
Are you ready for a thrilling search? Forget what you know about hide and seek, because today we’re playing “Snake and Seek.” Throughout this adventure, you’ll discover incredible serpents all around the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park while learning how crucial these reptiles are to their ecosystems. There’s nothing to fear here, so let’s see what lies in wait.
Angolan pythons are constrictors, meaning they wrap themselves around their prey.
San Diego Zoo
Just as their native habitats are found across the far reaches of the globe, snakes are located throughout the Zoo’s varied ecosystems. You’ll begin your search at the Klauber-Shaw Reptile House, where there’s something ssssensational every place you look. Discover cobras, boas, pit vipers, pythons, and more as they weave through branches or blend into their surroundings. Snakes are constantly experiencing the world around them—just like us. Whether you’re a snake enthusiast or squirm at the thought of them, you’ll leave with a new appreciation for these intriguing species and their unique abilities.
After you pass through the entrance of Reptile Walk, you can come face to face with snakes, frogs, tortoises, gharials, and more fascinating species.
Following your visit to the Reptile House, head over to Reptile Walk. This serene stroll highlights fascinating amphibians and reptiles including various species of snakes native to California. Along this pathway, it’s easy to recognize the grand diversity of our home and theirs: the Southwest. A few of the species we live alongside that you’ll find include coastal rosy boas, Baja California rat snakes, San Diego gopher snakes, and more. Kingsnakes are some of the most widespread snakes in the United States, and here you can come face-to-face with two, California kingsnakes and San Diego mountain kingsnakes. They’re each recognizable by the bands on their scales; can you use their coloration to tell them apart?
Level two of Cool Critters offers endless discovery for wildlife explorers of all ages.
To continue your winding adventure, head to the second level of Cool Critters in Wildlife Explorers Basecamp. Inside you’ll be transported to an interactive science lab. Uncover the mysteries of reptile and amphibian skeletal systems, then peek into a room where reptile eggs are being incubated. Dig into how the boas, womas, and pythons at Cool Critters are each distinctive and perfectly suited for their environments.
On first glance, you might miss this Mang Mountain pit viper blending into the rocks and foliage at Panda Ridge.
Time for a “pit” stop. No visit to the Zoo is complete without saying hello to giant pandas Xin Bao and Yun Chuan. But as you wander through the dynamic Panda Ridge, examine your surroundings a little closer. You may find something unexpected: opposite these beloved bears are Mang Mountain pit vipers. With mesmerizing green and brown scales, they camouflage into the forest floor as they move across it. And when they rest, they shelter in caves and under rock ledges, so take a careful look around and see if you can spot them.
Next on your journey are the wonders of Elephant Odyssey. When you enter from the area closest to Africa Rocks, you’ll first see the resilient, remarkable California condor. Beside these vultures are sneaky sunbathers that will make it loud and clear if you’re too close. Which species of rattlesnakes do you notice? Don’t be fooled by any imposters in the area, a striking metal statue perched on a rock may throw you off the search.
Southern Pacific rattlesnakes are the most common rattlesnake species in San Diego.
Here, there’s a red diamond rattlesnake, Southwestern speckled rattlesnake, and Southern Pacific rattlesnake—all native to the Southwest. Rattlesnakes have an intriguing adaptation that sets them apart: they don’t lay eggs! Female rattlesnakes are ovoviviparous, which means their egg sacs are incubated within the mother. The young emerge fully developed, except for their rattles. When rattlesnakes shed, a new section forms at the base of their tails, so a few weeks after birth, youngsters shed their skin for the first time, and their rattle is revealed. Can you make out the different segments on these snakes’ rattles?
San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Slither into one central location to connect with snakes at the Safari Park. At Nairobi Station in Nairobi Village, you’ll find Angolan pythons, Madagascar tree boas, and womas. Pythons and boas are both constrictors but have some key distinctions. Like rattlesnakes, boas give birth to live young, while pythons lay eggs.
Womas are endemic to Australia.
Pythons are found in Africa, Asia, and Australia while boas inhabit ecosystems a hemisphere away in North, Central, and South America. So how do womas compare? They’re actually a type of python from the shrublands of Australia. But unlike other pythons, they lack the heat-sensing pits along their lips, typically used to track prey by sensing body temperature.
Just beyond the Safari Park's sprawling savannas and immersive experiences is an area not open to guests, but which still depends on allies like you. The Biodiversity Reserve encompasses and protects about one thousand acres of native coastal sage scrub and chaparral habitat. Rustling among the brush and curling up against rocks in this critical wildlife corridor are red diamond rattlesnakes. Located within a crucial part of their range, the Biodiversity Reserve is a hotspot for San Diego’s largest rattlesnake species. In collaboration with our partners, we’re utilizing new technology to gain insights into their behavior and relationships with other wildlife. This data informs conservation decisions and helps us protect them through our Southwest Conservation Hub.
Western gaboon vipers are easily identifiable by the "horns" on top of their nose.
Snakes are easy to distinguish from other reptiles and are quite flexible—in the ways they move and where they live. Found on every continent except Antarctica, these reptiles inhabit every type of landscape imaginable from dense forests to vast deserts and even open water. They’re vital to sustaining balance in the food chain and helping control rodent populations. Next time you encounter one of these beautiful, but often misunderstood predators at the Zoo and Safari Park, admire them for a second longer. They just might surprise you.
Celebrate Lunar New Year and welcome in the Year of the Snake by seeking out these slender friends at the Safari Park. Through February 12, enjoy flavorful culinary specialties with our unique seasonal offerings. Discover what you make possible for wildlife, including snakes, through our Asia Conservation Hub.
Explore how you’re making a difference for snakes, including Mang Mountain pit vipers and red diamond rattlesnakes, across our eight Conservation Hubs.