Edisto Island Serpentarium

Boy do I have something to say about this place. I have never - EVER - seen such insane levels of husbandry for reptiles like I did here. I have two girls (a ball python and a carpet python) so seeing the love and care each little (and sometimes not so little) reptile got warmed my heart. This place was freaking gorgeous. The habitats they created were how ALL habitats for any animal should be made. They were outstanding. All of the staff were crazy knowledgeable and wonderfully entertaining. Now, be proud of me as I did not steal Lawrence. Please clap. I thought about stealing Lawrence, he was precious, but since I’m rather ill equipped to care for a full grown adult American Alligator, I decided against it. Because he would eventually grow up. Tell Lawrence I miss him.

I had an absolutely serpent-sational time at the Edisto Serpentarium! Seriously, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my visit. The staff? Super friendly and incredibly knowledgeable, making the experience even better. And let me tell you, those shows at each hour are a definite must-attend – you won't want to miss them! A quick heads-up for parents: While it's an amazing place, they do have live feedings, which might not be suitable for very young children. Just something to keep in mind for the little ones!

FIVE STARS to the Edisto Island Serpentarium, dedicated to the study, recognition, and preservation of the world of reptiles, including alligators, snakes (venomous and non-venomous), and turtles. A great experience for singles, families, small and large groups. Free parking, concessions, and a gift shop on site. Here are the daily feeding and lecture schedules at Edisto Island Serpentarium (Tuesday–Saturday during open season; currently through August): 11 AM – Snake Program Watch as the staff discuss and feed non-venomous and venomous snakes—great for learning about the native species. 12 PM – Alligator Feeding & Talk Enjoy an up-close demonstration with the alligators while a guide shares fascinating facts. 1 PM – Varies by Day: Tuesday & Thursday: Venom extraction demo Wednesday: Turtle/tortoise feeding or talk Friday: Crocodile or snapping turtle feeding/talk Saturday: Snake feeding session 2 PM – Snake Program A second round of snake discussion and feeding . 3 PM – Alligator Feeding & Talk Another alligator session, perfect if you missed midday or want a repeat viewing. Needless to say, there are many unique items in the gift shop!

Great place for little people! They have animal exhibits and demonstrations. With a lot of information about each reptile. An hourly talk as well as a self explore of the habitats of the snakes , turtles and alligators. Purchased ticket is for all day, you can leave and come back. The grandsons truly enjoyed this place.

Really cool place to visit to see different reptiles. The amount of venomous and non venomous snakes is tremendous and the staff, especially Ted were really great to talk to!

This is a great place to visit over the years. I've watched it grow. I remember all the way back when they used to do a snake show at the Halloween extravaganza. In Hollywood, South Carolina wow, so impressive. How far they have came? One of the brothers have since passed away. Hayward. So sorry to hear that. But to go and visit now to see how far they came from. Those days is absolutely amazing. Truly, God is blessing. This business bring the kids and come out and take a look. It's great, we really enjoyed it.

What an exhilarating experience! Our son insisted on visiting the Serpentarium. The extensive snake species at this place is impressive. If you get lucky, like we did, you can talk to the two gentlemen there and discuss various snakes, bearded dragons and even hold them! Thank you for such an amazing experience 🙏🏻! Outdoor space has alligators and turtles. (You may need bug spray there!) The Edisto Island Serpentarium is a fantastic place to visit and learn about the reptile world. Highly recommend!

Super cool place! We all loved seeing all the reptiles & learning lots at the same time! Very well taken care of facility. Employees were all so friendly and knowledgeable. The owner is a super nice, humble man. I had seen him outside working and asked him a question. After I got inside and was looking at all the history and pictures, I saw that it was him!! He's literally a reptile legend!

Very cool place!! Got to watch the Gators get fed and learned about them and how important they are to the eco system here in South Carolina. Also snakes...cool place to take the kids!!

Expert guides, educational program that was entertaining and informative. The facility was clean and very well maintained. We got there at feeding times. What an experience!!! Worth every penny. My grandchildren really loved it. Even my blind husband loved it. Very handicapped accessible.

My 6 yr old and his cousin had a good time at the "gator farm". We were there at the right time to see a gator feeding. We then walked over, bought some food and fed the turtles. It was a fun time. Not a huge place so you could definitely stop by before or after some beach time. They advertise having some "hot food" items available for lunch: burgers and pizza. But they were frozen items that you would then use their microwave to heat up. I don't think I would ever purchase lunch here, but maybe a small snack or icecream and some trinkets from the gift shop which is really big and full of some fun stuff.

