I brought my son to Zootastic for what we had hoped to be an amazing experience. He has been an animal enthusiast for several years now and we were very much anticipating our encounter with baby animals. Unfortunately, the entire experience was mired by POOR SAFETY PROTOCOL! We had two friends join us for an hour-long encounter with baby animals. The first animal the animal trainer brought into the room was an adorable ring-tailed lemur who was bouncy, friendly, and gentle but we were told "not to grab him" because he doesn't like it. After approximately 10-15 minutes, she left the room (with the lemur still jumping from each of our shoulders) to retrieve another baby animal. At this time, the lemur sat perched atop my son's shoulders with his head nestled in his hair. At first I thought it was sweet but then my son's eyes welled up with tears. He said that the lemur was BITING HIM ON THE SCALP and I wanted to stop the situation but remembered that the animal trainer had told us not to grab this particular lemur. The animal trainer/expert was NOT IN THE ROOM at the time of this incident and when she returned, I pleaded for her to take the lemur off my son's head as the lemur was hurting my son. I checked his scalp and it was BLEEDING in two places where the lemur had been gnawing on him. The animal trainer/expert reassured us that the lemurs get vaccinations just like us and offered some hydrogen peroxide and antibiotic ointment which I immediately put on his wound. It is reasonable and fair that neither the animal trainer nor Zootastic can (or should) be held responsible for the behavior of these animals. After all, we signed a waiver relieving them of this responsibility. HOWEVER, I am angered and disappointed at the LACK OF SAFETY MEASURES in place to make sure that an incident like this doesn't happen. We should have NEVER been left alone in a room with these animals without a trainer/animal expert present who could intervene at the moment an incident like this begins. Zootastic needs to reevaluate its safety measures and/or create some better safety measures to ensure that future incidents like this don't happen again. Zootastic should have TWO animal trainers/experts run the baby animal encounter so that one may be present to ensure safety for your guests and animals at all times. Or the animal trainer should remove each animal before introducing a new animal. Amazing experience? Could have been. read more

Horrible place, animals were not cared for, they did not have adequate shelter, nothing but dirt, animal encounters are not safe for animal or humans, staff was uneducated about animal safety and facts and were unbelievably unfriendly, animals laying in dirt and feces. Not sure how anyone could honestly think this is okay if they care about animals. Will never visit again. read more

Well, they had a nighttime Christmas lights drive-thru and it was pretty good. However, the Santa could have used more cheer or at least tried to be jolly. My kids waited on the line, about 27 minutes, to get a picture not with Santa but the adorable baby kangaroo instead. Santa was in the picture also by default. There was hot cocoa and fresh popped popcorn. Which were yummy! The barn had animals you can pet/feed but we just felt so sad for them instead. The barn had domestic animals mixed with wild animals. I guess the wild animals aren't so wild anymore. Wished there were more vendors selling homemade things instead of the one lady selling kettle corn outside. There were many people ready to use money but I felt the place could use more activities. The gift shop was not bad, but too many plush toys for little kids and not really much gifts for older kids. Overall, I would come again since there is absolutely nothing else to do around here. read more

This place is truly horrible. The animals are beautiful and deserve better. The animal enclosures are small. The tigers are pacing constantly out of stress and anxiety and are in a horrible enclosure with no room to run and play. The giraffes barely have room to stand up and move about and can not get away from the people reaching in to feed them. They are trapped. The staff has very little knowledge of any of the animals and can provide no education. When I was there during Christmas, I reported an animal who appeared to be dying. The staff was to busy trying to sell trinkets and pet feed. They did not rescue the animal. Also, this place is selling animal encounters. These animals should not be dressed up and should not be forced to be in contact with humans. It's all horrible. I feel disgusted when I think about this place. I will never go back. Research this place. I just discovered today that it has received lots of complaints and has been fined for animal neglect. read more

This place needs to be shut down. If i could give it zero stars i would. Almost all the animals were pacing in their cages, the cages were so small i wouldnt even put my dog in them, 2 out of the 3 tigers had bad cuts on their ears and looked like they were not given any medical attention, the cuts looked like they were infected. This is a terrible place and i hope it gets shut down very soon. I dont know how this place is still running. read more

The animals were all common got through the tour before I was told there was no smoking I left and will not return.

