News Archive

Three new Home’s hinge-back tortoises recently made their debut at the Reptile Discovery Center! Get the scoop on these totally awesome tortoises from animal keeper Sara Hasenstab.

For four years, the Reptile Discovery Center’s Asian water dragon female lived alone. Then, while examining eggs as part of a study, animal keepers made a shocking discovery—one was fertile! How could a female lay a fertile egg without a mate? They turned to the Smithsonian Conservation Biology...

Life found a way at Smithsonian’s National Zoo, where a female Asian water dragon at the Reptile Discovery Center underwent facultative parthenogenesis—that is, she reproduced and contributed a healthy, thriving offspring to her species despite never breeding with a male or receiving genetic...

Happy salamander Saturday! This annual holiday honoring these amazing amphibians takes place on the first Saturday in May. To celebrate, we’re counting down animal keeper Matt Neff’s top six favorite salamander facts! Stop by the Reptile Discovery Center’s Jewels of Appalachia exhibit to see these...

In Myanmar, reptiles are rapidly disappearing but rescue facilities across the country, supported by the Turtle Survival Alliance, are working to save them. Reptile Discovery Center assistant curator Matt Evans traveled to these facilities to help his colleagues care for and reintroduce rare...

Hop on down to the Reptile Discovery Center to see the Zoo’s newest—and most colorful—creatures: red-eyed tree frogs! Get the scoop on the Zoo’s amazing amphibians from assistant curator Matt Evans.

Reptile Discovery Center staff at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo are mourning the loss of Alex, an elderly male Aldabra tortoise who was humanely euthanized Aug. 7. At the time of his death, animal care staff estimated Alex to be about 100 years old.

In honor of National Zookeeper Week, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is featuring some of the dedicated professionals who go above and beyond for the animals in our care.

Tentacled snakes are masters of hiding in plain sight. This species is so stealthy that Reptile Discovery Center staff were surprised to discover three babies in their exhibit last December. What makes this aquatic snake so unique? In this Q&A, animal keeper Erin Stewart shares some of her favorite...

What animal has the ability to see in two directions at once, changes colors depending on its mood and can catch its prey with a flick of the tongue? Reptile Discovery Center keepers welcomed a brand new species, the Meller’s chameleon, into their care in June. What’s makes this species so unique...

Shell-ebration is in order for the Reptile Discovery Center, where two critically endangered Bourret’s box turtles hatched for the first time in the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s history. This conservation success was more than a decade in the making for animal keeper Lauren Augustine, who manages...

Keepers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo are celebrating a conservation success five years in the making: a pair of Bourret’s box turtle hatchlings.

It's nesting season. In April, the Reptile Discovery Center's Cuban crocodile Blanche built up a large mound nest. She constructed the nest by kicking up the mulch in the exhibit into a central location.

Venture into the Reptile Discovery Center and find more than 70 species, including crocodilians, snakes, lizards, turtles, frogs and salamanders, among others. Follow keepers Kyle Miller and Matt Neff as they train, enrich and care for some of the most charismatic (and dangerous) animals at the...

In March, female Cuban crocodile Rose underwent a series of tests to determine if she is still capable of producing healthy eggs. It all began with an egg — a perfectly smooth, white, oval-shaped, normally-sized egg — that Rose laid two months early. Nesting season for Cuban crocodiles does not...

Keepers at the Reptile Discovery Center, including animal keeper Lauren Augustine, are upholding that proud tradition with ground-breaking research on social behavior, reproduction and play in a species not typically associated with any of those words: a crocodile.