Spring Happenings

It’s an exciting time of year at Reptiland, the time of year we as a staff come to anticipate. This is the time that we welcome not only warm breezes and new blossoms, but also the opening of our seasonal exhibits. The planning starts earlier than you might think; before the end of 2011 was in sight, we had committed to bringing back the dinosaur exhibit. . . and making it even more impressive than before! Along with some new dinos, we will welcome back some favorites including Tyrannosaurus rex, Dilophosaurus, Euoplocephalus, our Parasaurolophus nest, and Chasmosaurus. New dinos you should keep an eye out for: an adult Parasaurolophus photo opportunity, Baryonyx, a pair of hunting Coelophysis, and a juvenile T. rex. All in all, we’ll have twelve dinosaurs on display from April 28 through Labor Day. Several dinosaurs will even remain at Reptiland permanently, allowing visitors to view them year round.

But that’s not all we’ve been up to… a few months ago, we placed our annual butterfly plant order. These carefully selected plants have been raised under the special care of the gardeners at Ashcombe Farms greenhouse near Mechanicsburg. It is essential that the plants are grown free of pesticides and harmful chemicals in order to be safe for the captivating butterflies that will soon live off of their nectar. The butterfly exhibit plants were delivered, transferred and planted into our butterfly greenhouse last week. By the middle of April, we will begin receiving our first shipments of butterfly chrysalis. We work with several butterfly farms in order to exhibit many different species, all native to North America. The butterflies are sent to us in the chrysalis stage and take anywhere from 5 to 10 days to emerge into an adult butterfly. Once a butterfly emerges it will, on average, live for about two weeks. The butterfly exhibit is a very relaxing place to stroll through and has been a favorite for guests over the past several years.

The butterfly exhibit, along with Dinosaurs Come to Life will be opening on April 28, 2012. Again this year, we will treat our members and exhibit sponsors to an exclusive preview night, to be held from 4-7 pm on Friday, April 27th. The exhibits open to the general public the following day, Saturday, April 28^th.