Chinese Alligator
From nose to tail, belly to back, hard scales protect this petite alligator. Even their eyelids have bony plates under the skin!
Mang Mountain Viper
Mang Mountain pit vipers are strikingly beautiful snakes with green scales to help them blend into their bamboo habitat.
King Cobra
The largest venomous snake in the world, the king cobra has special muscles and ribs in its neck that spread out to form a "hood" when it feels threatened.
Galápagos Tortoise
Several of our Galápagos tortoises have been with us since 1928, making them the oldest residents in the Zoo. We estimate their age to be well over 100.
Anaconda
A member of the boa family, South America’s green anaconda is the heaviest snake in the world.
Turtle and Terrapin
Turtles spend most of their life in the water; terrapins spend time both on land and in water, but always live near water, along rivers, ponds, and lakes.
Rattlesnake
That famous rattle at the end of a rattlesnake’s tail is made of interlocking rings, or segments of keratin—the same material our fingernails are made of.