Luray Zoo-A Rescue Zoo

We visited this zoo as apart of our trip to Virginia. I strongly do not recommended this zoo. I love supporting small businesses, but the conditions at this zoo are not okay for animals. To start as soon as you walk in the zoo, it absolutely stunk. Regardless, we pushed forward, the reptile exhibit which is mostly snakes was full of extremely small enclosures. Small glass tubs, not a lot of substrate for the snakes to bury in. We continued on to find a turtle, again in an extremely small enclosure for such a big animal. The alligator and crocodile enclosures were definitely the worse. Small enclosures, completely empty, the tiniest heat lamp, and dirty. The enclosure does not look like any effort went into creating a decent environment for them. The floors were unpainted, unfinished plywood, With a small heat lamp that both crocodiles were huddled under. Walking outside was no different. Dirty, over grown grass, and small enclosures. The entire zoo probably took a total of 10 minutes to walk through and look at animals. The monkeys WILL throw things at you, so beware of that and stand far from the enclosure. The goats will bite your hands even if your hands are flat. If you want a fun entertaining place to go that’s well maintained and clean, I don’t recommend this place. We left feeling sad and gross and wishing for a better environment for those poor animals. I only give more than one star because it was mildly entertaining to watch a monkey throw poop at my boyfriend.

Awesome RESCUE zoo. I will say most of the animals are snakes, so if you’re not into reptiles; this might not be the place for you. I had a super fun time! We plan to come back another Saturday at 2, (that’s when they feed the gators 😬😬) Staff was very knowledgeable and answered all my kids questions! The goats are nice and will not nibble anything but kibble. (Attaching picture of my favorite part, the snapper!)

We loved this little zoo! We discovered my daughter was apparently a goat herder in a previous life. They lo ed her and begged for more pets!

The zoo was fun but small and I personally wouldn’t go again. Me and my friends left feeling sad due to the enclosures some of the animals where in. A lot of them had no enrichment or where in extremely small spaces. The guy working there seemed to know and care about the animals but overall didn’t seem like the animals were living in great conditions. There are two large crocodiles or gators (don’t remember which) that are living in a small wood room with a small pool and not much room to move around, a lot of the smaller snakes gators and snapping turtles had extremely bland empty areas. Overall it was a fun experience but I wouldn’t go again and support the zoo. I don’t have tons of pics but I do wish I got more to show the poor living conditions (I’m not an animal expert so they could be fine)

We visited this zoo on the recommendation of our Airbnb host while staying in the Luray, VA area. We are glad that we did as we had an excellent time. The reptile house was really neat with lots of cool snakes to see. Our favorite part of the visit was the petting zoo and feeding the animals with food you can purchase for a small fee. The zoo was very well kept and you can tell that the owner cares deeply about the animals there.

What a really cool zoo . Mark the owner is a phenomenal guy learned so much about alligators are reptiles today that I was always wrong about. Has a great selection of snakes, turtles, gators. Farm animals , monkeys one throws poop his name is woody he’s a punk and Bella whatever you do don’t film her with phone, she’s got a bad temper. What a cool little zoo looking forward to return with more people next time.

As someone who has worked in animal welfare for over 20 years, I can say that while this place doesn’t have as many “wow” animals like some comments have said, it’s still very worth your time to support it. A proper sanctuary for such exotics is a rare thing to come by, and it’s even rarer to come across one that can tell you in depth backgrounds and personalities of each animal in their care. The staff seemed kind, attentive, and knowledgeable. And while some folks have said their enclosures didn’t seem impressive, as someone who has seen some bad zoos, this place is leaps and bounds doing their best with what they’ve got. PS to the comment I saw about the reptiles enclosures being too small, unless they’re arboreal they don’t need a whole ton of space to thrive.

Good spacing of enclosures, there is always something around the corner or under your feet (look down for turtles!) with a good mix of wild and curated landscaping. Love the double-cages, felt like the animals got to be themselves while our kiddo was safe. Only negative was the bathroom, as a kids establishment it was a bummer to see a portajohn. Using those with a toddler is never a fun adventure. As for the rest of the place, top notch. The animal feeding was super fun, and we absolutely loved the peacock/alligator area. Our guy was thrilled and we will definitely love to come back. You can tell this is a work of love One suggestion on the feeding area- consider one area blocked off for toddlers to engage with the younger giats without needing to worry about the bigger/older goats jumping in and potentially harming toddlers.