Superstition Serpentarium (Arizona) - Reptile Zoo

July 31st, 2015.

Can you tell something about the species kept at this place ( please ) ?

From my 24 day/81 zoo road trip of 2015:

Superstition Serpentarium:

Superstition Serpentarium is a tiny hole-in-the-wall reptile zoo in Apache Junction, Arizona. It is set in Goldfield Ghost Town, a reconstructed 1890’s frontier-type town that appeared to be a fairly popular destination for tourists on a hot weekend afternoon. Passing by old-fashioned storefronts and several cowboys I followed a couple of signs around a corner and into the basement of a large building. Hidden away in this area is a tiny reptile zoo that consists of two rooms and only costs $4 admission. The big bear of an owner, Zack Ziesing (complete with braided ponytail and bushy beard), was so excited to have someone at his establishment that had been to hundreds of zoos that he was tickled pink and he became incredibly passionate about his creepy crawler critters. A number of the lizards, snakes and tarantulas he has gone into the Arizona hills and caught himself and he gave me his personal email address, his cellphone number and was astonished that I had sought out his miniscule place of business to add to my lifetime zoo list. I tell you, the characters I have met on this trip…

Zack, a very likeable individual, told me that it is just him and his wife running the business and he claims to have “the smallest zoo in the United States”. He is likely right as the first room is an entrance with a bunch of terrariums behind the counter and an air of decrepitude in all directions. The second room is perhaps 30 feet wide and that is essentially the zoo. I counted 42 terrariums on-show but including the behind-the-counter stuff there are approximately 50 exhibits in Superstition Serpentarium. I was very fortunate to even have seen the place because Zack said that he doesn’t always open the facility and last week he took off hunting for a few days and so it is “hit-and-miss whether you’ll find the joint open”. He was very helpful to the couple of families that were in there and with about 10 customers there wasn’t much room to move. He told me that after the families left he would pull out a rattlesnake or two and I could take photos while he held the snakes with a hook, but I kept waiting and more and more people arrived and I had to get back on the road. I’m not sure that a keeper at an AZA zoo would have offered to pull out a venomous rattlesnake!

Species List (45 total): Sonoran Desert Toad, Sonoran Mud Turtle, Reticulated Gila Monster, Banded Gila Monster, Chuckwalla, Desert Spiny Lizard, Arizona Long-Nosed Snake, Twin Spotted Rattlesnake, Banded Rock Rattlesnake, Mexican Lance-Head Rattlesnake, Mexican West Coast Rattlesnake, Sonoran Sidewinder Rattlesnake, Mojave Rattlesnake, Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake, Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, White Speckled Rattlesnake, Speckled Rattlesnake, Tiger Rattlesnake, Northern Black-Tail Rattlesnake, Great Basin Rattlesnake, Trans-Pecos Rat Snake, Baird’s Rat Snake, Southern Copperhead, Banded Sand Snake, Shovel-Nosed Snake, Sinai Flat Tail Scorpion, Israeli Death Stalker Scorpion, Red Claw Emperor Scorpion, Desert Hairy Scorpion, Striped Tail Scorpion, Arizona Bark Scorpion, South African Flat Rock Scorpion, Tailless Whip Scorpion, Giant White Knee Tarantula, Goliath Pinkfoot Tarantula, Mexican Red Rump Tarantula, Mexican Red Knee Tarantula, Arizona Blonde Tarantula, Camel Spider, Black Widow Spider, Arizona Brown Spider, Arizona Wolf Spider, Giant Cave Cockroach and Vinegaroon.

Thank you very much snowleopard !