Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland

My 7-​year-​old is all about Komodo dragons and dinosaurs so we could not pass this up. He totally LOVED it! The rest of us (including our 16 and 13-​year-​olds) didn’t think we’d enjoy the place, but we actually did. The exhibits are nice and clean and the shows (we watched The Ruling Reptiles and Dragon Talk) are fun and informative. Watch out for the Dilophosaurus at Dinosaurs Come to Life. It’ll spit water at you when you least expect it! Feed the emus and turtles for just 50 cents and butterflies for $ 1. It’s a small zoo but very well kept. They have a small café, but we brought our own food and had a nice picnic at one of the three picnic areas available. We will most definitely return (the 7-​year-​old is STILL talking about it) to do the Behind-​the-​Scenes Tours and Meet & Feed the Gentle Giants.

Drove past this place on more than one trip and finally decided to stop in and see for ourselves. It was little but was great. We were able to see many different shows without having to run all over the place. We were able to get close to the exhibits without too many other people in our way. Not only did it have a large collection of reptiles but there were also butterflies, emus, and animatronic dinosaurs. The staff was very knowledgeable and friendly. We were so glad we decided to stop in.

I’ve driven by this place on long distance drives a few times and always wanted to stop. I’m so glad I finally did! It was really cool: the staff was friendly, the animals looked well cared for and were well displayed. The Komodo Dragon exhibit was well done. Worth a visit! Even their dinosaur exhibit was neat as they added movement and an interesting setting.

We stopped by this place on a whim, and this little detour was so worth it! I’m not a huge fan of reptiles in general, but the animals they kept are very fascinating. There are all sorts of poisonous and harmless snakes, turtles, and frogs. In some of the outdoor areas, you can come close enough to get a gander without a glass enclosure between you and the turtles (and also emus, yes. emus!). There is an outdoor path with animatronic dinosaurs near the emu enclosures. One of the highlights of this place is the impressive Komodo Dragon exhibit. They also have a wonderful little butterfly exhibit if you’re more into flowers and butterflies than amphibians. Overall, this place is highly recommended for children and adults of all ages — plan for 1.5 to 2 hours to get the most out of the exhibits.

Okay, I’ll admit that when you drive past it this place kind of looks like nothing more than a cheesy tourist trap. But oh, is it anything BUT that.
I’ve been going to this place pretty much longer than I can remember. They’ve renovated a few times over the years (the picture of the entrance on this page may not be accurate anymore), and in my mind they just keep getting bigger and better. The gift shop is nicely stocked (though sadly lacking a bit in reptile-​related merchandise… seriously, the species name is on your freaking sign, I would expect that much), and they do have a cute little café off to one side where you can grab a snack if you’re feeling hungry. The food’s pretty reasonably priced, but I can’t really vouch for the quality seeing as it’s basic «zoo foodcourt» sort of meals. You be the judge of that. And as I recall they used to have a psycho peacock that would chase you around if you weren’t careful, but maybe they’ve gotten rid of that particular feature. Ah, the days when you’d get chased around by a sexually frustrated bird for a half hour. MEMORIES.
As far as exhibits go, they’ve got both some great ones and some ones that could use a bit of improvement. Probably the most popular one is the alligator pit that they have in the main building, with two alligators who I swear look more intimidating every time I see them. And those fuckers have been there practically as long as I’ve been around, which is really saying something. As far as their enclosure goes, it’s not too shabby. Lots of tropical plants and sand for them to crawl in, and a nice little water pit (though seriously, I don’t think it would hurt to make it just a teeny bit deeper. Maybe that’s just me). They have feeding sessions in the afternoons every so often with them, so be sure to see those– those zookeepers get so close I swear one of them is gonna get their legs chomped off one day. Apparently they’ve got the alligators responding to commands, too, which is pretty damn cool.
As for the other exhibits, well, the main gallery/​turtle pond is really where you want to go on a good day. The turtles and tortoises outside will never cease to amuse you with their antics (we once caught two of the turtles ‘twitter-​patting’, as my G-​rated father likes to put it), and the main gallery is pretty cool if not a little dated. Word of advice, though– the main gallery can get pretty freaking crowded at times, so make sure you have plenty of time to browse through there if you really have somewhere to be. Try and get there when they’re feeding the King Cobra, too, if you’re into that sort of thing. Those things are a lot feistier than they’d have you believe. From there you go out a door on the side (you used to be able to walk around the outside to get to the dinos, but not anymore), to get to both the dinos and the Komodo Dragons. Now, I have to admit, I personally find the dino exhibit to be a little cheesy– the whole thing is geared more towards kids than anything else, I believe, hence the overload of animatronics and the signs that practically scream ‘YOU WILL HAVE THESE DINOSAURS AND LIKE THEM’ at you.
But ah, seeing an unsuspecting parent get the crap scared out of them by the recorded hisses and roars never gets old.
The Komodo Dragon exhibit is actually pretty impressive– they’ve got two there, a male and a female I believe. On certain days they’ll let them out in an outdoor enclosure to sun themselves and what not, so be sure to check there before going inside. It’s humid in there (courtesy of them wanting to mimic their natural habitat with as much accuracy as possible), but they really did put a lot of thought into the enclosure and it definitely shows. Lots of room for them to roam, a little pool that they could presumably take a dip in, sand to dig in, and more. And the scariest thing is, those things aren’t even full size yet. They’re about to get a hell of a lot bigger. Stay tuned for that, and keep a… somewhat wary eye on your children.
I’m not gonna say much about the butterfly enclosure here, because there’s really only so many times that you can walk through a glorified flower garden before it starts to get a bit old. But you can feed them sugar water on an cotton ear cleaner and there’s an exhibit of cocoons, which is kind of cool.
All in all, this place is pretty decent for being a bit on the smaller side. There’s shows where you can touch the animals (for those of you who are a bit squeamish around snakes, you might want to opt out of that experience– there is an option to skip the touch experience after the shows), giant alligators, butterflies and dinos. And sure, parts of it may seem a bit more cheesy than others, but it has something for every member of the family, and if you love reptiles I guarantee you’ll be going back there again and again. So hit it up while you’re in the area. You may be pleasantly surprised at how good of a time you have there.

