Capital of Texas Zoo — Attraction in Bastrop

(Read the whole review I’m putting pros and cons and my whole experience.. wish someone else had put a more through review so I would be warned lol... ) So I got a groupon, $50 for 2 people, covered entrance for zoo and we were able to go into the lemur enclosure and feed them and the camel and got very up and close with a huge hippo and fed it. Where else can u get that experience? For $25 each? For that reason, memories that me and my daughter will have forever I have it 4stars... however, if you are not planning to do the private animal encounter then you will be disappointed and I wouldn’t recommend going unless you do the encounters... we drive to the middle of no where and end up at a lonesome creepy dirt road and gps says we are there.. we had to drive down a very long super rocky dirt road with lots of dips/pot holes and I got a flat (was in my car.. would recommend taking a truck or Jeep if u have one as I would have taken my Jeep had I known). We finally get to the end and end up at a jeepers creepers looking shack that says zoo.. I mean it was so crappy and creepy it was outa a movie like crazy lol... we go inside the shack lights where off no one was there. We waited about 15mins before someone walked in and charged us an extra $5 for taxes something about the groupon (glad I brought cash). We were the only ones in the entire zoo which was booth cool but creepy. All the enclosures looked like the animals could escape like no problem if they wanted to.. very poorly done looked like a kid made the enclosures... there was big holes in some of the enclosure where the animals had dug their way out in the past or the prairie dogs made those huge holes big enough for where the animal in enclosure could have escaped so the whole time we were scared that we might run into a loose animal... the turtles RAN up to us, I had never seen turtles move so fast all the way up to the gate and they seemed hungry but I had ran out of food so I threw some leaves over to see if that’s what they wanted (food)? They ate them so fast and where fighting over the leaves so I believe they were indeed hungry.. their water bowl was not empty , but the water was brown ...idk If they would still drink it if it’s dirty ? (my dog won’t drink from it’s bowl if it’s dirty) so to see if they were thirsty I poured my water bottles in my cup and gave it to them and they drank it quickly ...so I think they were thirsty too. They only had 2 workers in the whole zoo ( the workers told me they are the only ones that work their) so idk my opinion was that the animals are not as well fed and watered as they should be... I could be wrong but that was what it looked like to me and it left me and my daughter feeling sad she even cried and asked to leave early cuz she felt bad (she’s 9).(also on of the the responses from the owner on a review that said the same thing owner said “we change the water twice a day” in this heat it needs to be way more then twice a day) ... it was a great experience and it’s a cool zoo, with cool animals, I just think they need more staff(I mean come on you need someone at check in at all times), and more staff to feed and clean animals, (it’s summer you can hire a high school kid and pay them minimum wage for the check in)— and if you can’t afford more workers for the animals u can place adds for volunteers all over , go to the college and place adds for interns , if you wanted the help you can def get it) they need to update the shack and enclosures make it look a little nicer ... ( I’ve seen someone the responses from owner that are nasty in theses reviews... you should take this feedback into consideration and make some changes for the better so other people don’t walk away feeling the same way) as a business owner myself I appreciate feedback and actually...

