Edisto Island Serpentarium

This place definitely exceeded expectations. It seems like an odd attraction on Edisto Island, but it was surprisingly big and had a ton of reptiles. It’s a break from the beach and worth the trip.

This was a real treat. We’ve forced the kids to see some pretty bad animal and natural history exhibits on our vacations but this was one they enjoyed. There are quite a few large venomous snakes and huge alligators on display. Definitely try to visit during the alligator feeding time, it’s worth watching.

We come here every year! I love how every pen/​exhibit looked clean and the animals. Happy! I recommend seeing the snake show, the woman doing it was very knowledgable and great for small kids.
Watching the alligator feeding show was a bit less interesting and mainly for people who want to learn more about alligators.
To the point a definite must see on edisto island!

Exceeded our expectations. We enjoyed all of it.

I went to this place half expecting a run down building full of sad animals in poorly cleaned cages. Fortunately that was not the case. I was really pleased with how clean the place was, how friendly all of the employees were, and how all of the animals seemed to be thriving. I highly recommend this place to anyone. There are numerous snake pits (I don’t know what to call them) where you can see multiple species of snakes interacting with each other. There are similar areas full of turtles, crocodiles, and alligators. As someone who usually seeks out a zoo, aquarium, etc when on vacation to give my kids a little break from the sun, I feel as though I have been to many animal exhibits. This was by far the cleanest. If we vacation in Edisto again, we will come back to the Serpentarium.

This place was so cool! the snakes outside are really active and fun to watch. there are a lot of very big alligators as well as a few caymans and crocodiles. oh, and turtles! gotta knock a star off for the lack of signage as well as the bizarre lot. from outside the place looks like a decrepit campground… a little off-​putting. in the end we decided it was worth the hour drive from historic Charleston!

If you don’t like reptiles, this is definitely not the place to go. However, if you like – or can at least tolerate – reptiles, this is a good place to spend a couple of hours.
We wandered through the indoor exhibits, then saw the poisonous snake show outside. It was interesting, and the trainer seemed to know what he was talking about. We also took a look outside – I particularly liked Big George and his cohorts. (Very large alligators and friends!)
Seemed to be a decent museum for the price. It’s not somewhere I’d go on every visit, but it’s good to see at least once.

Very well done exhibits and interesting demonstrations — well worth a visit.

…It’s actually a really cool Serpentarium but my only problem was the service. When I saw this kid who freaked out and wanted to leave the place (they just paid to get in 3 minutes prior) they were not willing to refund this poor family of four. Pretty damn lame in my opinion.

Sure, I’ll be the first to review this place. For $ 12.95 ($ 11 if you have a AAA discount) you will be treated to a couple pleasant hours at the Edisto Beach Serpentarium. Well, assuming you think snakes and alligators are pleasant. Aside from the usual gift shop, you will find an indoor area of snakes in enclosed glass areas, along with a large outdoor area that features separate areas for alligators, snakes, and other lizard-​y things. If you go at the right times (might want to call ahead to verify the times), you may be able to catch the alligator feedings (free with admission). They also have free demonstrations where an expert handler will bring out some venomous & non-​venomous snakes and tell a little bit about them. Then at the end you and your kiddies can touch a snake. Cool huh?
All in all it was a good time. We didn’t see the alligators being fed, but we did check out the snake show. At one point we thought one of the venomous snakes was going to attack the hander, because it was kind of upset coming out of the box. We were video taping it with a flip camera and I thought we’d have a YouTube moment on our hands. Luckily, there was no attack, and we went on our merry way.
Everyone that works there seems nice enough. My only criticisms would be that the outdoor habitats don’t really give you much information about what snakes are in there. You can see them, but it would be nice to have more experts (or at least better signs) telling you what you are looking at. In the indoor section, there are some decent descriptive signs, but the outdoor habitats seem to lack a lot of this information.
If you’re vacationing in Edisto for a week or so, I’d definitely recommend you go to the Serpentarium at some point. But if you’re only at the Island for a weekend, you can probably do without.