Reptile keeper sounds like a dangerous job. Working with hundred of deadly snakes and lizards along with an assortment of geckos, turtles, chameleons, and iguanas that would rather not be touched, right? Ken Morgan, senior keeper, Reptile Department, assured us that he would not be in this field if he thought that there was any real threat. Why then is there a snake bite alarm that runs through the entire department and a refrigerator full of every rare and expensive antivenin (antidote for serious stings, bites, or wounds)? Just as a precaution. In this field there is potential for injury and wounds, but they come few and far between.

Though Mr. Morgan has worked in the Reptile Department at the Zoo for nearly six years as a keeper, he did not start out caring for these scaly creatures. Mr. Morgan started being a mammal keeper at the Toronto Zoo in Canada, after graduating from the University of Saskatchewan with a bachelor’s degree in biology. Then he worked at a zoo in Fort Worth, Texas, then at one in Columbus, Ohio, and finally ended up at the San Diego Zoo. This may seem like a long path to follow in order to end up at the San Diego Zoo, but the more experience an applicant has for a keeper job, the better his or her chances are of being hired.

Mr. Morgan thoroughly enjoys working with reptiles, and while on the backstage tour he gave us, he explained that unlike some keepers at the Zoo he has the opportunity to work with hundreds of animals, big, small, poisonous, harmless, fast, slow, colorful, and plain. Also, with all of these different animals he is able to design an enclosure to fit each specifically and change them as often as he likes.

With our behind-the-scenes tour guide, we moved from room to room seeing what the reptile enclosures really look like. From the outside they seem to be simple tanks with a few animals in each, and it is assumed that this is all there is. However, just on the other side of the wall there is a heated or cooled corridor with other specimens used for display, breeding, and research. Each corridor is kept at a different temperature. The one that houses the Fiji iguanas is kept at 80 degrees Fahrenheit, while the corridor that holds the Brother’s Island tuatara is kept below 70 degrees Fahrenheit. These different temperatures are used in order to emulate the conditions of the reptiles’ natural habitat. This may seem like a simple and unnecessary detail; however, reptiles are unable to regulate their body temperature so they must be kept at specific temperatures or else their body will become too cool or too warm, hindering the animals’ ability to reproduce or affecting their ability to digest food.

Not only does Mr. Morgan clean the enclosures of the animals and feed them their exotic diets, he also plays a role in the conservation efforts. Toward the end of our tour we were introduced to the Zoo’s Komodo dragon, Ruby. After he told us that these animals can grow to be six feet or more in length, and that they can kill and eat water buffalo, Mr. Morgan informed us that he will be traveling to the Indonesian island of Komodo to aid the efforts of a field researcher in evaluating the wild population. Tim Jessop, Millenium postdoctoral fellow with the San Diego Zoo’s Conservation and Research for Endangered Species (CRES) program, has been conducting a census of the Komodo dragons. Click here to learn more about this project.

Mr. Morgan enjoys working with the reptiles, from the color changing chameleons to the Fly river turtles and poisonous and powerful monitor lizards. He advises anyone that hopes to someday work as a keeper at the San Diego Zoo to get a good education and as much experience as possible, volunteering at veterinary hospitals or working at smaller zoos across the country. And to have an adventurous spirit, while being as safe and careful as possible working with animals!

Contributed by Lindsey – Zoo InternQuest Careers Team

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