Police found 100 snakes, 70 tortoises and 20 frogs in a hotel room in the western German city of Cologne, local media said on Sunday.
The discovery was made Friday after a hotel employee saw a snake on a stairway and alerted the police, a police spokesman said.
Police checked the room occupied by three Chinese nationals and found the animals in their luggage.
The Chinese were arrested on suspicion of animal trafficking and later released on a bail of several thousand euros.
The creatures were taken to a zoo in Cologne where they have yet to be identified by species.