Friends & Links

Below are a few fun things we'd like to share with you,

and some sites we like and encourage you to visit. Enjoy!

Who's available to see right now in our animal shows?

Click on an animal to see its care guide, and scroll below the pictures for other great links!

Feel free to support our animal ambassadors with donations that help with their care!

to help with their care - and let us know in the payment note which friend(s) you decided to support!

Cerberus the Tokay Gecko

Lucy the Snapping Turtle

I can be found in almost every U.S. state east of the Rocky Mountains, and into Canada. I’m able to survive in big rivers, brackish estuaries, little creeks, and any size of lakes and ponds. I can eat almost anything I find from live stuff to dead stuff to underwater plants. Humans like to eat me, but not much else dares to mess with me when I’m a large adult. I have a long neck and can turn, strike out and bite with shocking speed. I’m mean.

Zona the Arizona Mountain Kingsnake

I live from the north of Arizona down into Mexico, and bits of Utah and Nevada. I like high spots, even up to 9,000 feet in the desert mountains. I mostly like to eat lizards and their eggs, plus birds, rodents, and other snakes. I like to live in rocky areas near water, especially near junipers and other evergreens that grow in dry areas. Because of colors, I am often mistaken for an Arizona Coral Snake, which is a very venomous species. This helps me not get eaten.

Connie the Burmese Python

I come from places all across south and southeast Asia, like India, Nepal, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and a few islands. But due to accidental releases, I’ve become very common in the Florida Everglades, causing huge losses in the populations of many large and small prey animals. Depending on my size, I can eat anything from small mice to alligators and deer, and even pets. I like water and warmth, so tropical forests, grasslands, or swamps all work great for me. My color makes it very hard to spot me.

Happy the Zombie Crab

I come from lots of different islands all across, the Caribbean, from Florida to Nicaragua, as well Cuba, the Bahamas, the Antilles, and Barbados. I’m a land crab and can be found great distances from the sea, and at high altitudes over 3,300 feet on Jamaica. I’m mostly a scavenger, feeding on plant matter and other things I come across on the forest floor. My shell can be black, red, blond, or green. I try to hide in ground borrows.

Trouble the Cane Toad

I come from lots of different environments, from south Texas to the Amazon jungle. But humans have introduced me to many other places, from the Florida Everglades to Australia, Hawaii, Japan, and even remote Pacific islands. I’ll eat just about anything that fits into my mouth, from dog food to insects, rodents, and even bats and birds. I like to live in grasslands and forests, and especially gardens.

We think the wonderful things found through the links below were HUGELY worth our time to explore and learn from in our family life over the years.

Maybe you will too!

"Saint Francis of Assisi offers Christians an example of genuine and deep respect for the integrity of creation. As a friend of the poor who was loved by God's creatures, Saint Francis invited all of creation—animals, plants, natural forces, even Brother Sun and Sister Moon—to give honour and praise to the Lord. The poor man of Assisi gives us striking witness that when we are at peace with God we are better able to devote ourselves to building up that peace with all creation which is inseparable from peace among all peoples. It is my hope that the inspiration of Saint Francis will help us to keep ever alive a sense of ‘fraternity’ with all those good and beautiful things which Almighty God has created. And may he remind us of our serious obligation to respect and watch over them with care, in light of that greater and higher fraternity that exists within the human family.”

~ Pope John Paul II, Celebration of the World Day of Peace, 1990