New Faces, New Homes, and One Rock Star: What's New in Our Reptile Room!
Dwayne the Kimberely Rock Monitor in his new enclosure!
If you visited the aquarium this past spring, you probably noticed a little extra excitement coming from our reptile room. Between the sound of power tools and the occasional cloud of dust, we were hard at work remodeling several exhibits to create better homes for our growing collection of reptiles and amphibians. If you missed the renovation (or were lucky enough to avoid the construction noise!), here's a look at everything that's new.
First, we'd like to introduce Dwayne the Rock...Monitor! Dwayne is a young Kimberley Rock Monitor (Varanus glauerti) from the rugged rock formations of northwestern Australia. While he may not have the same movie career as his namesake, he certainly has the same confidence! When Dwayne isn't smoldering like the Hollywood star, you can usually find him climbing the cliffs of our brand new Red Rock Australia exhibit. He's still very young and getting used to his new surroundings, so he isn't participating in animal encounters just yet. Our hope is that, as he grows, he'll become one of our ambassador animals and help guests learn about these incredible lizards up close.
Another exciting addition is our new Suriname Jungle exhibit, which features a juvenile Emerald Tree Boa (Corallus caninus) alongside a small group of Poison Dart Frogs. This exhibit has sparked one of the most common questions we hear: "Why would you put poisonous frogs in the same enclosure as a large predatory snake?" Surprisingly, these animals make excellent roommates! The poison dart frogs are diurnal, meaning they're active during the day, while the emerald tree boa is nocturnal and spends most of the daylight hours resting. The boa is also almost entirely arboreal, preferring to stay high in the trees, while our species of dart frog spends nearly all of its time on the rainforest floor. Their daily routines and preferred habitats rarely overlap. If the boa ever did come across one of the frogs, their brilliant blue coloration serves as a warning. In nature, bright colors often signal that an animal is toxic or dangerous to eat a survival strategy known as aposematic coloration. Here's the fun twist, though: our frogs aren't actually poisonous! Poison dart frogs obtain their toxins from eating specific ants and mites in the wild. Because our frogs were captive bred and have spent their lives eating fruit flies, springtails, and other captive-raised invertebrates, they never develop those toxins. That means if one of the frogs accidentally brushed against the snake, she'd be perfectly fine.
We've also welcomed a group of Eastern Blue-striped Garter Snakes to the exhibit floor. While they're new to our guests, we've actually been raising these snakes behind the scenes for almost a year. They may be smaller than many of the other snakes in the reptile room, but they make up for it with endless curiosity and some of the goofiest personalities you'll ever see. Another new arrival is Waldo, our Woma Python. Waldo has plenty of personality, and just a little bit of sass, so it may be a while before he's ready to join our animal encounter schedule. We're also excited to introduce Pepper, our newborn Yellow Anaconda. Pepper came to us from Broadway Zoo after their breeding pair produced a healthy litter of babies. At only a few months old she's still just a youngster, but she's growing quickly. Before long she'll be over eight feet long and one of the largest snakes in the aquarium!
It isn't just our newest animals getting upgrades, either. Several of our longtime residents have moved into newly remodeled permanent homes, including Pinocchio the Rhino Rat Snake, Domino the Northern Pinesnake, and Queso the Corn Snake. Their new exhibits provide more space to explore and better mimic their natural habitats, giving them even more opportunities to display their natural behaviors.
The next time you visit, be sure to stop by the reptile room and check out all of the new additions and renovated exhibits. Whether you're meeting Dwayne for the first time, searching for our emerald tree boa hidden among the branches, or visiting some familiar faces in their upgraded homes, there's always something new to discover at the Topsail Aquarium!