Date of Visit: September 16 2021 The Jack Facente Serpentarium/MToxins Venom Lab is a reptile zoo/venom lab in Oshkosh, WI. It opened only last year, on an honestly sketchy looking street corner. I am happy to say that this outside impression does reflect the actual quality of the facility, however. Note about the name: Jack R. Facente Serpentraium and MToxins Venom Lab are the same facility, and I don't know which name is better to use. Their logo and website use MToxins, but it's listed here on ZooChat under the Setpentarium name. Both names are equally large on the front of the building. For the rest of this this review I will refer to the facility as "MToxins" simply because it is easier to type. The entire facility is in one large room. Two walls are completely covered in terrariums, and the third wall contains windows looking into the venom lab. There are also some terrariums in the middle of the room. The terrariums at MToxins are all approximately the same size, but each is clearly customized for its inhabitants. Each is naturalistic and resembles the natural environment of the species found inside it. Apparently, each terrarium is also bioactive, meaning it contains an ecosystem of various inverts such as isopods and springtails to clean up the snake's poop and shed skin. These are some of the best reptiles displays I have ever seen, although some of them are perhaps a bit on the small side for some of the larger snakes. The reptiles collection here is truly impressive as well. I saw 49 species of snakes on display, all venomous, including some extreme rarities. This is among the best, if not the best, collection of venomous snakes in any North American zoo. There's a few non-reptile exhibits here, too. A small pen on the floor in the middle of the room contained a young Fennec Fox, only a few weeks old. This little guy was extremely playful and was obsessed with this cat toy with a little bell on it. The entire time I was here I could hear the ringing from the Fennec Fox playing with the toy. The other non-reptiles exhibits here included a macaw in a cage and three tethered birds of prey (two owls and a Bald Eagle). While I was here several animal ambassadors were brought out, and I also got to see some venom extraction in the lab. Here at the Venom Lab they extract venom from various species of spider, snakes, and scorpions in order to make antivenom. I actually got to see venom extraction from three species (Cottonmouth, Spectacled Cobra, Monocled Cobra) while I was here, which is very cool. I also learned from talking with the owner that MToxins is only of only 9 venom labs in the world, one of only two that harvests venom from both vertebrates and invertebrates, and the only to harvest centipede venom. It seems a bit odd it would be located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, which has no wild venomous animals. Overall, I highly recommend a visit. MToxins has one of the greatest venomous snake collections in North America, probably in the world, too. It is easily one of the best zoos in Wisconsin, and probably one of the best specialist collections in the US. This is a must-see if you are in the area! Species List (Species in italics not seen) On Display 1. Trans-Pecos Copperhead 2. Cottonmouth 3. Broadband Copperhead 4. Pygmy Rattlesnake 5. Banded Rock Rattlesnake 6. Baja California Rattlesnake 7. Western Diamondback 8. Black-tailed Rattlesnake 9. Mojave Rattlesnake 10. Panamint Rattlesnake 11. Gopher Tortoise, Eastern Diamondback 12. Northern Pacific Rattlesnake 13. Arizona Rattlesnake 14. Central American Rattlesnake 15. South American Rattlesnake 16. Jararaca Viper 17. Desert Lancehead Viper 18. Timber Rattlesnake 19. Common Lancehead Viper 20. Urutu Viper 21. Gumprecht's Green Pit Viper 22. Sri Lankan Pit Viper 23. Hundred-Pace Viper 24. Desert Horned Viper 25. Puff Adder 26. Western Gaboon Viper 27. Gila Monster 28. Eastern Green Mamba 29. Jameson's Green Mamba 30. Western Green Mamba 31. Black Mamba 32. Inland Taipan 33. Collett's Snake 34. Dajarra Death Adder 35. Chinese Cobra 36. Indian Cobra 37. Caspian Cobra 38. Samar Spitting Cobra 39. Rinkhals 40. Cape Cobra 41. Snouted Cobra 42. Brown Forest Cobra 43. Black-necked Spitting Cobra 44. Egyptian Cobra 45. Red Spitting Cobra 46. Sakishima Habu 47. Lansberg's Hognosed Pitviper 48. Alligator Snapping Turtle 49. Common Snapping Turtle 50. Matamata 51. African Side-necked Turtle, American Alligator 52. Mexican Beaded Lizard 53. Mexican Green Rattlesnake 54. King Cobra 55. African Spurred Tortoise, Red-footed Tortoise 56. Blue-and-yellow Macaw 57. Fennec Fox 58. Bald Eagle 59. Great Horned Owl 60. Barred Owl Animal Ambassadors/Animals Seen in the Venom Lab -Madagascar Giant Hognose Snake -Ball Python -Common Boa -Reticulated Python -Burmese Python -Chilean Rose-hair Tarantula -Spectacled Cobra -Monocled Cobra -Cottonmouth -Deathstalker Scorpion
WOW. The only place I can think of to rival it in numbers might be the rattlesnake museum, which is even more specialized. Luray doesn't come close, and their exhibits are awful. Glad to hear the outside doesn't reflect their exhibits or care. Thank you for your detailed review!
