The Main Outdoor Vivarium - the pond

The main vivarium also contains a substantial pond which is shown here. This year, as can be seen, it developed an excess of duckweed. Nevertheless a number of amphibians share the vivarium happily with the lizards mentioned in the previous page. One of them, a Pool Frog (Rana lessonae), of which there are 14 adults can be seen sitting beside the pond just to the left of centre. There are also Smooth Newts (Triturus vulgaris), Palmate Newts (Triturus helveticus), Alpine Newts (Triturus alpestris), Oriental Fire Bellied Toads (Bombina orientalis), European Fire Bellied Toads (Bombina bombina) and Yellow Bellied Toads (Bombina variegata) all breed successfully and regularly. There are also two Natterjack Toads (Bufo calamita) but conditions are not quite right for them to breed.

 

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