Reptile Gardens

This might appear like a huge tourist trap, but it really isn’t! Exotic reptile species from all over the world mixed with a colorful botanical garden make this really unique for any place in the US. I really enjoyed the bald eagle, tortoise, and prairie dog habitat areas as well that surrounded the reptile center. If you are going to visit Mt. Rushmore, certainly make this a stop on your way out.

My family had a great time! Worth the money & time. The snake show was our favorite.

Definitely worth your time! Awesome snake, alligator/​crocodile, and bird shows with very well informed performers! Perfect size and absolutely beautiful.

This place is great for locals looking for something fun to do and for anyone traveling! There is so much to do and friendly staff. The exhibits are easy for everyone to see and the grounds aware kept clean and there are multiple shows always on time. You can get a free season pass with your first time in!

Great attraction! Snake & alligator shows very well done. Ryan was a natural with the reptiles & the crowds. Habitats were beautiful and very humane. Beautiful rocks & minerals throughout habitats. Maniac was amazing to see, as well as the over 100 year old tortoise. Really thought this would be cheesy but was pleasantly surprised by how professional. All the rangers at the national & state parks (Badlands & Wind Cave) recommended this attraction.

We had such a great time at Reptile Gardens! We took our kids there and they loved it! So much to see and the giant tortoises are a MUST SEE. They had great shows and it just amazed us the variety of animals! Well worth the stop!

Herpetophiles unite! That is, people who have and love their herps! Reptiles, I mean.
The variety here is incredible and the sheer size of some of their animals is rather terrifying. I can’t imagine being out and about with some of those crocodiles.
While I feel like there are too many crocodiles and alligators in the show enclosure, the show was entertaining so long as waiting for the host to get eaten is entertaining to you.
The selection of deadly and venomous snakes, from anacondas to black mambas and cobras, was really cool. Being so close, yet safe, was kind of a once in a lifetime thing, unless you visit again.
If I’m ever in South Dakota again, I’d definitely pay another visit. It’s just that awesome.

For the area, it was a good zoo. Best parts for me were the snakes, the indoor jungle, and the crocs. There are definitely better zoos for the money. Staff was very friendly

This was a great attraction for all ages! Beautiful grounds and exhibits! We spent about 3 hours here after seeing two shows and eating lunch.

My daughter’s science teacher recommended that we check this place out because of her interest in reptiles and amphibians. It ended up being her favorite thing about our black hills vacation. We saw the snake and alligator shows both of which were informative, entertaining, and funny. Lots of very neat animals on display. There’s also lots of beautiful flowers and rocks.
My favorite by far was getting to interact with the giant tortoises. There’s a cute little playground for smaller kids, options for food, and a reasonably priced gift shop. We went with a 2, 9, and 10 year old and several adults and we all enjoyed it.

Good time for family, snake, bird, and gators shows were cool. Wife even liked snake show and she is terrified of snakes:)
Fun time with kids.

OMG! I thought the snake show was pretty awesome, especially when the trainer got spooked by a lethal snake tat he had on a stick or when he brought out the very angry, hissing cobra, but then we went to watch the alligator and croc wrestling show…
Can we just say that Tracy is not only super mid-​west sexy in his cowboyish jeans and tight t-​shirt, but hysterical to boot? While everyone laughed, the mama’s also swooned. He was like a younger, darker haired Indiana Jones, minus the fedora, bomber jacket and whip. I even had a gay friend dying over him after I posted my photos on FB.
It wasn’t all down hill from there, except maybe for us single ladies. After all, groundhogs and turtles can’t hold a candle to crocodile wrestlers… or anything, for that matter. But don’t tell my nephew I said that. The groundhogs and turtles were his favorite.
The penguin sanctuary was far less stinky than the one we have at our zoo back home in Oregon and the dome with all the snakes, spiders and tropical foliage was actually very nice. Well, not the spider part. We raced past that without making eye contact.
Admittedly, I am not much of a lizard person, but I had a really great time here and would recommend it for all families traveling through.

Excellent value! The employees here put on a great show. Both informative and entertaining. Lots to do and see. Don’t miss it!

I mean it’s not the World Famous San Diego Zoo, but it’s pretty cool. They could do larger enclosures. Sneaky that the exit routes you through the gift shop — had to buy a stuffed alligator that my kid named Hubert Adjuster.

When you are a tourist in Rapid City it seems like a no-​brainer to just follow the crowds and go see Mt. Rushmore. It is certainly an interesting attraction and a patriotic experience but honestly seeing the faces of five presidents carved into a mountain will not spark your curiosity in the wonders of the natural world like one hour at Reptile World will.
I came here with a business associate and his adopted 6 year old son. Among the many things we learned…
1. We all know reptiles are cold blooded but, did you know reptiles can survive in temperatures ranging from 4 to 40 degrees Celcius? They inhabit every continent with the exception of Antartica!
2.Did you know turtles are one of the oldest animals on the planet and have been around for almost 300 million years. They are also probably the most intelligent of the reptiles. Their brain to body mass index is just slightly less than some species of monkeys.
3. The anaconda is the longest species of snake currently recorded.
4. Australia has more types of venomous snakes than non-​venomous snakes.
5. The saltwater crocodile is the world’s most deadly animal in terms of speed. It can kill a full grown water buffalo in .7 seconds.
6. Turtles do not have a diaphragm and are the only animal that can not cough, laugh or hiccup.
7. Reptiles will become either male or female depending on the temperature outside when the egg is incubating.
This is just a short list but there are probably hundreds of more amazing facts you’ll learn in a brief visit. We saw animals that very few other Americans will ever get to see and had a great time perusing the gift shop.

