Reptile Gardens — Attraction in Rapid City

Wow! I never thought that I would be so entertained by a bunch of reptiles. They have more than just reptiles though. They have an assortment of insects and amphibians and birds too! Every hour, on the hour throughout the day they have a live educational show with an alternating group of reptiles (including venomous snakes and alligators), and birds (including raptors like hawks and owls, and other herbavo birds like Macaws.) My kids insisted on going there every day we were on vacation and showed most interest in the shows. One drawback though had to do more with the timing of our trip... winter is much more limited in available activities. In the summer they have outside shows with crocodiles and other larger reptiles in an amphitheater outside. They also have a colony of Prarie Dogs that are contained in a yard with a pit window to get down into the midst of the colony at their viewpoint and see what life is like as a Prarie Dog. My favorite animals I saw there were also restricted due to the cold weather of winter to their indoors stall: three giant tortoises munched on various fruits and vegetables. Their outside habitat for summer allows for visitors to go right up close to the three tortoises and feel their shells. There are pictures of past visitor children riding on the back of one though I am not sure they still allow that as most all of said pictures were from years past and in black and white. This is definitely a place we plan to go back to again in a future summer. If you plan to go, get the vacation pass which allows you to come and go as many times and for however long you wish during your vacation time in the area. While we were there we found out that has we wanted to, we could have easily upgraded out vacation pass to a season pass had we planned to come back the...

Let me start off by saying that just last week we went to the Milwaukee Zoo in Wisconsin and not only was I nickel and dimed at every corner, but the animals were so sad. For a Zoo to be THAT big and THAT expensive, I expected the animals to be in top of the line enclosures full of enrichment. Not the case and I left disgusted. From age 6 my step dad instilled a love for all animals with an emphasis on reptiles and Steve Irwin took over from there. So I was absolutely delighted to find out about Reptile Gardens and even more so when I got to experience it for myself. This place is IMMACULATELY well kept from the bathrooms to the enclosures to the gardens. The staff was incredibly friendly and I genuinely got the impression everyone loved their jobs. The animals were extremely well taken care of and at every turn there was staff there to educate as well as protect the animals on display. I paid a flat fee for my family to get in, and all shows and exhibits were included. Both men who did the shows were incredibly charming, funny and knowledgeable...not to hard on the eyes either. Lol My only suggestion is that a tip system be put into place for all the staff doing shows or showing the animals (like holding the birds of prey and the giant tortious). Having not been nickeled and dimed, I would have gladly contributed to personal tips for the keepers. They deserve it! We aren't local but we're already planning our next trip just to attend here again. We spent almost 6 hours and still didn't see everything as much as I wanted to. Also, the gift shop was so reasonably priced I was able to get several things to commemorate our visit. I really can't say enough about how wonderful this place is and how much it showcases their passion for...

The first thing I have to point out is the gator show, to say that I was mortified is an understatement. The man in charge of the show selected one of the alligators by the tail and got dragged on the ground. It tried to run away from him multiple times, possibly a sign of trauma and fear from him by being harmed. He then sat on top of the gator and forced its mouth open to show everyone. at the end of the show he got a small alligator and put tape over its mouth and handed it around to tons of small children.

At the dome, most of the cages are extremely small for the animals. some of the animals could barely move around the cages. The only part that I enjoyed about that exhibit was the small lizards that were free to roam around. Lots of the animals on the second floor were climbing the glass and scratching it trying to get out. Most of the animals that were in the cages were hiding away from people tapping/ banging on the glass causing stress. I'm not going to say that I'm an expert at Herpetology, but just using some common sense I can tell that the animals are depressed, have anxiety, or trauma from the employees.

The final thing that I had an issue with was the aviary. Most of the birds were tethered to the ground or a stick/log with a small rope only ~5-6 inches. After asking the employees there about where they go after it closes they said that they go into an open building for them to fly around but the employee said that they don't fly around much, which is most likely from the space being too small for them to be in or have given up.

Do not take your kids to this place, it teaches them how to improperly take care of animals. I started crying after seeing the birds trying to fly with them tethered...