Riverside Wildlife Center (Formerly Riverside Reptile Ranch) Reviews

Pretty Kool but raining out sad I didn't get to see the huge alagator

Very cool experience. Very informative caring staff

Very sweet crew, on my birthday even gave me a crocodile tooth. This place is cruel to the animals there s like 30 alligators in a small enclosure and pass around newborn alligators like their toys. The wildlife center is super cool not gonna lie but it s just too cruel and they realize they can make money off keeping animals in small cages and small rooms.

This was a great educational and hands on experience. We were able to hold snakes and alligators. Plus pet huge tortoises and an emu. This is a great addition to any family trip.

Don't let the looks full you. It's a great time and a cool place for kid's. You can see the tiger's up close & hold an alligator & snakes. Definitely worth the tour.

We stopped at this place after visiting Meramec Caverns. No idea they had tigers! Plus aligators, lemurs, bobcats, foxes, many species of birds, and lots of snakes other reptiles. We had a great time and our tour guide was awesome! 10$ tours! Totally worth it.

Trashy ,small ,over priced , butt the tigers were cool..

This place is just terrible. The enclosures for the animals are pitifully small and most of the mammals are caged right next to their prey. This isn't a rescue, this is simply rednecks making a buck at the expense of animals who never asked to be housed in such trash. Would not recommend to anyone.

I have been coming here for 3 times now and they are very friendly and clean and very good price for tour and I can t express how much recommendations to take the kids and it s better then St Louis Zoo

Was a nice and more personal tour then a regular zoo.

If you like snakes and alligators, this is the place to stop at

This place was awesome! All the people were very nice and informative.. the lady that did our tour took some great pictures for me with my phone in the places we couldn't go. We were able to hold a bunch of animals and go at our own pace inside and outside! Groupon got the 4 of us in for $20 and we were there almost 2 hours! Loved it here!

Great place. Awesome tour guide. She was had great knowledge. It does smell like wildlife lol

Wonderful people who know their animals and profession.

Enclosures were very small and cramped; did not look comfortable for the animals at all. Their extremely large snapping turtle was in a plastic container the size of itself. Also had 30+ alligators laying on top of each other in a small, pitch black room. Would NOT recommend at all. Very sad

I love stopping in for the tour. What they do for the animals is a wonderful thing. The tour guides are volunteers they are all very friendly they genuinely care about these animals. I make it a point to stop in whenever I'm in missouri.

Wonderful place and James was a great tour guide. I will definitely go again. Happy animals and very friendly staff. It s a hidden gem. Don t judge the book by the cover!!

Such a neat little place. Gracie was our 12 year old tour guide and she did such a wonderful job. We've never been that up close and personal to wild animals before.

My son and I stopped off here during our cross country trek back in July-Aug. Very friendly and knowledgeable staff. You get to hold as many snakes as they are willing to let you hold. Spent a nice hour and a half there. Small facility, but they do the best they can with the space they have.

We made an unprecedented stop (per my husband's insistence) at this wildlife zoo that was basically a swamp neighboring what looked like a meth lab. We walked into what one may consider an "office" and the first two sights were: a dog imprisoned in what appeared to be a jail cell, and a woman casually changing her child's diaper on a service counter. For $10 apiece, we were told we would get a "tour"; after giving her a $20, she said she'd have to get us change. What? To his utter opposition, a boy no older than 15 years of age was asked to guide us. My husband knew more about the animals than the poor young lad. Animals were contained within cages that looked no securer than a cardboard cereal box. Showcased was a vast array of random, exotic animals such as a Bengal tiger and had an alligator pond. Steve, the Tiger Trainer was rather hilarious in his demonstration of feeding raw chicken to the tigers. The entire scene was unexplainable, inconceivable but I commend them for rescuing and genuinely caring for the animals.

Small place, but pretty cool. Dont have to pay extra to hold animals like the place by the interstate and the staff seem to really know the animals well.

Knowledgeable staff, healthy looking animals, nice place to kill an hour or 2

We came here and we had a wonderful experience! Even though it looks run down to some, they take great care of the animals! The animals are well fed, they are treated with care, they have nice cages, and some are people friendly! It was cheap for the experience you get compared to at a regular zoo! I recommend if you do go, bring a tip for the guide and most Importantly. Have fun! If you have fun, so do the others with you and the guide!

All 8 of us would highly recommend the Riverside Wildlife Center!!
My family of 7 and I went to the center this afternoon. When we pulled up, we were slightly skeptical as the building looked somewhat dank. However, the tour was SO much fun and our tour guide, Marc, was incredibly nice, informative and personable. He knew the answer to every one of our (many!) questions, and was always happy to answer them.
We were able to hold two alligators (one baby and one "teen"), two snakes, a frog, and a tegu.
We were also able to get very close to many chickens, emus, tigers, lions and alligators; it was so much fun!!
We bought 2 tour guides for 4 on groupon's website and couldn't have been happier! We never felt at all rushed, everyone was very friendly, and Marc was incredible. We look forward to returning soon!

