Houston has a new generation of wildlife stars, and they are smaller than your thumb! The Houston Zoo has kicked off spooky season with some of the cutest arrivals of the year: a brand-new batch of baby reptiles, several of them born for the very first time in the zoo’s history.
Among the tiny newcomers are the zoo’s first-ever Hosmer’s spiny-tailed skinks, adorable Henkel’s leaf-tailed geckos, five healthy eyelash pit viper babies, and — a fan favorite — baby star tortoises, whose shell patterns really do look like little stars. No two shells are exactly alike, and each one changes as the tortoise grows.
These births are much more than a cuteness explosion. Many of the babies arrived through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan, a carefully managed breeding program that helps protect reptiles for future generations. Expert animal care teams are behind every milestone.
The little ones can already be visited! They live in a special habitat inside the zoo’s Reptile and Amphibian House, right next to the reticulated pythons — the perfect stop for families exploring the zoo this fall.
From live-bearing vipers with scales that look like eyelashes to skinks born as miniature versions of their parents, Houston’s smallest new residents are ready for their big debut.
Photo: Houston Zoo
