being kept with a predator, there was tokay geckos in almost every vivarium and also madagascan day geckos in with tree boas.
other than that i enjoyed the zoo throughly.
stu

13-04-2008

Many zoos now keep Geckos with a species of snake,i have no problem with it as if you cannot see one you usual see the other,as for your comment about the Geckos been prey i would say not a chance as most are to small as most of the species of snakes they are kept with would feed on some thing the size of at lest a large rat.

13-04-2008

I like those mixed reptile exhibits/terrariums. Melbourne has one with a type of freshwater turtle, a type of tortoise and iguana's.

14-04-2008

Would quite hard to hatch boa constrictors as they are live bearers

14-04-2008

melbourne zoo re-jigged its reptile house exhibits some years ago to (at least roughly) represent geographical zones. but i know not of that combination.

they do have elongated tortoises, malayan box turtles and philippine sail-fin water dragons in an asian river-type setup.

and green iguana with constrictor boas.

or fijian iguana with tokay gecko.

or there is a spiny terrapin and basalisk enclosure.

the one that has always had me surprised is the jacksons chameleons and the rhino vipers. the chameleons are probably too big and maybe they never head to the ground level, but still its a small tank. there are always these sneaky vipers hiding out just a 20-40cm below the lizards.

14-04-2008

Sorry i think it was the first one Patrick mentioned. I'm not so good with reptiles and remembering things without writing them down. I just based it on what i could roughly remember seeing. Sorry

15-04-2008

I probably should have known that, I'm quite appalled with my self lol

15-04-2008

well they may not be natural prey etc but the gecko does not no this, to the gecko it just scense's a predator wether or not they are too small to be eaten.
Its the stress issue really as i am not against mixed species enclosures in the least, just that where one species is going to become stressed.
stu

15-04-2008

Well in that case the Gecko is only under the same stress as it would be in the wild having to avoid been caught by the predator,the late Gerald Durrell always used to say that been a wild animal was very stressfull and animals in zoos had it easy,what i would say Geckos kept with a predator will make better re-lease candidates for going back in to the wild.What do you think of fish in water with Fishing Cats or Harvest Mice in with Puff Adder both are exhibits i have seen with some of the most natural behaviour from both predator and prey that i have ever seen anywhere?

15-04-2008

i think thats looking a little too much into it and slightly inaccurate. animals in the wild are not always stressed. cautious maybe, but not living under the constantly demanding circumstances that cause stress. in the wild an animal does not live within constant attacking distance of a predator, permanently.

secondly, reptiles are pretty preprogrammed anyway, but i doubt living in a tank with a snake is going to teach them anything other than to be unfearful of the snake, which certainly wouldn't make them a good re-release candidate now would it?

16-04-2008

I think there are two issues here. One is good displays. The other is conditioning animals for release programs.

If you are looking to create a mixed display of animals, then it is important that the two (or more) species will either interact in a beneficial way or ignore each other. The visitor requirements must come second. I have worked with a strange mixed reptile exhibit of carpet pythons and sail-fin dragons. In the most part they ignored each other or the dragons deferred to the 'threat' of the python. I think the only reason we didn't have fatalities is because the python perceived the dragon as being too large to consume, or that they may be injured in doing so. That said I do know that younger dragons were killed before my time. I personally didn't like the exhibit, it didn't really tell visitors anything. I have also seen king cobras with tokays (poss. Singapore?), and could see that this would work. Cobras are diurnal and very snake prey-orientated. Tokays are arboreal, nocturnal and very quick. There is some potential visitor message with this display.

Conditioning animals for release programs is very important. I worked with the Perth Zoo numbat colony and animals were lost following releases to birds of prey. Following this a system of 'teaching' the animals to flee large overhead shapes appeared to work. Now whether one needs to teach geckos to escape predators prior to release is another matter. I cannot see Jersey teaching valuable Round Island geckoes to flee predators by adding equally valuable Round Island boas into the confines of small terrarium.

Are Paignton realistically looking to release tokay geckos into the wild?

18-04-2008

lol i didnt want to get into an agruement as tetrapod says tokay geckos are mostly wild caught anyway in the uk and in most pet trades around the world, although these have been bred (at paignton aswel) i would say there is a 99% chance of them staying in captivity and providing a captive bred population for the pet trade/other zoo's.
stu