I just noticed their website lists 200 snake venoms for sale - that means MToxins has >200 species of just venomous snakes (as not all on-exhibit species were listed)! It also lists 10 scorpion species, 21 spider species, 6 centipede species (including an undescribed one)!
Having the venom for sale does not automatically mean that the species is currently kept or has ever been kept there, sonce dry venom can be bought from other sources and stored there for a while if conserved adequately.
I thought I recognized the name! The excellent YouTube channel Snake Discovery did a tour of this facility a little while ago.
Updated species list: Date of visit: January 2 2022 Species not seen in italics On Display 1. Trans-Pecos Copperhead 2. Cottonmouth 3. Broadband Copperhead 4. Banded Rock Rattlesnake 5. Baja California Rattlesnake 6. Western Diamondback 7. Black-tailed Rattlesnake 8. Mojave Rattlesnake 9. Panamint Rattlesnake 10. Gopher Tortoise, Eastern Diamondback 11. Northern Pacific Rattlesnake 12. Arizona Rattlesnake 13. Central American Rattlesnake 14. South American Rattlesnake 15. Jararaca Viper 16. Desert Lancehead Viper 17. Timber Rattlesnake 18. Common Lancehead Viper 19. Urutu Viper 20. Gumprecht's Green Pit Viper 21. Sri Lankan Pit Viper 22. Hundred-Pace Viper 23. Desert Horned Viper 24. Puff Adder 25. Western Gaboon Viper 26. Gila Monster 27. Eastern Green Mamba 28. Jameson's Green Mamba 29. Western Green Mamba 30. Black Mamba 31. Inland Taipan 32. Collett's Snake 33. Chinese Cobra 34. Indian Cobra 35. Caspian Cobra 36. Samar Spitting Cobra 37. Rinkhals 38. Cape Cobra 39. Snouted Cobra 40. Brown Forest Cobra 41. Black-necked Spitting Cobra 42. Egyptian Cobra 43. Red Spitting Cobra 44. Sakishima Habu 45. Lansberg's Hognosed Pitviper 46. Alligator Snapping Turtle 47. Common Snapping Turtle 48. Matamata 49. African Side-necked Turtle, American Alligator 50. Mexican Beaded Lizard 51. Mexican Green Rattlesnake 52. Common Boa 53. African Spurred Tortoise, Red-footed Tortoise 54. Blue-and-yellow Macaw 55. Bald Eagle Animal Ambassadors/Animals Seen in the Venom Lab -Madagascar Giant Hognose Snake -Ball Python -Common Boa -Reticulated Python -Burmese Python -Mozambique Spitting Cobra -Nubian Spitting Cobra -Vietnamese Giant Centipede -Curlyhair Tarantula -Burgundy Goliath Birdeater -Thailand Zebra-leg Tarantula -Fat-tailed Scorpion -Rosy Boa -Virginia Opossum
Updated species list: Date of visit: January 7 2023 On Display 1. Trans-Pecos Copperhead 2. Cottonmouth 3. Broadband Copperhead 4. Banded Rock Rattlesnake 5. Pygmy Rattlesnake 6. Baja California Rattlesnake 7. Western Diamondback 7. Black-tailed Rattlesnake 8. Mojave Rattlesnake 9. Panamint Rattlesnake 10. Gopher Tortoise, Eastern Diamondback 11. Northern Pacific Rattlesnake 12. Arizona Rattlesnake 13. Central American Rattlesnake 14. South American Rattlesnake 15. Jararaca Viper 16. Desert Lancehead Viper 17. Timber