From: This is South Devon
The Giants of the Amazon exhibit in the zoo's Reptile Tropics hothouse is the new home for its three green anacondas complete with a 3,000-litre pool, a three-metre wide window, and additional underwater viewing at wheelchair height.
Reptiles curator Mike Bungard said: "This is the first of a whole new type of exhibit for Paignton Zoo.
"Rather than focusing on one animal, it's about the ecosystem of the flooded rainforest and what that means to people."
Special lights mimic daylight, giving true colours and helping plants to grow better.
The aquatic plants provide a natural filtration system, working in combination with traditional filtration technology, and provide underwater cover for the snakes.
Fish like cardinal or neon tetras, catfish and hatchet fish, and frog species from the same parts of South America will be introduced in the future.
Mike said: "We want to show how communities rely on the natural fall and rise of the river for food."
The anaconda is one of the top level hunters in this ecosystem and uses the river as its main hunting ground. It is the iconic predator of this habitat, he said.
The green anaconda is a non-venomous South American constrictor living in or close to water and can grow to more than three metres in length.