I have too much free time. I'm also a huge Sacramento Zoo fan. Put those two together and this thread is the end results. This map is accurate as of 2/22/2019. Key: Brown: Tiny terrarium Orange: Medium terrarium Blue: Large terrarium Green: Extra large terrarium Purpleish: A large picture of a reptile, amphibian, invertebrate (most, if not all of these pictures were put up to block unused terrariums) *map dimensions are very obviously not to scale *I'm only listing species I saw with my own eyes because even in the extra large terrariums it is usually very easy to find the inhabitants, so if I didn't see it, it wasn't on exhibit 1: Empty terrarium 2: Picture of gecko foot 3: Puerto Rican boa (Chilabothrus inornatus) 4: Amazon milk frog (Trachycephalus resinifictrix) 5: Henkel's leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus henkeli) 6: Standing's day gecko (Phelsuma standingi) 7: Flat-tailed tortoise (Pyxis planicauda) and Madagascar giant day gecko (Phelsuma grandis) 8: Green mantella (Mantella viridis) 9: Golden mantella (Mantella aurantiaca) 10: Madagascar giant day gecko (Phelsuma grandis) and spider tortoise (Pyxis arachnoides) 11: Picture of a green tree python 12: Smooth-fronted caiman (Paleosuchus trigonatus) 13: Empty terrarium 14: Empty terrarium 15: Phantasmal poison frog (Epipedobates tricolor) and yellow-banded poison dart frog (Dendrobates leucomelas) 16: Plumed basilisk (Basiliscus plumifrons) 17: Amazon milk frog (Trachycephalus resinifictrix) and aquatic caecilian (Typhlonectes natans) 18: Empty terrarium (future home to blue tree monitor - Varanus macraei) 19: Tanzanian giant tailless whip scorpion (Damon variegatus) 20: Green-and-black poison dart frog (Dendrobates auratus) and phantasmal poison frog (Epipedobates tricolor) 21: Curlyhair tarantula (Brachypelma albopilosum) 22: Curlyhair tarantula (Brachypelma albopilosum) 23: Honduran spinytailed iguana (Ctenosaura melanosterna) and smoky jungle frog (Leptodactylus pentadactylus) 24: Picture of a tarantuala 25: Western pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata) 26: Ball python (Python regius) 27: Picture of a turtle/tortoise hatching 28: Empty terrarium (future home to Chinese crocodile lizard - Shinisaurus crocodilurus) 29: White's tree frog (Litoria caerulea) 30: Fiji banded iguana (Brachylophus fasciatus) 31: Chinese three-striped box turtle (Cuora trifasciata) and tokay gecko (Gekko gecko) 32: Prehensile-tailed skink (Corucia zebrata) 33: European legless lizard (Pseudopus apodus) 34: Madagascan big-headed turtle (Erymnochelys madagascariensis) 35: Rhinoceros iguana (Cyclura cornuta) 36: Picture of turtle laying eggs 37: Western pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata) 38: Northern Pacific rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus) 39: Common chuckwalla (Sauromalus ater) 40: Giant garter snake (Thamnophis gigas) 41: Sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes) 42: Empty terrarium 43: Empty terrarium 44: Picture of a frog 45: California newt (Taricha torosa) and California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense) 46: California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense) In total, Sacramento Zoo's Kenneth C. Johnson Reptile House is currently home to 36 species of reptile, amphibian, and arachnid. (Reptiles: 23; Amphibians: 11 ; Arachnids: 2). Knowing how this zoo works though, I would expect this number to change soon. I give it a A- for biodiversity (considering this zoo has the greatest collection of herps of all northern Californian zoos) but a C for exhibit quality (all have nice interiors and some are of a decent size but most should be larger for the inhabitants). Zoochatters this thread may interest: @Great Argus @DavidBrown @Anteaterman @Anniella @Wyman and others who are interested in the Sacramento Zoo
In the 1970s and 1980s the reptile house had a much different collection of species - anaconda, Burmese pythons, boa constrictors, black mamba, gaboon viper, red-spitting cobra. The modern collection is much more appropriate for the size of the exhibits.
I remember years ago this building also used to have African dwarf crocodiles, Bengal monitor lizards, and one of the Madagascan Oplurus species if I recall correctly (I forget which one). If they move locations, are they going to build the previously planned "Biodiversity Center" at the new zoo location? And would it possibly be bigger than the building planned for the current location if that were the case?