Always a treat for the little ones and we've been going every year and they always enjoy it. Good size and variety of exhibits, nice (and pricey as expected with all tourist spots) gift shop. Some concessions, but lately it's been a bit limited. The feedings and snake show are the favorites.

We loved this place. We took our grandson, aged 2, and he enjoyed being able to jaunt around and see all the displays as well as the live gators and snakes. Snakes aren't my favorite thing, but the education demonstration was very helpful in understanding some of the ones we may see in the low country and how they behave. My grandson enjoyed seeing the big alligators too! They have a nice outdoor snack bar, and a souvenir shop too! A fun morning for all 3 of us.

This is the first Serpentarium in South Carolina. It is located in Edisto Island less than an hour from Charleston. It is an inside and outside zoo focusing on reptiles. They have educational shows focusing on snakes and alligators. The herbivore scientists are very knowledgeable. You can hold a snake or a baby Gator. Here are a few cool facts: There are 3000 species of snakes Only 400 varieties of venomous Have fun visiting and learning!

Great place to spend the morning or afternoon while on the island. We took two 3-year-olds and had a great time. Animals are well taken care of.

What a hidden gem. This is the first time I ever actually been in a Serpentarium. My friend's own reptiles and for one of my friend's birthday, he wanted to visit the serpentarium. Admission was under $20 and they have a Triple A discount for admission. There were a ton of different events that you can witness. We missed the snake feeding but a lady brought out a rat and let us watch an anaconda strike it (I know twisted, but part of life) We watched a couple of other snakes battle their food. We got to see the alligator feeding. What great and smart creatures alligators are. This place houses the oldest alligators in the state. These snakes know exactly when they are about to be fed. So do the vultures. We also got to hold a baby alligator. There is so much to do and everything spent at the gift shop goes right back to the serpentarium. Its a great place for kids and not too far from both Beaufort and Charleston.

An impressive selection of things to do. Each hour they have a different activity which is fun to go see. We got there right as one was starting (venom extraction) and then stayed for the alligator feeding. It's easy to see the animals and very family friendly. Around various attractions they had step stools for a kid to see over the enclosure walls. I'd recommend this place to anyone in the area. It's a worthwhile visit.

We came right at closing and we couldn't ask for sweeter people and an amazing experience! You have to check this place out if you are in the area. Biggest alligators and close up experience with turtles, snakes, and gators. Thank you guys!!

This place is worth going to whether you live in the area or visiting. Staff was knowledgeable and fearless with the snakes and gators. Cool spot for sure

Neat place. Annoyingly they charge you to use a debit card. So called "convenience fee."

All the animals looked relatively well cared for and the pens were clean. The feeding show wasn't really as cool as I hoped. Just some dude talking and throwing some chicken to a gator who didn't really seem overly interested. The turtles were adorable. Overall you probably won't spend more than an hour there.

This place is excellent! Small, and run by only a few people, but the animals all appear very well taken care of and enclosures are clean. The staff was so friendly and the shows very educational. A must-see while in Edisto!

I am examining this place with three things: animals, interaction and price. Animals: This place exceeds expectations with animals. They have several exhibits of Crocodiles, Alligators, Snakes, Turtles and Tortoises. The exhibits are quite great and the snake exhibits are exceptionally amazing. The main reason for this is that some of the snake exhibits were outside without glass. It was a big area where several species of snakes dwelled together and the snakes were quite active because of this. The snakes swam around, climbed trees and even got quite close to one of my brave campers. The alligator and turtle exhibits also were great with turtle feeding exhibits included. Interaction: The place had two 30 minute shows and both were informative and fun. The workers were very knowledgeable about not only with the animals they study, but the whole ecosystem of the place. The alligator show explained the difficulties of hierarchy in the exhibit and why the alligators were acting the way they were. The snake show allowed everyone to hold the snake at the end. Both shows were great for adults and kids. Price: You can judge the price for yourself. The adult fee is $14.95 and the kid fee (4-12) is $10.95. The campers I had lasted about one hour and thirty minutes at the place without getting bored, but they probably could have stayed for another thirty minutes. There are a decent amount of exhibits and while the alligators do what they do best, sleep, the turtles and snakes were quite active. So you judge if the price is worth a zoo of snakes, alligators and turtles with 2 shows included.

