Hello all. This is Michael Perret, an American volunteer at Herpaworld. ive been in the philippines since october 2, 2006, working as a volunteer a big, private reptile zoo, conservation, rescue and breeding center in puerto galera, oriental mindoro, philippines. im still here. i work 63 hours in 6 days every week. its hard work, but rewarding. the website for the zoo is www.herpaworld.com .
there are over 1000 animals here at the zoo, almost all reptiles, and from more than 120 species. some are common, but others are extremely rare in captivity and the wild. i started a LOOONG post yesterday with many more details, but i lost my internet and the post before it was submitted, which pissed me off quite a bit. so this post has minimal details and i will explain more later.
we have soo many species here, many of the snakes and other reptiles are native to the philippines or at least southeast asia, but we do have tons of species from all over the world. many are endangered and mario, the german owner (and a great guy), can keep them because although he recieves no financial sepport from the government, he works closely with them. any time a shipment of smuggled reptiles gets confiscated in the philippines they call mario and ask him to take them in.
the greatest number of snakes here are philippine cobras (3 species plus philippine king cobras) and philippine arboreal pit vipers (tons of species/subspecies)...we also have all kinds of water monitors, tree monitors, and different crocodilians. although ive taken a million pics here, im going to be lazy and put up mostly pics that mario took. all the photos are of animals owned by herpaworld. i know all the scientific names (and most of the common names), but some of these species are rare and cool (and im lazy) so i will let everyone try to guess the species first. ill tell you later...
the vast majority of snakes at the zoo are venomous species and ALL are hot, no venomoid snakes here. because we have so many venomous species here, we dont keep any antivenins (except for Naja philippinensis) because we'd have to keep so many. the simple rule is: "don't get bitten by the venomous snakes, or youre probably going to die." i work mostly with the non-wenomous snakes and other reptiles, but have hard the opportunity to change an occasional bothrops or tropidolaemus box. it is intense actually. mostly im just watching the hot handling and learning (or hook handling the insanely mean wc philippine boiga dendrophila myself). normally i stick to the boids, colubrids and things.
later, i will tell you a little about our breeding programs, which are rather impressive in some aspects. there is one monitor here that we are the ONLY people to have bred healthy babies in captivity in the world! two years in a row. and groups of them were sold to zoos in cali and texas...
im still here at herpaworld in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines after 7 months volunteering. Everything is going well here. Sometimes running a reptile zoo in the Philippines is complicated but i think we are on the right track. here is the link to the website and we've made tons of updates lately with pics and all sorts of general species info and caresheets for all sorts of venomous and non-venomous snakes and other reptiles from around the world!
we do a lot of special things here, for example, we are the only people in the world who have EVER bred Varanus olivaceus in captivity and we've had two successful clutches. we sold groups of olivaceous babies in 2006 to the American Zoo Assoc.
we also were the first people in the world to ever breed Parias mcgregori in captivity and have had many healthy clutches. we have more individual mcgregor's in captivity here at the zoo than everywhere else in captivity in the world combined.
we have successfully bred Varanus prasinus in captivity.
we actually have more different species of reptiles here at the Paradise Reptile Zoo than any other collection in Asia!
we are basically a zoo, rescue and conservation center and also breed many reptiles, but we dont sell any animals on the site so i think a direct link to the site is ok with the management! CHECK it OUT. its so much easier for me to link you to the pics than put them up myself!
im quite excited because in the end of may we will be receiving a shipment of snakes from germanythat mario, my boss, the owner of herpaworld, already has in his collection overseas. Its especially cool for me because im the non-vemomous guy here at the zoo and many of the snakes we are getting will be constrictors. i will update what new snakes we get when they arrive!
but you all seriously need to check out all the pics on the website! please note that all photos included are under copyright, even those without watermark.
please note that all photos included are under copyright, even those without watermark.
so, i'll link just a few pics from the website... if you will, a little "guess the species," scientific name
these snakes are all owned by Herpaworld and almost all are members of breeding groups or juvies of future breeding groups!
Welcome herpworld! I am glad to have you! Great explanation of evertthing and i am so excited to learn from you! Wroking in a zoo has always been a dream job i have wanted. Unfortunatley the zoo is about 1hr from me with no traffic at all. LOL
ALL the pics are gorgeous! I love the last snake he is my favorite. Not sure what it is as i am not in with all venomous snakes, i do want at sometime in my life a gaboon viper and an eyelash viper. My bf had a green eyelash viper. They are just so hot, i just don't want to get bite at all! LOL Or have it escape, for that matter! haha
Keep the pics and info flowing! I love it and am so glad to have you! Welcome!
yes leolady, its great working here. but even though im the rodent breeding and non-venomous supervisor and primary tour guide here, im only a volunteer (63 hours a week for 7 months now). Dont let a 1 hour commute stop you from exploring your work opportunities at a zoo. I travelled from Boston to the Philippines, the direct opposite side of the world, for a chance to volunteer here! dont limit yourself!
bye the way, we do have both Bitis gabonica and Bothriechis schlegelii here at the zoo.
the last pic is a Parias mcgregori, or Batanes pit viper, only found on 2 small islands in the philippines. Paradise reptile zoo was the first people in the world to breed the species successfully in captivity.
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