I remember the Bengal monitor and the African dwarf crocodile but I guess I'm not old enough to remember the Oplurus sp. I don't think the zoo has stated if the Biodiversity Center will be built at the new location. I'm sure they'll at least have a new reptile house, but weather or not it'll be the B.C. is currently unknown.
I hope that, regardless of the case, that the new reptile house will have larger enclosures than the current one. I greatly prefer seeing fewer but larger habitats for reptiles than packing as many reptiles and amphibians into a building as possible. Think Fresno Chaffee Zoo's more recent mixed species (or single species in the case of things like the tentacled snake) terraria in it reptile house or many of the habitats in LA Zoo's LAIR. I really appreciate the work Sac Zoo does for species like Western pond turtles and foothill yellow-legged frogs, so I definitely hope the future reptile house allows more space for the ex situ conservation of these and more herps.
If the Sac Zoo had a reptile house on the same level as the LAIR, then that would be truly amazing. (I've not yet seen Fresno's). This is kind of random, but I've always wanted to see a temple-themed reptile house. Kind of like Tulsa Zoo's Lost Kingdom: I don't know I just think that'd be cool.
Also, I think the Sac Zoo definitely need to give its turtles better exhibits. I mean the Chinese stripe-necked turtles are good (they have the big tank by the red pandas), but the Chinese three-striped box turtles and the western pond turtles, which live in the Reptile House, live in exhibits where the water is basically just deep enough for them to soak in it, but not really deep enough for swimming. Honestly I've seen turtle tanks in pet stores that seem better suited for their inhabitants. Personally I think they should just build two outside turtle ponds on the Reptile House Lawn, afterall, people aren't allowed to walk on it anymore anyway.
Fresno Chaffee's reptile house is an older one, but many of the newer exhibits within are excellent, and even some of the older habitats are fine enough for some of their inhabitants, and it has a nice variety. The Komodo dragon exhibit would be fine for hatchlings and small juveniles, but it's way too small for adults and large juveniles. Fortunately, Kingdoms of Asia will have a new Komodo habitat, as well as reportedly false gharial. Speaking of Asia though, that's one reason I don't really want a temple-themed reptile house. Temple themes are overdone. Instead, I'd rather have a reptile house/biodiversity center focused on 1) conservation. Especially for amphibians. You can have displays for some of the more visually attractive frogs and salamanders and then a breeding center for threatened amphibians both attractive and not that visitors can see through glass. Some threatened amphibians are visually attractive as exhibit animals, like Neurergus spotted newts from the Near East or mantellas from Madagascar, but many are things like small rain frogs from the Neotropics or salamanders that live in leaf litter and that don't really make great exhibits. Yet those small and often drab amphibians are just as important in the web life as the more attention-getting stuff. I'd also love to see a reptile house/biodiversity center focused on 2) evolution and deep geologic time. While reptiles are just as adapted to their niches in the modern world as mammals and birds, I like to view things in evolutionary context, and reptiles no doubt evoke a primeval world. Have evolutionarily unique reptiles and amphibians and perhaps fish and invertebrates as well displayed alongside graphics and perhaps even fossils or models of extinct taxa. Of course, I don't expect skeletons of multi-tonne dinosaurs or marine reptiles, but maybe models and fossil casts of Paleozoic or Mesozoic amphibians, small dinosaurs and archaic birds, pterosaurs, turtles, pseudosuchians, etc. I'd love something that was a combination of those aspects, so I guess you can say the EDGE of reptile houses. There are so many unique herps that can tell stories of both evolution and conservation. And I suppose you can incorporate some cultural aspects as well along with those aspects I mentioned, with the roles serpents and turtles and others play in human mythology and folklore as well as lifestyles. So there's nothing wrong if someone else does want temples. Granted, that's a lot of subjectivity on my part, but it's all good. As long is it conserves, educates, and represents the world of reptiles and amphibians well, I am good.
I really like you're idea, particularly the "evolution and deep geologic time" part as I'm a huge paleo nerd. And I suppose you are right in that replica temples are overdone. Also, sounds like I'll have to check out Fresno sometime soon. I did actually try to get my mom to take me there recently, but it's hard to justify taking a three-hour trip to a zoo to someone that is such a zoo nerd when we have 4 zoos within an hour or so.
Fresno is worth the trek. Their sea lion exhibit is one of the best zoo exhibits ever designed. Their Africa zone is fantastic and world-class. You might want to wait until next year when their new Asia zone opens. If you are ever headed up to Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park the Fresno Zoo makes a good side trip, or a good rest stop on the way to or back from Southern California if you are on Highway 99 (the zoo is literally just off 99).