The place was depressing. I felt super guilty for weeks after going to this shady little animal torture facility. The laws in Missouri are VERY lax, as I did the research after wondering how in the heck this was legal. All the reviews of 5 stars have to be fake. Don't do it if you actually like animals. My back yard is 6 x the size of the tiger/lion enclosures. Also, the whole site is littered with busted up trailers. SCARY!!!

Our tour guide was aspen and she was great she brought a baby goat for our grandson to pet and many other animals she was very knowledgeable and personable. This is definitely a hidden gem i would recommend

Very nice people. It was a small place but the animals were well taken care of and all tours are done by volunteers.

The whole place is run by volunteers. There is a $10 entrance fee and the tips that you leave for the tour guides is essentially the equivalent of a salary. I learned some amazing facts about these exotic animals that I probably would have never found out otherwise, for sure I've never been to a place before that has let me hold a baby alligator not to mention pet an emu or a Silkie chicken. They treat the animals very respectfully and you can tell that the animals live well. And in the conversation I had with one of the volunteers, you can definitely tell that they care about these animals, they are definitely affectionate towards them. A lot of the animals are rescued from either an abusive environment or an environment that was not prepared to care for them. It's such a friendly environment that I almost felt bad about leaving. Forget being worth stopping at while going through the area, it's worth making a special trip to go experience this. This was definitely the highlight of my trip! For those concerned with the rough look the exterior of the building, Please be aware that all proceeds that they receive go directly to the animals so unless you would like to make an outstanding donation I assume the building will stay as it is due to it being a slight lack of priority, and rightfully so with such animals to care for.

If I could give zero stars I would / deperesing and weird place

Great family stop with knowledgeable and friendly staff. Close to camping and Meramec caverns. Budget friendly for even the tightest vacations, or ifntounhave so leftover bucks to burn!

This place is an amazing place to take your kids! Our tour guide was an absolute pleasure!

This place is dilapidated, dingy, and cramped--a far cry from a modern zoological facility. Large reptiles (e.g. tortoises) are kept in plastic tanks barely larger than they are. I'm sure the owners and staff are good, well-meaning people who do care for their charges but the facility itself is sorely lacking. The highlight of the tour is the two tigers and their trainer Steve. There are also numerous varieties of snakes, lemurs, exotic fowls, alligators, etc. Youngsters may enjoy the photo-op "hands-on" opportunity to hold a (small young) alligator. Sadly, I suspect this well-intentioned mom-and-pop level operation fails to generate sufficient revenue for much-needed renovations.

Ive yet to actually go in and see the animals. However first impressions are everything, and today was blown away by them. My son wanted a job, he's 10. He wanted to go there and he went and spoke to them all on his own and starts volunteering this weekend. They are above and beyond good people. And that's ages 16 to 60+

Wonderful little hole in the wall. So many amazing animals and it has quickly become a family tradition to go here.

Doesn't look like much from the road, but my family had a great time there. Very knowledgeable guide led us through to see Bengal tigers, a lion, bobcats, a timberwolf, emus, birds, varoius snakes, turtles, aligators and reptiles. Cheap and very enjoyable entertainment.

I love this place. Thank you for being so compassionate with the animals

During a road trip on the way to the caverns we lucked up on this awesome place. From the outside we weren't expecting much but we were surprised. The staff is super friendly and knowledgeable. They have exotic birds, alligators, emu and so much more. The highlight was getting to see the tigers get hand fed. Can't wait to go back.

Glad we took a break and stopped here! Kids loved it. Many animals to see! Unfortunately their lion Leo recently passed away at 30 years old but the photos of him on display shows he was loved and well cared for. The staff is awesome also!

Got to pet or hold animals. Guide was informed. Needed a little upkeep. But ok.

The owner was super nice most of the animals here are taken from bad spots a d have a much better life here. I'd like to see bigger enclosures and better pathways outside but overall not as bad an experience as some of these reviews would lead you to believe! My son got to hold a baby Artic Fox and we really dug the number of reptiles!!

Inexpensive and up close with the animals. The tigers are gorgeous.

Great place but they need to update their website. 4 yr Olds aren't free and the hrs isn't right on their page. The prices for adults and kids aren't right on the page either.

Didn't look like much on the outside. But well worth the visit. Guide was funny and informative. Its a must see

The crew here are so nice. We came by when it was closed not realizing it was yet we still managed to get an awesome tour. Thank you dearly. You can tell that they really care about their animals and visitors

My nephews and i stopped by after our cave tour and was pleasantly pleased! These VOLUNTEERS put there heart and love in to the animals they care for. We had an amazing tour guide Alli that had pleanty of helpful information. The tigers are beautiful and we snapped some awesome pictures thanks to the staff! Definitely recommend if you like to support small business and if your hands on. I personally held a skink, a snake, and a alligator!! This was the best!