I was expecting a cheesy tourist trap, but Reptiland is a real zoo with excellent exhibits and habitats. There is a nice presentation comparing dinosaurs to their modern relatives. You can pet those relatives: a baby gator, a boa constrictor, and a chicken! Try to visit on a day when they are feeding their full size alligators Rocky and Adrian. Watch a young animal handler try to avoid the swinging tail of a 600 pound gator! You can also get very close to a Galapagos tortoise. The dinosaur exhibit is perfect for preschoolers but there is a little fossil dig area that is great for all ages.

I loved this place!
It wasn’t the hugest reptile zoo, but it’s definitely worth it! The reptiles are healthy and extremely well taken care of, they don’t cut corners when it comes to their care. the displays are roomy, clean, there is a wide variety of reptiles and the staff is friendly. We enjoyed watching the Kimodo dragons eat, they were adorable! Even the cheesy dinosaur display was entertaining. And my friend and I loved feeding the emus! My friend and I left satisfied with our experience!

Such a hidden gem. My pre-​schoolers LOVED it. The dinosaur display is very cool and the displays had everything you would want and more. One of the hidden gems is the butterfly house. As was said, the animal display was very cool and the kids were provided an opportunity to pet a small alligator and a python.

This place is great. Not because of the latest technology or the most insanely elaborate displays… but because its a small zoo/​attraction that knows they have to try harder to get half as much attention.
And boy do they try hard.
An alligator exhibit and demonstration where they get so close, you know one of the trainer’s gonna get eaten there someday. Pythons, Anaconda’s, Black Mamba, Galapagos Tortoise, funky frogs, salamanders, newts, and all sorts of other cold-​blooded creatures that are well worth the price of admission.
And if that wasn’t enough, they even pay homage to the extinct reptiles with a very cool, robotic life-​size dinosaur display. One of them even sprays water (but I won’t tell you which one so it saves the surprise).
We took 5 kids on a rainy day and they had a ball. Go, have fun and enjoy how close you get to seeing these amazing creatures. Well done Clyde… well done.

loved all the reptiles! If you go try to save some time for a show it was fun being able to touch. It doesn’t take a long time to go through everything. We did everything in two hours. So if ur just driving through its a good place for a break.

Reptiland is a really good zoo in an unusual place. Kids seem to love it and they have a lot of educational shows and displays.
The location isn’t as random as it might seem. The same company does really nice exhibits for museums including the current live reptile exhibit at the New York Natural History museum.

Random random random. I couldn’t help but stop when I passed by this place. Who would have thought this kind of thing could happen here?
Anyways the zoo is cool, but small. They’ve got a little snake presentation, a few indoor and outdoor exhibits. The best part about Reptiland is definitely those big crocs and the enormous rats they feed to them — that’s always quality entertainment. This place seems to be most suited for kids, but there is of course entertainment value for all ages.
I guess for the $ 12 it cost to go I’d say it was worth it, but who is this Clyde Peeling character anyway?

I must have driven past this place 10 times going north towards a state park. but i never thought i’d like it. one weekend, me my wife and her sister were coming back from some boring place, and we decided to stop. they had a small souvenir shop and it was filled with all kinds of artwork from indonesia and africa. they had photos of places that the guys had been too, as well as toys and gifts and a small sandwich shop (kinda like a subway) so we went inside, there was a movie that explained stuff.
like i didnt know the only visible difference between alligators and crocodiles is that one has one set of teeth that point upwards and the other doesnt. dont know if ill ever need to know that in the wold. but man, those things are ferocious. they fed like live baby mice to them and they tore them up liek you wouldnt believe, then theystarted fighting each other.
there were galapagos turtles, regular turtles and all kinda of otehr animals, snakes, frogs, stuff like that. actually i was suprized, the national aquarium in baltimore had these guys do a number of exhibits.
all in all it was okay, i would drive here just to see it but it wasnt that bad since we were out and about. bring a friend and a drink and you’ll enjoy it.