[…] because she believed with the natives of the district that if a woman killed a snake she would give birth to a monster, she took pains to leave the pests alone, so that the house, being in a region over-run with snakes, was often like a reptilarium.
Source: wiktionary
There were going to be large numbers of Japanese aircraft: "Probably in excess of one hundred," the skinny, bespectacled, school-teacherish Navy full Lieutenant intelligence Officer had announced at the most recent briefing, sounding as bored as a guide in the Atlanta Zoo telling visitors about the wonders they could find in the reptilarium.
Source: wiktionary
2011, The Rough Guide to Las Vegas, Rough Guides, Penguin Random House, Chapter 7, https://books.google.ca/books?id=x6Or6O122_sC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Besides displays on the geology and history of the region, the centre provides an introduction to local wildlife, with reptilariums holding live rattlesnakes.
Source: wiktionary