Scales Zoo
12-13-04, 04:39 AM
Well, I just finished a tour of the place on Friday morning.
This time of year they don't get many visitors, and I was not expecting the place to be up to the normal standards that it would be in the higher traffic seasons, when people actually come to see it. I should also mention that I did not warn them I was coming, Gary D and I just showed up, out of the blue, on our way to Calgary.
Shawn gave us the grand tour, and answered all of the questiones we posed along the way.
The cages were very clean. I did not see faeces or shed skin in any of them (which for the amount of dipslays they keep, is very amazing for any hour of the day or week). All water bowls were full, fresh and very clean. All large water ponds for the big snakes, aquatic turtles, crocodillians and others... were all crystal clear (except for a wee bit of sediment on the bottom of the niles croc pond (which was being drained, cleaned and refilled while we were there). I'd have expected the well fed reptiles (which all were) to mess the water as soon it was changed, as is what seems to always happen for us at home, and at Scales.
All animals (and I said ALL!) appeared to be very well fed, happy, healthy, warm, and having all necessary conditions met (and then some!). All cages were well labeled and attractively set up.
Talking about it later, the only thing we thought that some visitors may have been concerned about was 1 of 3 ETB's, which was having a wee bit of a bad shed problem. The shed looked as if it should have come off a day or so ago, as it was mostly freed from the body. They were in a backup display enclosre, which appeared to be very adequate for them, as their regular enclosure needed to be resealed at the time. I'd bet one day later that that snake would have been freshly sloughed, and looking just great. All 3 were very nice looking, and I suspect the one large female in the group may be gravid, as I've never seen an ETB so robust in person. Shawn also hopes that she is.
To be very brutally honest, I was not always able to say all of the above good things from past visits (a year or more ago, as I alluded to in an older post), but Dave and Shawn have really made the new place into something very special, and all of the animals seem to be very happy, and were a great pleasure to observe.
Reptile world hosts very well rounded collection for the public, and there were many specimens and displays that had me in awe. I'm sure 90% of most seasoned herpers would agree that it is a total kickass set up. The other 10% should stay home and eat lots of Exlax.
I had my camera in tow, but it had accidentally been left turned on for a day or more, and the batteries were dead when I tried to take a picture of the flying snake. I was very dissapointed, I'd love to have included some pictures to this thread, and there were many very good oportunties for very good pictures of pristine reptiles through the clean glass (I have to wonder if they have a special trick to keep all the glass so clean, as I have found it to be an ongoing battle, never fully won).
Certainly the best reptile display and/or "collection under one roof" I have ever seen in my years.
I really enjoyed the venomous corner (highlights for me were the spitting cobra, gorgeously colored copperhead, very large black mamba (with it's face right near the glass of his hide box - damn batteries!), a huge mangrove and bushmaster, the cerasties, the sidewinder - and all of the rest of the ven's actually)... the large and well branched enclousre (7x6x6) for the boas (which were making very good use of, and caused me to just stand there and watch them climb and cruise around, in what I think had to be very close to their natural fashion), the ETB's (one has to be an amazon basin, huge, tame, very pretty), the large encloures and ponds for the caimens, 600 lb alligator, young nile crocs, saltwater croc and the turtles (all full glass fronted, very good for underwater veiwing). I also really like the largest Sheltopusik I've ever seen (just fricken huge), the big scrub pythons (I really love big scrubs), the big jamaican boa (ablsolutely spectacular specimen), the 18' 200 lb plus burm (biggest one I've ever seen in person), a couple of mossy frogs from asia (looks like real moss, camo's very well), the red tailed green rats... I guess I could just go on and on, and list everything they have - but I plan to go back fairly soon with Sheila, my mom, and charged camera batteries.
I'm very proud to have a display of this calaber so close to us. I'll send all of Scales Zoo visitors there if I can.
If you ever have the chance to be in the area (near south-central Alberta), or if you are now living in Western Canada, and have not yet seen the new place, I really urge you to go check it out - it is truely awesome.
Much has improved with moving to the new place, and I would be very, very proud if it was my own facility to show off. They are able to expand beyond the curent set up, and have some very good ideas for the future. They also have a really great giftstore (as they alway have), so it is good to bring a bit of extra cash along
Sorry for the very long post, hope you got a chance to read the whole thing.
