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Reptile House & Reptile Mesa

How to view Owl Vision: It's easy! Simply hold your mouse button down while scrolling over the image, moving it left, right, up or down. You're now able to get a panoramic view of the exhibit area! Click on the "+" or "-" buttons at the bottom of the frame to zoom in or out. QuickTime plug-in is required. Click here to download for free

Slithery, slimey, and slow

The Reptile House at the San Diego Zoo has delighted and awed visitors for generations. A stroll around its perimeter allows you to safely view an amazing collection of pythons, cobras, boas, tortoises, rattlesnakes, and Gila monsters up close. Because you're on the outside looking in, you're not bothered by the heat and humidity required to maintain some of our reptiles.

Youngsters proudly point out to their parents which creatures are venomous–with the help of a red dot on the appropriate signs! You'll even find rattlesnakes that are native to the San Diego County region, including the largest rattler in our area, the red diamond rattlesnake.

To the west of the Reptile House visitors can meander down Reptile Mesa, pausing to admire Cuban and Anegada rock iguanas. Some of the Zoo’s oldest residents can be found here as well–the Galápagos tortoises. Venture into the smaller Klauber Buildings on the edge of Reptile Mesa to view frogs, toads, salamanders, snake-necked turtles, and the bizarre-looking matamata. Stay a while to watch the gharials–an endangered crocodilian–and Asian turtles swimming in their luxurious pool or sunning themselves on the sandy beach in Reptile Mesa’s newest enclosure.

Reptile Mesa also has all kinds of exotic-looking plants (including, appropriately, dragon trees) from all kinds of remote locations.

Fun facts

• Many of our Galápagos tortoises have been with us since 1928, making them the oldest residents in the Zoo. They arrived here as adults and we estimate their age to be over 100 years old!
• The first reptile the Zoo acquired was a female alligator.
• In 1922 the Zoo's original entrance was through what was known as the Harvester Building, which housed the Zoo's reptile collection.
• The first tuatara breeding colony outside of New Zealand was established at the San Diego Zoo in 1995.
• The gharials' pool is kept at a comfortable 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Celsius).