Riverbank Zoo Trip

Hey guys - I recently went on a trip to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia SC. Wanted to share some of the pictures I got! It the picture, then following is the name and a quick bit of information.

Snakes

• Thamnophis sirtalis - Eastern Garter Snake
• Super common and harmless

• Pantherophis guttatus - Corn Snake
• Kill their prey by constriction & consuming anything smaller than their own size, including other corn snakes. 

• Crotalus unicolor- Aruba Island Rattlesnake
• Belongs to the family of vipers, Viperidae
• Found only in Aruba, which is off the coast of Venezuela.

• Bitis arietans - Puff Adder
• Extremely venomous and short-tempered snake.
• Found in southern Africa.

• Agkistrodon contortrix - Copperhead

• Agkistrodon piscivorus - Eastern Cottonmouth
• Makes are known to have a "combat dance" that includes coiling, vibrating and opening its mouth to show the white color inside. 

• Morelia viridis - Green Tree Python
• By far my favorite herp at the zoo!
• Exhibit a wide array of colors, with babies often being maroon or yellow

Turtles

• Chelus fimbriatus - Matamata Turtle
• Located in Northern South America in river basins. One of the largest freshwater turtles.
• By far the "oddest" thing I saw at the Zoo - I would encourage everyone to look up pictures of them feeding - its freaky. 

• Chelonoidis nigra - Galapagos Tortoise
• Juveniles, only 4 years old
• Travel at 0.16 miles per hour

• Centrochelys sulcata - African Spurred Tortoise
• One of the largest tortoises.
• Desert swelling tortoise
• Somehow you can order them online - which is disturbing. 

Others

• Tomistoma schleglii - False Gharial
• Crocodile with a very slender snout believed to be an adaptation to catch fish.
• And yes that is a turtle by its snout! (Freshwater)

• Cyclura lewisi - Grand Cayman Blue Iguana
• Can grow up to 5 feet long, and live as long as humans! 
• Largest native land animal to the Grand Cayman, its the most endangered iguana on earth
• Due to habitat destruction
• There are multiple recovery programs for these reptiles however.

• Uroplatus phantasticus - Leaf tailed Gecko
• Found on African Islands
• Favorite food is spiders
• They have scales (which is hard to see)

• Heloderma suspectum - Gila Monster
• One of only two venomous lizards (Mexican beaded lizard)
• When they bite they chew the venom into their prey via their grooved teeth
• Spend most of their lives hidden below the ground