Rattlesnake 18. Common Lancehead Viper 19. Blood Python 20. Gumprecht's Green Pit Viper 21. Sri Lankan Pit Viper 22. Hundred-Pace Viper 23. Desert Horned Viper 24. Puff Adder 25. Western Gaboon Viper 26. Gila Monster 27. Eastern Green Mamba 28. Jameson's Green Mamba 29. Western Green Mamba 30. Black Mamba 31. Inland Taipan 32. Collett's Snake 33. Dajarra Death Adder 34. Chinese Cobra 35. Indian Cobra 36. Caspian Cobra 37. Samar Spitting Cobra 38. Rinkhals 39. Cape Cobra 40. Snouted Cobra 41. Brown Forest Cobra 42. Black-necked Spitting Cobra 43. Egyptian Cobra 44. Red Spitting Cobra 45. African Bush Viper 46. Lansberg's Hognosed Pitviper 47. Alligator Snapping Turtle 48. Common Snapping Turtle 49. Nile Crocodile 50. African Side-necked Turtle, American Alligator 51. Mexican Beaded Lizard 52. Mexican Green Rattlesnake 53. King Cobra 54. African Spurred Tortoise 55. Blue-and-yellow Macaw 56. Pied Crow 57. Eurasian Eagle-Owl 58. Great Horned Owl 59. Dark Fishing Spider 60. Brown Recluse 61. Southern Black Widow 62. unidentified vinegaroon 63. Wide-horned Hisser, Halloween Hisser, Peppered Cockroach, Extinct Roach, Question Mark Roach, Glowspot Roach 64. Six-banded Armadillo 65. Laughing Kookaburra Animal Ambassadors/Animals Seen in the Venom Lab -Ball Python -Common Boa -Burmese Python -Mexican Red-knee Tarantula
Update: Date of visit: July 22 2023 On Display 1. Trans-Pecos Copperhead 2. Cottonmouth 3. Broadband Copperhead 4. Banded Rock Rattlesnake 5. Red Diamondback 6. Baja California Rattlesnake 7. Western Diamondback 7. Black-tailed Rattlesnake 8. Prairie Rattlesnake 9. Gray Ratsnake 10. Eastern Diamondback 11. Northern Pacific Rattlesnake 12. Arizona Black Rattlesnake 13. Central American Rattlesnake 14. South American Rattlesnake 15. Goodman's Pit Viper 16. Uracoan Rattlesnake 17. Timber Rattlesnake 18. Common Boa 19. Blood Python 20. Hundred-Pace Viper 21. Desert Horned Viper 22. Puff Adder 23. Western Gaboon Viper 24. Gila Monster 25. Yellow-footed Tortoise 26. Russian Tortoise 27. Western Green Mamba 38. Black Mamba 29. Inland Taipan 30. Collett's Snake 31. Ball Python 32. Chinese Cobra 33. Indian Cobra 34. Caspian Cobra 35. Samar Spitting Cobra 36. Rinkhals 37. Cape Cobra 48. Snouted Cobra 49. Brown Forest Cobra 40. Black-necked Spitting Cobra 41. Egyptian Cobra 42. Red Spitting Cobra 43. African Bush Viper 44. Lansberg's Hognosed Pitviper 45. African Side-necked Turtle 46. Common Snapping Turtle 47. Nile Crocodile 48. American Alligator 49. Mexican Beaded Lizard 50. Mexican Green Rattlesnake 51. Reticulated Python 52. African Spurred Tortoise 53. Blue-and-yellow Macaw 54. Pied Crow 55. Eurasian Eagle-Owl 56. Chilean Rosehair Tarantula 57. Mexican Red-knee Tarantula 58. Brown Recluse 59. Southern Black Widow 60. unidentified vinegaroon 61. Wide-horned Hisser, Halloween Hisser, Peppered Cockroach, Extinct Roach, Question Mark Roach, Glowspot Roach 62. Laughing Kookaburra