Very cool place! I went in expecting a small place with a few snakes but there was so much more! The alligators and crocodiles were definitely the most amazing part, I would totally recommend staying for the alligator feeding. There was a lot of interesting information for reading and the cases were full of cool objects. The animals seem very well taken care of and happy. I will definitely be returning! It is also wheelchair accessible FYI.

My kids and I recently came here. Admission is fair. They enjoyed every second! So much wildlife and information to fill your kids brain. Everyone is very knowledgeable, and they let you interact with the many reptiles. I will be coming back!

Total must see if you're on the island, and worth the drive if you're anywhere close. A first class facility with lots of creepers to make anyone's skin crawl, especially on feeding day!

This place was so cool! the snakes outside are really active and fun to watch. there are a lot of very big alligators as well as a few caymans and crocodiles. oh, and turtles! gotta knock a star off for the lack of signage as well as the bizarre lot. from outside the place looks like a decrepit campground...a little off-putting. in the end we decided it was worth the hour drive from historic Charleston!

Fun place for families and kids of all ages. Staff is great and very knowledgeable! One of the few things that's worth the money in the area!

WOW!!! I wish we had something like this in my area. While I am actually quite terrified of snakes I ended up having a GREAT time. The staff here are very knowledgeable and were able to answer ALL of my questions! My boyfriend and I actually lucked out by coming on a day where they did the snake feedings. It was awesome! Alittle cruel considering they were feeding the snakes live mice but it was interesting to see the difference between how the venomous and non-venomous snakes responded. We even scheduled a second trip to Edisto just to bring our families to see this hidden gem. Totally worth the money!

If you don't like reptiles, this is definitely not the place to go. However, if you like--or can at least tolerate--reptiles, this is a good place to spend a couple of hours. We wandered through the indoor exhibits, then saw the poisonous snake show outside. It was interesting, and the trainer seemed to know what he was talking about. We also took a look outside--I particularly liked Big George and his cohorts. (Very large alligators and friends!) Seemed to be a decent museum for the price. It's not somewhere I'd go on every visit, but it's good to see at least once.

We come here every year! I love how every pen/exhibit looked clean and the animals.. Happy! I recommend seeing the snake show, the woman doing it was very knowledgable and great for small kids. Watching the alligator feeding show was a bit less interesting and mainly for people who want to learn more about alligators. To the point a definite must see on edisto island!

....It's actually a really cool Serpentarium but my only problem was the service. When I saw this kid who freaked out and wanted to leave the place ( they just paid to get in 3 minutes prior ) they were not willing to refund this poor family of four. Pretty damn lame in my opinion.

This was a real treat. We've forced the kids to see some pretty bad animal and natural history exhibits on our vacations but this was one they enjoyed. There are quite a few large venomous snakes and huge alligators on display. Definitely try to visit during the alligator feeding time, it's worth watching.

They have several exhibits of Crocodiles, Alligators, Snakes, Turtles and Tortoises. this is a nice place to stop by and get entertain by creepy animals i did not try to hold any of the reptiles. my grandchild was happy.

Very well done exhibits and interesting demonstrations - well worth a visit.

This place definitely exceeded expectations. It seems like an odd attraction on Edisto Island, but it was surprisingly big and had a ton of reptiles. It's a break from the beach and worth the trip.

I went to this place half expecting a run down building full of sad animals in poorly cleaned cages. Fortunately that was not the case. I was really pleased with how clean the place was, how friendly all of the employees were, and how all of the animals seemed to be thriving. I highly recommend this place to anyone. There are numerous snake pits (I don't know what to call them) where you can see multiple species of snakes interacting with each other. There are similar areas full of turtles, crocodiles, and alligators. As someone who usually seeks out a zoo, aquarium, etc when on vacation to give my kids a little break from the sun, I feel as though I have been to many animal exhibits. This was by far the cleanest. If we vacation in Edisto again, we will come back to the Serpentarium.

This is run by the Clamp brothers, two of the biggest names in Reptiles (and particularly snakes) so it's no surprise that it's a 5 Star place in my books. Their animals are extremely well cared for and they have some stunning specimens. If you are interested in wildlife at all it's a great place to go. As Christine mentioned, if you don't like reptiles, don't go. If you have any interest in them at all, it is a must see. You might just get a chance to talk to one of the Clamp brothers; they're fine gentlemen and I couldn't recommend this more highly.