Alligator Sanctuary — Attraction in Athens Township

Seems like they do decent with the alligators, I go every year but was highly disappointed when I went early on last spring to find they had sulcatas outside in less than 60 degree weather. Everyone that owns one knows it’s too cold for them at that point. One was dead in the enclosure, probably already for days because it had deeply sunken eyes and was stiff as a board. A worker came by and threw food in their enclosure without even noticing. Not fond of the idea that a “sanctuary” can’t meet basic requirements for their animals and doesn’t even notice when they’re showing a dead animal for days.

Update as of 2024: Went back for another visit because a friend wanted to go and I heard they updated the facility. This time they had a turtle with a very obvious respiratory infection floating sideways in the pond that seemed to be just barely clinging to life. Again I am an amateur reptile keeper noticing these things and these are supposed to be professionals that rescue their intake and provide sanctuary. I get if they can’t afford to vet every animal but that turtle should have been dry docked at the very least. It might’ve had a chance. The tour passed by it and stood there for several minutes so I’m quite sure the guide at least saw it, and I didn’t want to say something to the guide myself in front of all the kids like “hey that turtle is obviously dying” but these infections don’t kill them overnight and I’m sure someone else noticed previously. I went to check on it at the end of the visit and it looked dead by that point. So beyond...

Um, yes!!!! If you're wondering if you should kill a few hours and $20-$150 (and $150 I'm talking average family feeding all animals, encounters and the whole gift shop, this place is not outrageous on prices) the answer is absolutely you should!!! Probably my favorite thing we did on vacation just because it was so cool and we learned so much!

Staff was amazing, how did you guys find the most friendly, entertaining, knowledgeable people?? The only one who wasn't was the lady doing the animal encounters. But she wasn't rude, just quiet and reserved. Luckily we saw the corn snake Casper for our encounter and there was a little girl in the gift shop with another snake named Peaches who let my girls pet her and was a lot more friendly and informative so we left more educated on snakes, anyways!

Almost every single thing was accessible with my stroller. There were two viewing areas that were not but I was able to see everything anyone on the upper level could just not top down. I did not mind.

We went today, a Saturday in late July, around 1 pm and it was not too busy, no wait to get in and no wait at the encounters. The lot looked packed when we got there but it was totally fine and I hate crowds.

Overall amazing place with high...

We had our first visit this weekend and enjoyed it. I felt that the gators (and croc) were well taken care of. The staff was knowledgeable and friendly. For the most part, it was what we expected in an alligator sanctuary in Athens. It was a slower day, and late in the season, but they made sure to have a Godzilla show for those in the park. It seems like they even made sure to make all guests aware of the show starting. My only complaints would be the cost of the extras - after spending almost $50 to get in, I couldn't justify another $15-20 to feed the gators. Also, the encounters were quite pricey. One of the guides did let our niece touch a tortoise, though, and she was over the moon about it. The park wasn't super stroller friendly, but we did fine with two adults and trading who went up the stairs with the older kids. I can imagine keeping up with landscaping and animal husbandry is just about impossible, but the overgrowth and junk lying around is hard to miss. A good weekend of weedwhacking and clean up would make a huge difference aesthetically. Overall, we would visit again in the future, and will be telling people we...