Petting Zoos Open
Animal World & Snake Farm Zoo
4.6(4,683)4.6 out of 5 stars, 4683 reviews San Antonio, TX
About Animal World & Snake Farm Zoo
A compact but highly interactive animal park featuring unique reptile displays, frequent educational presentations every 30 minutes, and hands-on animal encounters that make it a memorable, close-up alternative to larger traditional zoos.
What parents should know
Summarized from real visitor reviews.
Best for: Families looking for a highly interactive, 2-hour animal experience.Children's birthday trip alternatives focused on close-up animal encounters.Reptile and snake enthusiasts looking for rare species.Toddlers and Preschoolers: Will love feeding the friendly goats in the petting zoo and seeing roaming peacocks.School-age Children: Perfect for kids who enjoy interactive animal presentations, unique reptiles, and the gem mining activity.
Why families love it
- Frequent educational presentations every 30 minutes, often followed by free animal interactions.
- Impressive variety of snakes and reptiles, including species not found at larger major zoos.
- Interactive petting zoo area with goats, a llama, chickens, and roaming peacocks.
- Gem mining activity ($15) which yields a generous amount of crystal stones for kids.
- Easy-to-view outdoor animal exhibits featuring lions, jaguars, monkeys, camels, and a baby zebra.
- Every-30-minute animal presentations and shows.
Insider tips
- Skip the expensive capybara encounter ($100 for 15 mins) and view them from the outside instead to save money.
- Budget around 2 hours to fully explore the park and read the informational displays.
- Bring extra budget for the $15 gem mining activity if your kids like rocks and crystals.
- Check the schedule for the 30-minute presentations to catch free animal interactions.
Good to know before you go
- Paying for high-priced private animal encounters if your children have short attention spans.
- High cost of specific animal encounters, such as $100 for a 15-minute capybara experience that may not feel worth the price.
- Occasional encounters with less-than-friendly staff members.
- The overall physical size of the venue is relatively small.
- Crowds
- May experience higher crowds during school holidays like Spring Break.
- Value
- General admission offers good value with frequent free presentations, but add-on experiences can be expensive (e.g., $100 for a 15-minute capybara encounter for three people, and $15 for gem mining).
- Food
- A small ice cream truck is located outside near the shaded seating area.
- Accessibility
- Shaded outdoor seating areas are available for resting.
What parents say
"Today was our first time visiting. We had an amazing time. Every 30 mins they had presentations on animals some with free interactions after. Not sure if it was just for spring break. I also paid for the fox encounter. Over all the place is a bit small but lots to see and do. We loved it!!! Keep up the good work guys!!!"
a month ago
"For being a small place, they have a lot of variety. They have snakes and reptiles that even the San Antonio zoo does not have on display. They have more animals outside, and it's pretty easy to spot most of them. The baby zebra was adorable! If you take the time to read the information, you can be through in about two hours. They have a small ice cream truck outside and shaded seating."
a month ago
"We had such a great time here. It is a lot bigger than I thought it would be. We paid extra to see the capybaras. Only one of two that we were set to be with came out and for us three it was $100 to be with the capybaras for 15 min. That was a little too much for that experience for us. My son was good after 5 minutes and we were like.. nope, you better give some scratches and be bffs with that capybara since we paid so much for the entire 15 min. I wouldn't pay that again. However, everything else was fun to see. So many snakes, petting zoo with so many goats, a lama and chickens, peacocks an"
a month ago
Reviews sourced from public Google data.
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