Independent concept by BASE 38 Preview only, not the official website
Gold Creek Village, Canberra
An eastern brown. A death adder. A tiger snake. Three of the most venomous snakes on earth, one pane of glass away. And they are three of more than 100 species living here.
Meet the residents
Some you can hold, with a keeper beside you. Some stay behind glass, for good reason. Every one of them is on the zoo’s own animal list.
Behind glass
Widely ranked the second most venomous land snake in the world, and a regular in Canberra backyards.
Behind glass
An ambush hunter that waits, motionless, and has one of the fastest strikes of any snake.
Behind glass
Banded, highly venomous and found right across southern Australia.
Hands-on
The one you have probably already met, sunbaking on a Canberra driveway.
Hands-on
Calm, curious and usually happy to sit on a hand while you ask questions.
Hands-on
Armour-plated, slow moving, and known for pairing up with the same partner season after season.
Behind glass
A rainforest specialist that sits vertically on a trunk and simply waits you out.
Behind glass
Fast on land, better in the water, and a common sight along east coast creeks.
Behind glass
One of Australia’s largest goannas, and a very good climber.
Behind glass
Built for open country, with claws that mean it.
Behind glass
A heavy-bodied goanna from the cracking clay soils of inland Australia.
Hands-on
Non-venomous, patterned like a woven basket, and heavier than it looks.
Hands-on
A tropical carpet python, and often the first snake a nervous visitor touches.
Hands-on
Black with cream rosettes, and the coastal cousin of the carpet python.
Hands-on
Iridescent in the right light, which is the whole reason people stop at this one.
Behind glass
Big eyes, night shift, and a body built for moving through branches.
Behind glass
Folds that neck sideways under its shell, which is exactly as odd as it sounds.
Behind glass
Stores fat in that tail, and barks when it has had enough of you.
Behind glass
All eyes and attitude, with a tiny knob on the tail that gives it the name.
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Owls, gliders and possums live here too. Not everything at this zoo has scales.
What a visit is like
Feel the armour of a crocodile or the smooth scales of a blue-tongue. Watch a python feed. Touch a snake for the first time and find out it is nothing like you expected.
The zoo’s own line is that you can talk face to face with the keepers, and that is the part people remember. Sessions run on the animal’s terms, so no two visits are quite the same.
Counter prices below. The zoo lists online tickets as discounted, so the live price is always the one on their booking page.
Annual passes are also available. Prepaid tickets are valid for one year from the date of purchase and are non-refundable.
Book on the official siteCome as you are
The zoo runs periodic sessions with reduced audio and activity for visitors who find noise and movement hard, and announces the dates. On any other day, ask a keeper for the calmest corner.
Welcome, as protected under ACT law. Check in on arrival and staff will route you past the sensitive species.
Staff open a side entrance on request. Ask when you arrive, or phone ahead.
On site. Ask staff for the nearest one. For accessible parking and a set-down point near the entrance, call ahead and they will guide you in.
The zoo publishes a full Inclusion and Accessibility Policy, a climate action plan and a child safety commitment. This is the short version a visitor needs before they walk in.
Bring everyone
Same keepers, same animals, built around whoever is standing in front of them.
$350 flat
Two hours in your own undercover function area for up to 15 children and 10 adults, $10 per extra person. Free BBQ and kitchen, zoo entry for every guest, a 40 minute private hands-on reptile show and the playground.
Five time slots each Saturday and Sunday. $100 deposit to book. Private functions from $200.
Party details and booking
10 to 200 students
Flexible 90 minute day programs from early learning through to university, with an optional 30 minute break. Night programs bring out the gliders, owls and possums.
Fully enclosed site, two outdoor playgrounds, licensed and insured, risk management plan included with every booking.
Education programs
60 minutes, at your place
Mobile incursions across the ACT for classrooms and assemblies, plus fetes, festivals, expos and shopping centres. An experienced handler, a supervised patting enclosure and information posters for every animal.
Native Australian animals only. Venomous species never travel. Minimum space 3 by 6 metres.
Mobile displays1 of 3
How this started
Canberra Reptile Zoo began in a suburban Canberra garage. It is now a not-for-profit sanctuary dedicated to conserving Australia’s native fauna, built by the community, for the community.
Last year the Canberra Region Tourism Awards named it the region’s best tourist attraction, and highly commended it for visitor education on top of that.
Find us
About this concept
The layout and the tone are mine. So is the one-line note under each animal, and the hands-on or behind-glass label, which is my assumption and not the zoo’s word. Species names, prices, programs, hours and the access details all come from the zoo’s own pages. The photography is the zoo’s own.
Check every animal note with a keeper. Photograph the species that have no good picture yet, and the team. Put Quiet Hour dates and school availability where a parent or a teacher can find them.
I’m Steve, and I build websites for small Australian businesses. This one took an afternoon. It is a concept, not a pitch deck, and nothing here is switched on.
base38.com.auEverything on this page is public information the zoo already publishes, put in the order a visitor needs it: who lives here, what it costs, and how to get in.
Read the full note