Reptiles in Jail Until Aquarium Opens

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By Associated Press

Published: 06/16/2003

Until their new home in the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium is done, a zoo full of snakes, reptiles and amphibians are making themselves at home in the old county jail in Dubuque, Iowa.
'We have about 45 snakes,' said Brian Lex, one of four full-time aquarists with the museum and aquarium.
While the museum's William Woodward River Discovery Center is built, husbandry staff members, called aquarists, care for the animals, housed throughout the basement of the old jail.
The fish, reptiles and amphibians will be moved before the aquarium's opening on June 28. In the meantime, tanks and small aquariums line the basement's halls.
Lex and the other aquarists stroll from room to room, checking water, performing maintenance on tanks and checking snakes for signs of shedding.
Although shedding is a natural process for snakes, aquarists like to keep tabs on it because of its effect on diet and other factors, Lex said.
Aquarium curator Lee Jackson said aquarists are often the first to notice a change in an animal's health.
'They're the reason the animals are alive,' Jackson said. 'They provide the basic care.'
Lex, a Hempstead High School graduate, earned a degree last year from the University of Dubuque with a double major in biology and environmental sciences.
Lex studied in Alaska and Australia and planned to move out of Iowa to start his career. He had interned at the museum, however, and knew of the expansion plans.
'It was just the right opportunity and the right time to come along,' said Lex, who joined the staff two months ago.
Now, he cares for turtles, snakes, frogs and alligators, preparing them for the move to the center.
'I never thought I would be working with alligators in Dubuque,' he said.

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