If I ever build a big facility, I'm gonna hire Shawn!
Ryan
This time of year they don't get many visitors, and I was not expecting the place to be up to the normal standards that it would be in the higher traffic seasons, when people actually come to see it. I should also mention that I did not warn them I was coming, Gary D and I just showed up, out of the blue, on our way to Calgary.
Shawn gave us the grand tour, and answered all of the questiones we posed along the way.
The cages were very clean. I did not see faeces or shed skin in any of them (which for the amount of dipslays they keep, is very amazing for any hour of the day or week). All water bowls were full, fresh and very clean. All large water ponds for the big snakes, aquatic turtles, crocodillians and others... were all crystal clear (except for a wee bit of sediment on the bottom of the niles croc pond (which was being drained, cleaned and refilled while we were there). I'd have expected the well fed reptiles (which all were) to mess the water as soon it was changed, as is what seems to always happen for us at home, and at Scales.
All animals (and I said ALL!) appeared to be very well fed, happy, healthy, warm, and having all necessary conditions met (and then some!). All cages were well labeled and attractively set up.
Talking about it later, the only thing we thought that some visitors may have been concerned about was 1 of 3 ETB's, which was having a wee bit of a bad shed problem. The shed looked as if it should have come off a day or so ago, as it was mostly freed from the body. They were in a backup display enclosre, which appeared to be very adequate for them, as their regular enclosure needed to be resealed at the time. I'd bet one day later that that snake would have been freshly sloughed, and looking just great. All 3 were very nice looking, and I suspect the one large female in the group may be gravid, as I've never seen an ETB so robust in person. Shawn also hopes that she is.
To be very brutally honest, I was not always able to say all of the above good things from past visits (a year or more ago, as I alluded to in an older post), but Dave and Shawn have really made the new place into something very special, and all of the animals seem to be very happy, and were a great pleasure to observe.
Reptile world hosts very well rounded collection for the public, and there were many specimens and displays that had me in awe. I'm sure 90% of most seasoned herpers would agree that it is a total kickass set up. The other 10% should stay home and eat lots of Exlax.
I had my camera in tow, but it had accidentally been left turned on for a day or more, and the batteries were dead when I tried to take a picture of the flying snake. I was very dissapointed, I'd love to have included some pictures to this thread, and there were many very good oportunties for very good pictures of pristine reptiles through the clean glass (I have to wonder if they have a special trick to keep all the glass so clean, as I have found it to be an ongoing battle, never fully won).
Certainly the best reptile display and/or "collection under one roof" I have ever seen in my years.
I really enjoyed the venomous corner (highlights for me were the spitting cobra, gorgeously colored copperhead, very large black mamba (with it's face right near the glass of his hide box - damn batteries!), a huge mangrove and bushmaster, the cerasties, the sidewinder - and all of the rest of the ven's actually)... the large and well branched enclousre (7x6x6) for the boas (which were making very good use of, and caused me to just stand there and watch them climb and cruise around, in what I think had to be very close to their natural fashion), the ETB's (one has to be an amazon basin, huge, tame, very pretty), the large encloures and ponds for the caimens, 600 lb alligator, young nile crocs, saltwater croc and the turtles (all full glass fronted, very good for underwater veiwing). I also really like the largest Sheltopusik I've ever seen (just fricken huge), the big scrub pythons (I really love big scrubs), the big jamaican boa (ablsolutely spectacular specimen), the 18' 200 lb plus burm (biggest one I've ever seen in person), a couple of mossy frogs from asia (looks like real moss, camo's very well), the red tailed green rats... I guess I could just go on and on, and list everything they have - but I plan to go back fairly soon with Sheila, my mom, and charged camera batteries.
I'm very proud to have a display of this calaber so close to us. I'll send all of Scales Zoo visitors there if I can.
If you ever have the chance to be in the area (near south-central Alberta), or if you are now living in Western Canada, and have not yet seen the new place, I really urge you to go check it out - it is truely awesome.
Much has improved with moving to the new place, and I would be very, very proud if it was my own facility to show off. They are able to expand beyond the curent set up, and have some very good ideas for the future. They also have a really great giftstore (as they alway have), so it is good to bring a bit of extra cash along
Sorry for the very long post, hope you got a chance to read the whole thing.
If I ever build a big facility, I'm gonna hire Shawn!
Ryan