SNAKES ALIVE!

About two miles east of Monroe is a Serpentarium. They have an albino alligator, several albino snakes, beautiful iguanas, lizards, a skink or two, chameleons, and many signs DO NOT TOUCH, I BITE. So many signs about biting drive the message that most reptiles DO bite. The facility houses the 10 most deadly snakes in the world with the black mamba being the deadliest. They have all been devenomized.
This reptile zoo has little of the restlessness typical of mammal zoos. These critters, according to the signs, are less refined. They are quiet, sleep a lot, they are well fed and don't "pace" or seem restless. I actually question that asumption, though. My kids always liked snakes and lizards and over the years we've housed a number of them. They all wanted to escape. I watched the lizard above with the prominent claws and he was definitely trying to get out.
Even so, it is an educational place and worth a visit. Upon request, the help will allow you to handle the snakes.
I liked that the facility is clean as referenced in the picture above with the bucket of detergent. A worker was in the cage cleaning as I went by.
In acquariums, the fins of various big water mammals get soft from misuse. I once saw a giant phython in the wilds of Africa. In fact we ran over it with our range rover and the giant simply flinched as 6000 pounds bounced over it. I did notice that the phythons curled in their cages have very flaccid muscles.
Their coloring is beautiful and if you are afraid of them in the wild, this is an excellent place to appreciate nature's paintbrush.
For a slideshow of 40 photos, click on the link below.

http://picasaweb.google.com/1579penn/SERPENTARIUM#