The Animalarium Reviews Summary

Animal Encounters and Interactions

Pros:

• "Many of the monkeys and lemurs will come right to the side of the cage and interact with you which was amazing."
• "We were lucky enough to attend the Wild Animal Show where a keeper showed us a selection of reptiles and made my Daughters weekend by meeting the Python."
• "The animals will take the food from your hand."
• "We bought lots of pots of food to feed all the animals with & we enjoyed doing that more than the kids did!"
• "We got to stroke a few of the animals that one of the keepers brought out to show us which was lovely!"
• "The children enjoyed learning about the reptiles during a talk."
• "The Animalarium offers a hands-on experience for visitors, allowing them to interact with some of the animals."

Cons:

• "The petting section isn't always open and welcoming, they were cleaning when we came in and we were not able to hold anything sadly."
• "Felt a bit sorry for the foxes and wolves but I'm always rubbish at coping when I see animals in cages."
• "27 degrees, no water in most of the cages, animals running up to us looking for food and clearly not enough space for most of them."
• "The Animalarium was very small, no leopard and the wolf enclosure was so small, we left early as we found it very upsetting to see a wolf so isolated."
• "Pictures online showed a lion and monkeys there was no zoo animals there at all it was just some farm animals."
• "Shows pictures of leopards tigers and there’s none of those animals here staff were rude."
• "It is much much better and i hope continues to do so. Great for family visit including your dogs on leads. Reasonable entrance fee, would visit again."

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "The staff is very friendly and helpful."
• "The staff were friendly and willing to give any information of what we wanted to know."
• "The owners and staff were friendly and passionate about the welfare of their animals and of wildlife and ecosystems both locally and globally."
• "A lovely time with the kids- staff were so friendly and went out of their way to make the visit enjoyable."
• "The staff here are amazing and friendly and so knowledgeable especially Tom who really knows his stuff when it comes to reptiles and spiders."
• "All staff were really friendly, and got a few small animals out for my little boy to stroke."
• "The staff were all very attentive and friendly and happy to make conversation and talk about the animals and the developments that are being made."

Cons:

• "The place looked a mess and most of the enclosures were closed for renovation."
• "Most of the enclosures were closed for renovation."
• "The place looks very run down and needs a major face lift along with a bit of a clean."
• "First impression was not helped by seeing a row of dustbins and lots of rubbish bags near the entrance."
• "We didn't end up having anything after seeing the cat walk over the counter tops then sit itself on the cake stand to clean itself."
• "When I looked in the cake stand there was lots of clumps of fur inside 😳"
• "We sat down in the cafe with the intention to purchase some lunch only to find that the staff were too busy sat outside drinking tea and smoking."

Value and Pricing

Pros:

• "Don't park at the first section you see for parking, go around the corner and park there, just that little bit closer."
• "Food basic but tasty and not especially expensive."
• "Definitely worth the visit."
• "The cafe served good food which was also reasonably priced."
• "Good price plenty to do which entertained our 3 children."
• "Reasonable entrance fee, would visit again."
• "It's very reasonably priced entry. Food was lovely and affordable."

Cons:

• "It wasn't even cheap either at £17 for two adults and a child."
• "Myself I wouldn't return."
• "Really thought it would be better for the price."
• "This was the quickest I've ever been round anything I've paid for, there wasn't anything there."
• "£10 entry to look at some goats and pet rabbits and turkeys and ducks not worth it."
• "For the money that we paid to get into the place I didn’t think it was worth it at all."
• "We thought the £9.50 entrance fee was very high."

Animal Welfare and Enclosures

Pros:

• "The animals are all rescued from exotic pet owners or other zoos."
• "Doesn't look like much, but they have certainly used the space they have to maximum advantage."
• "The enclosures are spacious and well kept, the animals look healthy and happy and the selection of animals is diverse."
• "All the animals looked well looked after and in clean enclosures."
• "The animals did look well looked after with clean enclosures but it was a bit blah..."
• "The animals all seemed well cared for and the staff were pleasant and knowledgeable."
• "The animals all looked happy and healthy."

Cons:

• "I'm not sure the animals that are there are kept in the best conditions."
• "Very poor. There were perhaps a dozen animals at most."
• "The glass for some of the reptiles is foggy and sometimes impossible to see through."
• "The animal cages ain't the best and the animals well...... we saw a German shepherd locked in with 2 Saint Bernards who were obviously distressed."
• "Lots of empty abandoned cages and pens where I hoped we would see animals."
• "It is now one hamster short of a nest to call it a zoo."
• "Sadly these animals are in shoe boxes of a cage, lack of substance and poorly maintained."