Last week, we had a play date at The Reptile Zoo. Once we got inside, the kids all gathered around a pond and wanted to feed the animals. For $3.25, you can choose between worms to feed the animals in the pond or a bag of veggies to feed the tortoises. I let my kids decide, and both chose the animals in the pond. You can see a picture of them picking them up with tongs and the animals swimming up to them. You can also feed lettuce to tortoises.

Shortly after, we attended an hour presentation in the private Congo Room where Aaron showed us the various animals that live at The Reptile Zoo. He also brought them over one at a time so that we can pet them. Seeing the animals up close was not so scary. I’ve highlighted a few below. Cornflake the Corn snake is from North America and originally bread to help with rodents in the corn fields. We’re trying to get our kids to pet Buddy the Ball Python. The kids were fascinated with Spike the Bearded Dragon. Jabba the African Bull Frog felt rubbery. We met Bob the Burmese Python. They have about 10 of them at the zoo. Champ the Black & White Tegu from Argentine can be potty trained. Rocky the African Spur-Thigh Tortoise is 30 years old and weighs about 45 lbs. I was especially amazed looking at its spurs. Leo the Leopard Gecko can voluntarily detach it’s tail. It was all about the hands-on experience.

Overall, I thought it was a great hands-on and educational experience for both kids and adults. After the presentation, we walked around to see the other reptiles. You can see more in my photo gallery here. You might be familiar with The Reptile Zoo as they make appearances at The OC Fair and birthday parties. They come to you and they travel. Their facility is located in Fountain Valley. They have a ton of animals to make a great couple of hours of a visit for a play date or even birthday parties.