Rare reptiles & amphibians in North America

Many of us here discuss rare mammals and birds, but I've seen fewer discussions on rare herps. I was hoping someone here can help with pinning down rare reptile and amphibians in North American collections and am creating a thread for anyone to add information. Here is my observations from this group:


Tuatara
Very rare here. I believe San Diego, Toledo, St Louis and Dallas are the only zoos that have the species, and SD keeps them off-exhibit.


Crocodilians
Discussed on this thread:
Crocodilians in American Zoos

A number of species are quite rare here, some restricted to St. Augustine Alligator Farm. Aside from American Alligators (very common) & Crocodiles, the other reasonably available species here are:

Chinese Alligator
Spectacled Caiman (mostly non-AZA)
Dwarf Caiman
Saltwater Crocodile (mostly non-AZA?)
Nile Croc
Orinoco Croc
Dwarf Croc
Slender-snouted Croc (borderline rare)
Gharial
False Gharial (borderline rare)


Turtles
Leatherback Sea Turtles cant be kept in captivity without extreme measures, and there doesn't appear to be any Flatback Sea Turtles here. Both ridley species are kept and can be considered rare, however.

I'm not sure of the status of many freshwater turtles. Most native species are reasonably common in zoological facilities, but I find that certain groups like mud turtles and softshells seem to be more limited to nature centers and the like.

From my observation, the non-native group that seems to be lacking in most zoos are African Pelomedusidae. But again, I don't really know the rarity status of individual species.


Amphisbaenia
No North American facility seems to hold this group at present. Discussed here:
Amphisbaenia in captivity?

It's strange that no zoo bothers with these interesting reptiles. The Florida Worm Lizard is really cool and a native species and I would think they'd be an interesting species for nature centers in Florida to highlight as a rare endemic. Mole Lizards are also really unique looking and are reasonably easy to keep in captivity from what I've heard.


Lizards & Snakes
With over 5000 species, the vast majority I'm sure have never even been kept here.

Some native species are very rarely displayed, even at smaller zoos or nature centers. Rubber Boa and Coral Snake are two such examples, although with the boa, they are probably more common in the northwest. I'm not sure why they are so rare outside of that area while the other North American endemic Rosy Boa is quite common. The lack of Coral Snakes I really can't understand. Even in Florida, I've never seen them at any zoo and don't know any that holds them. They are the perfect species to have alongside King Snakes to display the red-yellow-black mimicry pattern. Is there a good reason they are so scarce?

Among non-natives, I think a few iguanas are on the rare side but I don't have any idea the number of zoos that keep specific species. I also don't know how many "true" Egyptian Cobras are kept here; most are actually the banded variety, that's sometimes regarded as a separate species. Would definitely love to know which species are rarely displayed here.


Amphibians
Caecilians as a group are very underrepresented in zoos. I think only Aquatic and Kaup's Caecilians are displayed in North America, and only a handful of zoos keep them.

A few native salamanders are quite rarely kept because of their restricted range. I think Shenandoah Salamanders are only at National Zoo, for example. But even the more abundant Urodela outside the Hellbender, Tiger Salamander and Eastern Newt are rare in even nature centers from my observations. Non-natives are pretty poorly represented as well, but the species that are actually kept in captivity here seem to be reasonably abundant across a number of zoos. The exceptions are the Japanese & Chinese Giant Salamanders. I believe Brookfield, LA & SD are the only zoos with CGS, while the JGS can be found at National, Toledo, Detroit and maybe a couple of others as well.

I'm sure most frogs have never even been kept in captivity in North America. Some native species are reasonably common if small zoos and nature centers are taken into account, but there are probably quite a few rarely displayed species; I don't think I've ever seen a Cricket Frog in captivity as an example.

The rarity status of non-native frog species is less clear for me. I did hear about a couple of US zoos holding Goliath Frogs, but not sure what their current status is; if they're still here they would most certainly be rare. Kihansi Spray Toads are also only displayed at a few zoos from my understanding. Lake Titicaca Frogs were very rare at one point, but they're now found in a number of zoos and I don't think would qualify as particularly difficult to find in captivity anymore. There are probably a few other species kept in only a very small number of institutions, but I'm not really sure.