I hired this company to bring a petting zoo to a festival we held at my work, that was for the community. First of all, just scheduling the event was a nightmare, whenever I called, it was always his day off and he was not in front of the appointment book, when I texted him to confirm, I had to remind him of every detail that was previously discussed. I had to ask for an invoice over 6 times and still never received it until after the event and that was only because he needed to get paid. Very unprofessional and frustrating. We hired him to bring a petting zoo. He explained it would be 10 animals and it would be $385 for 1.5 hrs including mileage. The website says it would consist of some farm animals and some zoo animals. So the day of the event, he didn’t come himself, he sent a sketchy guy and told me this literally minutes before our event was to begin. Guy arrived the exact minute event started, parked way off to the side of our festival, so much so that you couldn’t even tell it was part of the event. No sign, no nothing. A pickup truck. He pulls out a huge goat, tied it to the fence between his truck and the fence. He setup a super small round pet enclosure, like maybe 3ft wide, 12” high, in there he put a turtle and 2 guinea pigs. He had an animal in a crate in his truck bed and said he could not take it out of the crate and refused to take crate out of the bed of the pickup truck. He had 3 snakes, and a bird. That was it. The kids had to sit on the ground, in the dirt, around the little pet enclosure to pet the guinea pigs and could not pick them up. The snakes were only allowed to be touched while the guy was wearing one around his shoulders. He said they were not allowed to touch the goat, because it bites and the coatimundi stayed in crate behind the truck. It was so embarrassing, when a petting zoo is the big attraction at the festival, and this shows up. But we did not complain, it wouldn’t have done any good anyway. So sketchy guy asks me to pay him, after the event. I explain that my corporate office would send a check once we received an invoice. The following week the owner asks to be paid. I remind him we are still waiting on the invoice. He sends it. I ask him what the petting zoo is supposed to consist of because the sketchy guy he sent brought guinea pigs, a turtle, a biting elderly goat, a animal he would not take out of the truck, snakes and a bird. He told me, that was what we agreed to. I tell him, no- we never even spook about what animals he was going to bring. He then tells me, that the kids got to touch the guinea pigs, and the bearded dragon (which was never there) and the snakes. I told him, I’m sorry, when I think of a petting zoo, I think of baby farm animals in a good sized enclosure where kids can actually walk in. He says that he is sorry I was unhappy. I would think for $385, it would be a little better put together, and when I hire you to bring a petting zoo, I would only assume the kids would be able to pet the animals. He says, they could pet most of them. I just can’t believe how bad this turned out. It was embarrassing and so disappointing. The sketchy guy put no effort into this gig and i highly recommend to look elsewhere for your party. Two thumbs down.. Don’t waste you time and money, you will be very...

By far the most frightening experience in Texas. My mom took me here to look at the animals. I decided to go here. Little did I know this would be an awful place. The moment I walked in, the presence of a humanoid gelatinous like creature behind the counter selling tickets should've been a warning sign. Instead of simply handing me a ticket, the monster used an extremely large and long tendril to slap my hand with it, and another to latch onto my shoulder. When it detached, it was quite painful because of the burning slime that it left behind. I mean ow, those things burn! I had to apply in ice pack to my hand and shoulder. As I walked away, it made crow noises, squawking at me as a taunt. Walking around the zoo, all of the enclosures merely contained strange items. All of them. No animals, no people, just objects. Tons and tons of objects lying lifelessly on the ground, along with the occasional piece of paper with bits of the constitution written on it. Make of that what you will. When I realized that all of the enclosures were like this I left the zoo. I came back in the. Summer time with not so high hopes. This time they actually had animals and I managed to avoid the gelatinous creature. Unfortunately, this experience was much worse. I’ll start at the beginning, when the Hippopotamus started making fun of me. It moved its massive jaw and used it to spout some hateful remarks. It made fun of my glasses, calling me “four eyes” and saying that my beard made me look like a homeless cabbage. So, I went to the Rhino exhibit but on the way there I passed the Gift Shop, where a child was using a defibrillator on a stuffed bear while shouting "come to life, Brother Bear! Rejoice in the world of the living!" When the paddles hit the bear, it promptly got up, started dancing, and used a red crayon to draw a weird symbol on the floor. Forget the rhinos! On my way out of the zoo, a young woman stopped me and pleaded for me to let her go. I asked her what she meant and she told me that she'd been a slave at Capital of Texas Zoo for a decade, and that she couldn't leave because there were invisible walls boxing her in. She said she needed a man to let her out who had "the Texas key." I told her with a sad face that I couldn't help her, and she proceeded to sob until the floor was completely glazed in tears, which the nearby janitor mopped up with his tongue. I came back here in winter. Everything was covered in snow and the looked abandoned. I walked around for a bit until I encountered a weird looking bird. It had black feathers and an orange beak full of small shape teeth. I was relieved when I saw some form of life here. Suddenly, the bird metamorphosized into a middle aged man that wore all black and a black top hat. The man also had no pupils. At first I was freaked out but then it asked “Why are you here? This is a sacred place!” I replied by saying “I just wanted to visit the place and see the animals.” The man told me that all of the animals and staff workers here disappeared after a mysterious event that happened in October. The man metamorphosized back into the bird and flew off. Needless to say, I'm...