Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I was wondering if there are any zoos etc. displaying Bushmasters in the vicinity of Tampa Bay or south of there closer to Sarasota?

Any other good herp related viewing in those areas I'd be happy to hear about as well.

Thankyou for any help.

The only zoo in Florida with bushmasters (L. muta) is Jacksonville.

Oddly, it also only lists 3 zoos in the country holding L. stenophrys.(Gladys Porter, San Diego and St. Louis).

MCH

Is Ripa's facility AZA certified? If so, it seems silly that they would omit him, as he has one of, if not the, largest collection of captive bushmasters.

No, its not. AZA accreditation(and I hate to get into this thread again, it was beaten to death a few weeks ago)....is a 6 month process and isn't necessarily the best path for small specialized zoos. For Cape Fear, I don't see it of being much benefit, given a good portion of zoos have gotten their bushmasters from Dean, so its not that they don't regard CFS as a top notch facility.

As I stated somewhere before(maybe it was another forum), AZA accreditation doesn't mean the facility can keep bushmasters alive. There are some facilities out there, that have lost quite a few for various reasons.

MCH

Hi Matt,

I was in no way insinuating that an AZA accreditation denoted the quality of care the facility provides it's animals...case in point, the zoo in El Paso, TX, is an AZA zoo and is a piece of crap. They shouldn't be allowed to display goldfish there.

I've never visited Cape Fear, but I have no doubts from what I've heard and the pictures that I've seen that it is a top-notch facility that trumps what most big zoos have by a longshot.

My inquiry regarding AZA accreditation was merely because I figured those ISIS stats were only taken from AZA zoos...therefore, by Ripa's facility not being accredited, his collection would not be counted in the captive Lachesis census. I'm guessing the reason Ripa's collection was not mentioned in the ISIS database is due to his lack of AZA accreditation.

ISIS data is NEVER up to date.
Lot's of zoo's simply don't have the time to update animal arrivals/departures.
Other zoo's do not wish to participate in ISIS.
It is not mandatory for zoo's to do so.
Randal

..looking to see if the Houston Zoo had updated their number of Bothriechis nigroviridis. They had 1.1, a male died, I loaned them a male in September, it died in December. ISIS now lists 0.1 for their B.nigroviridis stock.

So I assumed it's somewhat up to date. It also lists the nigroviridis births at San Antonio from last fall, so one could assume that at least some of the zoos try to stay up to date.

True, some zoo registrars update, but I can guarantee that most do not.

I sorta disagree with your statement about muta' and melanocephala being a little more promblematic to adjust in captivity though.
The muta' I have worked/husbanded, were as hardy as stenophrys that I have kept. Granted all of the muta' I had were wild-caught, but once they were established, they were ever bit as hardy as the stenophrys.
I have never worked melanocephala's, so I cannot comment on that. I have seen Earl Turners hybrids though, (I think they were hybrids) and they were heavy bodied animals, looks like they never missed a meal. LOL!

RB

Could be individual snakes, but in general, the mutas(3 cb, 1 WC) I've had were more nervous, than the stenophrys(7 or so, all CB). The hybrid I have is pretty mellow to work with in the daytime (in fact I've used it at lectures, and it is very calm) but feeding time for all, is just plain hairy.

Yeah, that's true. It isn't. I was still surprised, though, that only 3 zoos had stenophrys, given they seem to be easier to acclimate and don't stress as easy as muta, or melanocephala.

MCH

Most zoos that have lachesis are directly or inderectly from cb offspring from Dallas. Thus they are L.muta

-Ruston

Many of the mutas are from Dallas, my point was a substantial portion of zoos have gotten other Lachesis from him,but yeah, the majority of mutas came from Dallas(as did one of mine, indirectly).

MH

Most lachesis in zoos are L. muta related directly or indirectly from Dallas animals.

-Ruston

FYI

Being listed on ISIS has nothing to do with being AZA either. ISIS is a pay service that each institution must pay to be a part of. Some AZA zoos are not on ISIS and some non-AZA inst are in ISIS.

-Ruston