Lots of interesting animals. Must go. Take the kids as well. Lots to see and read about. There’s an alligator wrestling show, a bird show and lots more to see.

I liked the place. Did not think it exceled in any one thing. I think the cost of getting in is a perk, but really you will have gone through most everything in 2 hours. Gator show was pretty funny!

We saw the signs to Reptile Gardens on our way to Mt. Rushmore and decided if we had time we would stop on the way back. let me tell you, Make Time!
We had an awesome adventure and did several things I thought we never would! My wife, who detests snakes touched an Albino Burmese Python and an Aligator!
If you get a chance to see the Snake or Crock show with Matt, don’t miss it! He is great. Here’s out family at the snake show:
The only other family destination we have been to that compares to Reptile Garden’s staff friendliness, is Disney. The staff at RG was amazing! It must be a wonderful place to work having all those happy-​helpful employees!
There is too much to see and do to get it all in a review, you have to experience it yourself!

Q: What did the alligator say to crocodile?
A: Hey, look at that caiman, trying to be tough like us.
Maybe that’s what the 50+ alligators, crocodiles, and caimans do in their outside exhibit — gossip and harass each other about the merits of having a triangular shaped head, or a boxy head, or a small head, or more teeth, etc. But who knows — I wouldn’t want to presume the interactions of our reptilian friends, but I CAN give you the categorical run-​down of this place:
Location: 4 out of 5
On the outskirts of Rapid City (towards Keystone), but I found this to be advantageous. It’s away from the hubbub of «downtown» Rapid City, and parking is free and plentiful.
Price: 3 out of 5
I went in the summer season, so admission for me was 15 dollars. Although not expensive by any means, this can quickly add up if say, you have a family of 4 including two children. Children between the ages of 5 — 12 are 10 dollar during the summer season. This adds up to 50 dollars in admission fees, plus any trinkets that they’ll want. Just throwing it out there in case any of you are on a budget. For one grown adult who enjoys the experience of wildlife in «safe» environments, I found my fee to be moderately reasonable.
Quality of Staff: 4 out of 5
I went pretty late in the day, close to the time where they sell their last admission tickets, but I found everyone to be friendly. The young lady who took my money was conversational, and the young man who did both the snake show and the gator show was funny and informative. Everywhere else I looked it seemed like people were cleaning up or doing the last welfare checks of the day on the animals. I assume that most of the staff were seasonal, and there seemed to be parity amongst the non-​specialists.
Quality of Exhibits: 3.5 out of 5
The actual critters were amazing. I don’t like reptiles by nature, but I couldn’t help but feel awed by the sheer number and types of reptiles they had. There’s an inner atrium area where there are birds, and I found it funny that they have these lizards that run around. The birds in the atrium were all doing pull-​ups or spinning in circles (boredom?), which on the outside looking in provided for mild entertainment. My favorite, of course — was the prairie dog exhibit. I’ll be the first to admit that prairie dogs in zoos or exhibits do not compare well to prairie dogs in the wild (case in point, the Custer Park prairie dogs are much more ‘alert’), but there is entertainment value in watching half-​domesticated prairie dogs walk around nonchalantly. I observed one fellow move his entire food dish by biting down on the edge of it and then spinning it around. Why was he doing this? No clue. The highlights, of course, are the shows. Again — I’m not a reptile person but seeing different types of snakes, including a cotton mouth, from a safe distance made me glad that I wasn’t seeing him from a close distance. Ha. The gator/​croc/​caiman show was a hoot. The «wrangler» was knowledgeable about both the snakes and the gator family, and he showed the audience how to properly neutralize a gator. «If their eyes are closed, they think they’re dead.» Of course — he might have been demonstrating on an older croc or gator who just didn’t have much fight in him, but there was still some value. The highlight was seeing an itty bitty alligator that was 2 years old; they’re surprisingly small at that age, and almost cute in a grotesque sort of way.
Why the low (ish) rating then? Well… I’m not expert on animal husbandry, but it just didn’t seem like any of the larger reptiles had very much space. And maybe that’s ok because of the meteorological conditions, or because of their naturally slower metabolism — but the animals just looked almost malaise in their enclosures. Maybe out of boredom, who knows. I’m sure that the park is meeting all applicable requirements, but it would have been nicer to see more complex environments so that the creatures could have some more physical (and mental) exercise.
Overall: 4 out of 5
Worth a look, and definitely an informative way to kill a couple of hours if you have children who are of the learning age. Consult the website for showtime schedules, and you should be golden.

Gotta love reptile garden, They have expanded from the last I was here but they still have the dome which I remember when I was here last they now have a prairie dog exhibit, along with a snake show and Gator show, and bird show.
Inside the dome they have gators, spiders, birds, snakes, and all kinds of different creepy crawlers. Be aware that some snakes, birds, and lizards roam free inside the dome so keep in eye out. Great place to take the kids for a learn and fun experience.