It was a blast. It's great for little kids. Nothing big but very enjoyable

AMAZING! The lady that took us on the tour was very nice and helpful! Loved the tigers! I definitely will be going back!

Terrrrrribleeee experience. I found a dead mouse in the small cramped shop they had us wait in. Chickens were grouped into a tiny cage and other species that shouldn t be together. Everything was so small and cramped, and it stunk!

Way too cool! Knowledgeable people giving the tours and the most kind atmosphere.

Fun place. Some interesting animals to see as well.

Loved our visit at Riverside Wildlife Center. This place is a hidden gem in terms of tourist attractions in Missouri. I was thoroughly impressed at how knowledgeable our tour guide Marc was in regards to all the animals they kept at the facility. Will be coming back.

Started to stop but the outside looked like a junkyard. So many dead cars, campers, appliances, etc, laying around we choose to keep driving.

If you are EVER planning to be out this direction and have even the mildest interest in seeing folks rehabilitate and care for some highly unusual animals, you simply must check this place out! Please get past the initial entrance room - it's not exactly enticing... but once you start the tour you'll understand why this is such a great place to take your family. These folks really do understand and care about these animals.

Just walk around the front room... it's packed with so many interesting things related to animals or different cultures. Tigers, alligators, snakes, birds, a 100 year old snapping turtle. Just a few of the attractions here.

James is the best guide we have ever had. Dude knows his stuff. We most definitely will be back again.

It seems quite run down there they must not get a lot of people. I kind of felt sorry for the animals but they seemed treated well. the coolest part is it that you hold some of the animals I mean reptiles like Pythons I gotta hold a baby alligator

Very small with only a few species of animals. Lots of debris about, lawnmowers, car parts, rebar. I can't though get past the 40 or so small alligator heads for sale in the gift shop. Are they butchering alligators for meat and this is a by-product? Are they killing the alligators for their heads? There is also a large collection of other animal skulls. I guess kudos for not letting anything go to waste but it is difficult to enjoy the live animals knowing eventually they end up in the gift shop.

My kids had a good time, but the animal enclosures were in poor shape and I was concerned about their well being

Amazing as always traveled from Illinois just for riverside

This place stinks since you open the front door. People are nice, and animals cute, but not enough to deal with the clutter, stink and dirty store/office they have.
The only horrible place we visited on this trip. Clean up people!

Another good intention gone terrible.
THIS PLACE IS A JUNKYARD! HOW CAN ONE HONESTLY SAY THAT THESE ANIMALS AREN'T IN HELL???
GO SEE FOR YOURSELF...
MY HEART ACHES

My dad used to have a pet alligator named Draco and now Draco lives down there last time I saw him he was very healthy and super big! I haven't seen him for a long time though and I don't know if he's still alive but next time you go there ask to see Draco hopefully you see him!!

Super awesome people and you can tell they actually love these animals. They know just about all there is to know about them and are great at explaining things to the kiddos. Thanks for a great day!

It was ok for a hokey roadside attraction. The building with the reptiles smelled a bit.
They had alligators, an emu, a pair of tigers and some other stuff.

My family and i went there for the first time just the other day. When we walked in we were immediately greeted. Everyone was very friendly. Things in the shop were interesting but VERY unique. Our tour guide was Ryan. He was friendly great with kids and there 1 million questions a minute. He was very informative and had answers to most questions. The animals were well taken care of and holding the alligators and petting the giant frog was awesome! Ryan was also willing to get other animals out if anyone wanted to hold them. Overall our experience there was good my kids had a great time. I expect we will be going back. Keep up the good work!

Awesome, hands on and educational look at a wide variety of animals and reptiles. Our tour guide, Colton, did an amazing job!!! I loved the visit.

Very fun.. Can pet some of the snakes, smaller gaters.. Staff is friendly..

IT IS A VERY BEAUTIFUL PLACE MORE THAN EVERYTHING LIKE A SHELTER FOR ALL TYPES OF ANIMALS..MUY BEAUTIFUL AND THE TOUR THAT EXPLAINS EACH SPECIES AND THE REASON X THAT ARE THERE, DONATED, ABUSED AND RESCUED ... VERY BEAUTIFUL WORK OF ALL THE TEAM....

A great experience. Our guide was India. She really knew all of the animals and explained all about them. We had 2 young ones with us. India brought many critters out and let the kids hold/pet them.

Amazing! This was our 2nd year going. Great staff, cool animals and an up close personal experience 100x better than a Zoo. The guide we had today was a younger guy and he was awesome. He knew so much about the animals and was very funny, kept us entertained. I love this place it is a must see!

They are nice people and have a lot of different animals crocodiles snakes tigers Birds and more