Truly an unbelievable experience that was worth every penny. We did the baby animal encounter with the baby giraffe, Jigsaw, as well as a baby wolf, tiger, lemur, and kinkajou. These encounters give you up close and personal time with these animals along with the ability to roam the rest of the park when you are finished. My six year old daughter even got to stand on a chair and feed the baby giraffe a bottle. We absolutely loved it and it was something we will never forget. Thank you to the staff (Bailey was awesome) and to the owner Scottie for spending time with us and for having such a remarkable place. We will definitely be back! read more

We went on our way back from our Warrior Dash Wedding and used this as a mini honeymoon stop. lol. it was fun. they made it special for us once they found out we had just gotten married. We got to be Mufasa (Young Lion) first human encounter in months which was AMAZING. He is rough so we understood but we are both Veterans and can handle deployments so we can handle this. lol, the people were nice, they have a nice establishment that is being renovated, it is nice. We are hoping to go back and maybe take the kids. Some of the guys who work there didn't know much about the animals but that's ok they are teenagers so maybe be more mindful who is hired. For the most part they were extremely good people nice people and great place to go, like I said they made a mini honeymoon one we will never forget. We love lions and to be able to be with one in a room and playing was AMAZING read more

Zootastic was a great place to visit and I look forward to going again and again!!! Our whole family enjoyed it. The staff was knowledgeable and friendly and we were able to have an "up close encounter" with many of the animals. read more

Not all that impressed. The zoo (if you want to call it that) is very small and disorganized. There appears there may be some neglect going on and some of the enclosures seem barely large enough for the animals to have adequate room to move around that much. While the staff seem pretty knowledgeable it is apparent it is a mom and pop shop as far as staff management and lack of professionalism. It my family did not have a coupon we would not pay full price to see the zoo. As far as the Christmas Wonderland of Lights it is cute but again it is apparent much of the lights and decor is not well thought out and appears to just be thrown up haphazardly. The General Store is about the best part as far as looking like there is some thought put into it but would not pay to come back here as there are much better ways to spend ones money. read more

This was a great experience for my family and I. The animals are treated good and the service there is great.

****DANGEROUS*****We were on the wagon ride which has no enclosure on the back. The bison were at the back of the wagon and trying to get food. My father was on the last seat of the wagon when a bison became aggressive. He used his horn nearly picking him up off of his seat. It tore a hole in his pants and caused a laceration that was bleeding. It scares me to think what might have happened if it would have been a small child instead of a grown man sitting in that seat. I don't blame the animal who was just naturally trying to get food. The tour guide did not even notice. We also spent about 10 minutes stopped by the Watussies which have very long horns. They were not aggressive animals but their horns are very dangerous. I spoke with management after the ride and they reported that the wagon should not have been stopped when the bison were around. That was really their only response to the situation. I also found the animal enclosures small and observed several animals pacing and looking distressed. I hope no one gets injured and feel sorry for the animals. Sad and scary! read more

Truly terrible there's no organization in the place whatsoever. There's no signs near any of the exhibits or anyone around to give a description of the animals any question i had while there I had to search for a staff member they still had no answer & acted annoyed there werent signs near the animals or anyone around to give any type of description.animals were close enough to touch butthere werent signs labeling whether or not that was ok. The staffs treatment of the animals is horrible it's clear have no compassion or consideration for the animals. For example while on our 'wagon ride' our tour guide description of the ostrich was "they're all really stupid so you can treat them like they're stupid". Also while on that ride the wagon itself gad metal bars across the top that kept falling down and almost hitting guests in the head the staff was very unprofessional especially about this they offered no apology just argues back and forth and had personal conversation over the 20 or so ppl on the wagon.Do not waste your time or money read more

It is so sad that the animals are kept in these confinements which are so small. There were 2-3 camels in one small enclosure, 4-5 cows in an area, and the horses! The horses hooves had not looked like they had been taken care of regularly, most of them do not have any grass to graze on, and the rule of thumb is for every horse they need at LEAST 1 to 2 acres of land to thrive on.... not a stall where they can walk in circles in. The pony ride set up is ridiculous and sad. I would never pay $3 for my child to walk in a small circle on a depressed horse - theres not even enough room for the horses to rest comfortably. Most of the animals were pacing back in forth (making a path of where they were constantly walking), looking like they were going insane ~ there were no toys or ANY forms of enrichment- just an animal, a cage, and a couple branches/scenery items. The habitats did smell horrible as well- if they were cleaned more often it wouldn't have been a problem. I just feel so bad for the animals. I think the place would be great if they had more unique animals, more habitats, and took better care of the animals (which should be their #1 priority).... read more

It astounds me that places that treat animals like this are allowed to exist. The poor animals at Zootastic are kept in VERY cramped, dirty, smelly conditions. The area that the tigers are kept in is so small, all they constantly do is pace, back and forth all the time. They have NO grass or shrubbery so they have to reside on the concrete or mud all the time. Also, there isn't much at all separating these large cats from the public except maybe what seems to be chicken wire. When it rains, the tiny "pens" that the animals are kept in turn into muddy "pits" and they have no option but to walk around and lie in it. It's simply awful and my wife and I felt NOTHING but sympathy for these poor beings. Again, I cannot believe these animals are kept in this manner. I was just very, very surprised at what was seen here and how the animals are kept and treated. And I am even MORE surprised at the people on here actually leaving "positive" reviews for this place! If you care about animals whatsoever, do not visit here & give them your money. If you must and feel the need to visit something "similar," go to Lazy 5 Ranch in Mooresville. It was a better experience and at least the animals are allowed to roam "free" and they appear much happier. read more