The other response is spot on. The African Adventure and Sea Lion Cove are fantastic. Fresno Chaffee is my favorite medium-sized zoo in California by far, more than my home zoo growing up of Oakland (I haven't seen the new California Trail due to the crowds and distance and my schedule, although I doubt that would fully change my opinion.). It's going to get even better with an African river with hippos (possibly mixed species with antelope and birds!) and crocs, African forest with great apes and forest antelopes, and South American areas in the next decade in addition to the Kingdoms of Asia area. Probably one of the most rapidly improving zoos in the country, if the not the most improved zoo during this last decade decade, and will probably continue to improve in the future. Even some of their older areas have their share of good things in them. Their current outdoor South American aviary is underrated, lush, full of birds, and lots of fun to walk through, and they have a great collection for a zoo of their size. Their reptile house is not new, but it was state-of-the-art when it was built, it has a great collection with things from Chinese crocodile lizards to Armenian vipers to Indochinese box turtles, and some of the newer exhibits in there are fantastic, like the pig-nosed turtle, Neotropical snakes/poison dart frogs, tentacled snakes, chuckwallas, and African snakes. Check it out!
I visited again today, 6/27/2019, and here are some changes since last time. Number 1 was still empty but instead of being blacked out the inside was view-able and an employee was inside painting a tropical setting backdrop Number 14, previously empty, was home to 2 smoky jungle frogs, which where previously in number 23 Number 21, previously home to a curlyhair tarantula, was empty Number 18, previously empty and signed as "future home to blue tree monitor," was home to a new prehensile-tailed skink Number 23, previously home to a Honduran spinytailed iguana and smoky jungle frogs, was home to Madagascar tree boa Nothing new but number 28, previously empty, under construction, and signed as "future home to Chinese crocodile lizard," is still under construction Number 41, previously home to home to a sidewinder, was empty Number 43, previously empty, was home to a Pacific gopher snake Number 45, previously home to both California newts and California tiger salamanders, was only home to California tiger salamanders So no clue as to where the blue tree monitor and the Honduran spinytailed iguana are.
I heard somewhere the monitor was not wanting to eat, and they were having to force-feed it. My suspicion is that something happened regarding that. No clue on the iguana.
Well gee that's unfortunate. I hope it's okay but that would explain its absence. And now that I think about it, the iguana is probably going to be exhibited in the first exhibit which as I said is currently being redone and painted.
Haven't updated in a while, so here you go. This map is accurate as of November 16, 2019. Key: Brown: Tiny terrarium Orange: Medium terrarium Blue: Large terrarium Green: Extra large terrarium Purpleish: A large picture of a reptile, amphibian, invertebrate (most, if not all of these pictures were put up to block unused terrariums) *map dimensions are very obviously not to scale 1: Empty terrarium (Speculation: future home to Honduran spinytailed iguana) 2: Picture of gecko foot 3: Puerto Rican boa 4: Amazon milk frog 5: Henkel's leaf-tailed gecko 6: Standing's day gecko 7: Flat-tailed tortoise; Madagascar giant day gecko 8: Smallwood anole 9: Golden mantella; Green mantella 10: Madagascar giant day gecko; Spider tortoise 11: Picture of a green tree python 12: Smooth-fronted caiman 13: Curlyhair tarantula 14: Smoky jungle frogs 15: Yellow-banded poison dart frog 16: Plumed basilisk 17: Amazon milk frog; Aquatic caecilian 18: Prehensile-tailed skink 19: Tanzanian giant tailless whip scorpion 20: Green-and-black poison dart frog; Phantasmal poison frog 21: Magnificent tree frog 22: Magnificent tree frog 23: Rhinoceros iguana 24: Picture of a tarantula 25: Western pond turtle 26: Ball python 27: Picture of a turtle/tortoise hatching 28: Empty terrarium (future home to Chinese crocodile lizard) 29: Green tree python; White's tree frog 30: Fiji banded iguana 31: Chinese three-striped box turtle; Tokay gecko 32: Prehensile-tailed skink 33: European legless lizard 34: Madagascan big-headed turtle 34.5: Green-and-black poison dart frog 35: Rio Fuerte beaded lizard 36: Picture of turtle laying eggs 37: Western pond turtle 38: Northern Pacific rattlesnake 39: Common chuckwalla 40: Giant garter snake 41: Empty terrarium (future home to Santa Catalina Island rattlesnake) 42: Empty terrarium 43: Pacific gopher snake 44: Picture of a frog 45: California tiger salamander 46: California tiger salamander
