Tierpark Chemnitz: Spring awakening with the adders
With the rising temperatures at the beginning of spring, the adders at Chemnitz Zoo are also becoming active again. After spending the winter resting in a frost-free cave in the outdoor terrarium, the males are the first to emerge in the spring sunshine. The females follow one to three weeks later.
Because adders, like all snakes, are reptiles and are cold-blooded, they lie in the sun for many hours every day in the first few weeks after winter to warm up their bodies. To do this, they widen their body surface to catch as much sunlight as possible. When the weather is right, this behaviour can be observed at the zoo.
Last year, the zoo added the adder, a particularly exciting native species, to its population. For this purpose, an outdoor terrarium was built in which the snakes can be kept all year round under near-natural conditions. The adder is certainly one of the native animal species that most people recognise by name, but few have ever seen in the wild.
Opening hours in April:
Zoo: 9 am to 7 pm, last admission 6 pm
Game enclosure: 8 am to 6 pm, last admission 5 pm
(Registration is currently required.)