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Ideas for public venomouos displays?
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by CanadianSnakeMan on September 17, 2010
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I recently began managing the reptile collection at a private zoo. I keep all my venomous snakes there but so far, none are on display to the public because in my opinion, the zoo does not have an adequate setup to show them safely.
In Ontario (and Canada) there are no regulations on private zoos and wildlife displays so I don't have anyone like the DNR handing out guidelines or minimum safety requirements for me to go by. All the same, I want to do things properly and safely - this is something I will not compromise on!
The zoo is planning an expansion next year and wants to start showing the venomous collection, so I am looking for people with expertise and experience running or working in zoos with venomous reptile displays to give me some tips and ideas on how best to start this.
Some things we will be doing for sure will be to have seperate locked entrances to access the venomous collection, enclosures that are rear-opening into a venomous only room with no access to the public, all enclosures will be behind tempered glass (the same kind as in sliding glass doors), bite protocols for each species (no brainer) and a medical information card to go with the protocols for each person authorized to handle the hots.
My questions to other zoo keepers are: How is this done where you work? Is there anything that I've forgotten to do or could do better? Were can I find a copy of some of your government regulations on venomous displays?
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RE: Ideas for public venomouos displays?
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by LarryDFishel on September 17, 2010
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Just a couple of thoughts:
1) At least here in Florida, most sliding glass doors are actually "safety glass" (a plastic sheet sandwitched between 2 sheets of tempered glass, like a car windshield). If you can get this, it's probably not a bad idea. That way, even if someone comes in and throws a rock at the glass, the snake's still not getting out (unless it's a really big rock.) Buying sliding glass doors and disassembling them might be the cheapest way to get this if money is an issue. (I bought a bunch of damaged doors for $7 each at HD once). Smaller enclosures might be tough.
2) Make sure that your venomous-only room will not only keep people out, but is sealed to keep snakes in if one escapes an enclosure (see several incidents over the last few years). Also look at your design for any possible points of failure and make sure they lead into the venomous room and not the public side. (Not that there should be ANY points of failure, but you know what I mean.)
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RE: Ideas for public venomouos displays?
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by Buzztail1 on September 17, 2010
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It took me some searching to find this.
Florida's regulations for the housing of venomous reptiles is part of this memo which is available on their www.myfwc.com website.
http://www.myfwc.com/docs/RulesRegulations/Captive_Memo_ReptileAmphibianRegulations.pdf
R/
Karl
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RE: Ideas for public venomouos displays?
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by CanadianSnakeMan on September 17, 2010
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Thanks to both of you. Good info there.
Larry: We have the sliding glass doors (lots of them). The plan was to use the glass from the doors as large horizontal windows into the hot room and to have racks of either vision cages or rear-opening enclosures with their own glass fronts to provide a double layer of glass between people and the snakes.
What are your thoughts on this?
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RE: Ideas for public venomouos displays?
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by LarryDFishel on September 17, 2010
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For safety at least, it's a great idea. That way you can make a single wall between the two areas with no gaps at all.
It may make for a lot of reflections between the layers of glass that could possibly make viewing difficult and photography even worse, but that should be easy to test. It might not be as bad as I'm imagining.
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RE: Ideas for public venomouos displays?
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by CanadianSnakeMan on September 20, 2010
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If all the enclosures had nice flourescent lights inside for better viewing do you think there would still be a problem with glare from outside?
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RE: Ideas for public venomouos displays?
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by CanadianSnakeMan on September 20, 2010
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If all the enclosures had nice flourescent lights inside for better viewing do you think there would still be a problem with glare from outside?
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