questions about a zoo

[mr~python]

i've been meening to post this for a long time but i've never got around to it.

i went to the sacremento zoo a few weeks back and of course, (like anyone one here would do) i went to the reptile house. it was pretty cool i saw a rhino ig, some club-tailed igs, and a west-african dwarf croc. i had a question about a few things though. they had a gopher snake and a rattlesnake in the same cage. a collard lizzard, day gecko, and 2 flat tailed tortoises in the same cage. and they had 2 BP's in the same cage with a few leaves as "cover". does that sound right to all you? they also had two sidewinders in the same cage, and two red rattlesnakes in the same cage.

we also went to the little "play-land" across the street cuz of my lil sis, and they had a "gopher", or "desert" toroise. are'nt those endangered, and your not allowed to touch, or much less take one out of the wild?

[Shelby]

Many zoos keep multiple snakes in one cage. It is not the best choice, and I do not know why they do it.

As far as having endangered species.. it's a zoo! lol that's what they're there for, silly.. I'm sure their gopher tortoises are in a captive breeding program.

[mr~python]

but the tortoise want in the zoo. it was in the little kitty park across the street. it was in there "barn" and there was one cage with one gopher tortoise. that's why i was concerned.

[tigerlily]

Just because it's a zoo doesn't mean they are perfect. For example, take the National Zoo in Washington, DC....while trying to poison the mice and rats they accidentally killed their Red Pandas. How very sad.

If you are that concerned, call them.

[Shelby]

Well, I don't know then, perhaps they have a permit to keep the tortoises.