Malmö Reptile Center

Malmö Reptile Center
This was my first visit here, and honestly I didn’t really know what to expect. I’d heard they sometimes keep some rare reptiles, but that was about it. From the outside, the building doesn’t exactly signal “interesting animal collection”, and it feels a bit aged.

Once inside, the collection turned out to be surprisingly good.

As the name suggests, it’s very reptile-focused, with a wide range of snakes, lizards, turtles, amphibians, and invertebrates. They also keep some other animals like birds, monkeys, and squirrels. Species-wise, it’s stronger than you might expect, with several rarities. Highlights for me included diamond python (Morelia spilota spilota), striped mud turtle (Kinosternon baurii), Baracoa anole (Anolis baracoae), and Italian fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra gigliolii). One real surprise was the Ghanese keeled water skink (Cophoscincopus simulans), which according to Zootierliste doesn’t seem to be displayed anywhere else in the world.

After passing through the small gift shop, you enter a long corridor-like room with terrariums on both sides and a few in the middle. This is where most of the reptiles are housed. Off to the left, there’s a side room with more reptiles, plus a few other species like common mynas (Acridotheres tristis tristis) and squirrels.

At the end of the corridor, a door leads into a larger, more open room with a higher ceiling. Here you’ll find free-ranging Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) and monkeys, along with larger wall exhibits holding a mix of reptiles, amphibians, and primates.
From this room, you can also access an outdoor section, with additional exhibits for reptiles, birds, and monkeys, surrounded by plenty of plants.

The whole place has a bit of an old-school feel, and yes, it shows its age in parts. But it also has a certain charm, and the species selection makes it well worth a visit. If you’re into reptiles, or just like seeing uncommon species you don’t run into very often, Malmö Reptile Center is definitely worth checking out.