 

I'm presuming the reference to 'North American endemic Rainbow Boa' should read rosy boa instead?

Louisiana Pine Snakes (Pituophis ruthveni) strike me as another endemic and endangered species that are quite rare in North American collections.

 

Yeah, I meant Rosy Boa.

I've only seen Louisiana Pine Snakes at Audubon Zoo. What other facilities keep them?

 

St. Louis also keeps theirs off-exhibit.

Rubber Boa is more common over here, though still not a standby.

Honolulu also has a giant salamander species, I forget which.

Long gone. Goliath Frog has never done well in captivity.

Herps are a good deal cloudier than birds or mammals due to the massive number of species held privately, and many of them are far better off privately than in public institutions.

 

It seems its the Japanese species.

 

Yep.

Japanese Giant Salamander - Honolulu Zoo Society

 

Apparently they are (or at least they were), rotated on and off display.

 

Pretty sure they haven't been on display in well over a decade.

 

I found a post by @jayjds2 from back in 2017 saying that:

It might not be entirely accurate, i'm not sure; other members seem to be echoing what you've said too.

 

Conant's Mushroom-tongue Salamander and Ornate Flying Snake are both only kept at Toledo.

 

San Antonio Zoo is from what I understand the only zoo breeding psychedelic rock gecko in the country, and potentially the only one housing them. At least a dozen more rare reptile and amphibian species can be found there, but again its unclear which are more prevalent in the private trade.

 

Well, I saw the flying snake at Brookfield yesterday, so that's clearly wrong.

 

Audubon has Bornean earless monitor (Lanthanotus borneensis), which is certainly a rarity.

 

What about making a list of actual rare herps in North America? For example ones officially on iucnredlist.org?

 

Because this thread is looking for species rare in captivity (which may or may not be rare in the wild).

 

Sedgwick County Zoo has Twig Snakes and Angolan Garter Snakes, neither of which I'm aware of being anywhere else in US zoos.

 

Going through my checklist of reptiles seen at zoos, there are a few species that might be added to the list. I'll start with turtles. I'm not in the reptile pet trade so I don't know what their status is in the private sector.

Hopefully if anyone's seen these species recently in other zoos please list them.

Brown Leaf Turtle (Cyclemys fusca)
Seen at SDZ, but don't know of any other North American zoo keeping them.

Arakan Forest Turtle (Heosemys depressa)
Seen at Zoo Atlanta, and apparently also at Oklahoma City Zoo based on members pictures in gallery, but not sure they're on-exhibit at any other facility.

Giant Asian Pond Turtle (Heosemys grandis)
Seen at Staten Island Zoo. Also possibly at St Louis Zoo based on other member pics.

Indian Roofed Turtle (Kachuga tecta)
Seen at Bronx Zoo, but nowhere else.

Indian Black Turtle (Melanochelys trijuga)
Also seen only at Bronx; they keep the Cochin subspecies.

Chaipas Musk Turtle (Staurotypus salvinii)
Seen at Zoo Miami and nowhere else, and don't know of any other NA holders.

Narrow-headed Softshell (Chitra)
San Diego has them, and I think so does St Louis, Not sure if any others. They are of the indica species or subspecies (depends on taxonomy used).

African Mud Turtle (Pelusios castaneus)
Seen at SDZ. Only other zoo with a recent picture of them in the gallery is Chattanooga.

African Black Turtle (Pelusios niger)
I only saw them at Bronx Zoo fairly recently, though my latest visit they were not there.

Madagascan Big-headed Turtle (Erymnochelys madagascariensis)
Seen at SDZ. Dallas World Aquarium seems to have them as well.

 

Highly recommend the use of Latin names in this thread- reptiles & amphibians are particularly prone to having multiple common names for the same species, whilst also having many identical names that are used to refer to multiple species.

 

Wonders of Wildlife keeps worm lizards or at least had them around October 2021

Weird Worm Wednesday | Ready for some ? Meet the worm lizard! This unique reptile is neither lizard nor snake. It belongs to its own family of... | By Wonders of Wildlife | Facebook

 

Interesting find. Has anyone been to Wonders Of Wildlife to confirm? Seems like they may be off-exhibit from the video.