Different Trails

REPTILE GARDENS (Day 3 - part 2)

Snake skeletons

Sean and this skink seem to be sharing the same expression with one another!

Quite the look we're being given by this Grand Cayman iguana!

Iguanas are the large lizards of the New World whereas monitors fill that spot in the Old World.
There are no monitors in the New World and no iguanas in the Old World.

A Lace Monitor Lizard ... and a juvenile Komodo Dragon (also a member of the monitor lizard family). He was hatched in 2020 and is on loan from the Denver zoo.

This is a photo of him (his name is Owen) during our Denver zoo visit back in April 2022!

Yikes!

This is the largest turtle that ever existed. This fossil of a giant sea turtle was found virtually intact about 40 miles from here in the 1970s. It lived at the same time as T-rex. It was 15 feet long and 16.5 feet across, and probably weighed 4,500 pounds. It was around 100 years old when it died, very likely while hibernating on the sea floor (hence why it was so well preserved).

Entering the crocodilan section downstairs

These captive-born Johnston's crocodiles were brought at babies from Australia in 2004. They can grow up to 7 or 8 feet long.

Gus in an American Alligator. Even missing part of his tail, he measures almost 12 feet long. I loved his golf course exhibit setting!

Cuban crocodiles are the most colorful species.

Maniac is a huge saltwater crocodile who was transported here in 2004 from Australia. He was born in captivity in 1970. He was 15 feet 5 inches and weighed 1,042 pounds when he arrived. He has continued to grow since then.

His crate was 10 feet by 7 feet and weighed over 1,000 pounds. His trip took 39 hours.

This Komodo dragon was born in Prague (Czech Republic) in 2011. They are the largest lizards in the world.

These animals can produce a venom in glands located in their jaws which causes the victim's blood to stop clotting, muscle paralysis and hypothermia ... leading to shock and a loss of consciousness.