JUNIOR ZOOKEEPER CAMPS & CLASSES

General Info – Program for Youth K-5th Grade

Does your child have a passion for animals? Would he or she love to have a chance to work behind the scenes? Then this is the opportunity they have been waiting for! We’ll be hosting Junior Zookeeper Classes throughout the school year. Participants will get the opportunity to help our staff clean animal enclosures, prepare meals and feed the animals, learn reptile husbandry and simple vet care, handle animals and receive special training on how to deal with reptiles in the wild. Zookeeper duties will vary so each session will not be exactly the same. All classes are 2-hours long. Minimum of 6 participants to run a camp.

COST

• Individual classes are $25/session/child.
• Six-Week Programs are $132 (Saves $18!) if purchased upfront. They can also be purchased as individual classes.
• PURCHASE A MEMBERSHIP AND SAVE 10% ON ZOOKEEPER CLASSES PLUS GET DISCOUNTS ON MANY OTHER SERVICES!

INSTRUCTIONS FOR REGISTRATION:

FOR INDIVIDUAL DATES: Please click the “Register my Junior Zookeeper” button. 

1. Choose the date for the first camp you’d like to register for.
2. Chooose the Individual Junior Zookeepers Ticket ($25)
3. Fill out the questionnaire for each child you are registering.
4. FOR MULTIPLE DATES, click the KEEP SHOPPING button.  Add another date, and repeat till all dates are in cart. The questionnaire will pre-populate your info so you don’t need to add it again.
5. Add your membership code if you have one for member discounts.
6. Add your credit card info and complete the registration.

FOR A 6-WEEK, 7-WEEK, 11 -WEEk or 8-DAY PROGRAM: Please click the “Register my Junior Zookeeper” button.

1. Choose the first date & time for the extended program of your choosing.
2. Choose the appropriate extended program ticket to receive the discount.
3. Fill out the questionnaire for each child you are registering.
4. Add your membership code if you have one for member discounts.
5. Add your credit card info and complete the registration.
6. We will fill in the other program dates on the back end of the software so we can enable your package discount.  

WEEKLY JUNIOR ZOOKEEPER CLASS:

Reptiles From Around the World

Six Session Series: Wednesdays – 11/11/26 – 12/23/26 (skip 11/25)

Time frame: 10am – 12pm

Series package rate: $132

Individual class rate: $25

Welcome to Reptiles from around the world! Over the next 6 weeks we will spend 2 hours a week together learning all about different habitats and ecosystems you can find reptiles in!

If you’ve been a Zookeeper with us before you might remember briefly discussing the different types of habitats, but there is so much more to learn! If you are new to our Zookeeper camps, welcome! During this camp we will learn all about different habitats that reptiles can live and thrive in! We will do a craft/activity for each week. Once we’ve learned all about these habitats, you will be able to create your own diorama of your favorite habitat and show all your friends and family what you’ve learned about the habitats Earth has to offer!

Perfect for curious animal lovers who want to get up close with reptiles while learning how animals are cared for behind the scenes.

SCHEDULE:

• Nov. 11th – Desert Habitats – In our first week we will learn all about desert habitats! Did you know that there is more than one type of desert? This week we will learn about the three most common deserts that reptiles live in. We will meet animals from each of the deserts and see the differences in their enclosures in order to replicate their natural habitats to the best of our ability!
• Nov. 18th – Forest Habitats – Just like the desert habitat, there are many different forests around the world! There are so many different reptiles that thrive in each of the forests, but not all of the forests are the same. Animals that live in some forests, cannot survive in other forests. Not only are there different forests, but also different layers within each of these forests. We will learn all about the different forests and their layers with some more of our scaly friends!
  
• Dec. 2nd – Wetland Habitats – Wetlands are where some of the largest reptiles reside. This week we’ll learn about the reptiles from Wetlands, some are very small and can make very good pets, others are illegal to own in the state of Utah! We will get to interact with many animals from wetlands primarily in the U.S.! This week we will also learn about the food web that wetlands tend to live by. You will even get to create your very own food web.
• Dec. 9th – Dryland Habitats – Drylands are home to some of the most famous animals such as lions, giraffes, rhinos, elephants and so many more, but we’re going to stick to the reptiles in the drylands! Many of us might think that a dryland is the same thing as a desert, but they can be two very different things! We’ll learn about the various types of drylands and compare them to the deserts we learned about a few weeks ago! We’ll also get to dive into how important reptiles are to their ecosystems!
  
• Dec. 16th – Cooler Climate Habitats – As we reach the end of this camp, we are going to get a little closer to home and learn about the reptiles that can survive cold snowy winters like we have here in Utah. These reptiles are going to have many different adaptations than many of the animals we’ve talked about previously. We will also do an activity that is all about reptile winter survival.
  
• Dec. 23rd – Build an ecosystem diagram – We’ve spent lots of time learning about all sorts of different habitats and the reptiles that reside in them. Now it’s time to put all of that knowledge to work! We will spend the majority of our time today creating our very own diorama for one of the many habitats we’ve learned about. We will then get to pick our favorite animal from our chosen diagram and show it off to the other Zookeepers!
  

 WEEKLY TEEN ZOOKEEPER CLASS:

Teen Reptile Zookeeper Academy

Six Session Series: Mondays – 11/16/26 – 12/21/26

Time frame:  4pm – 6pm

Series package rate: $210

In this teen zookeeper course, students will learn what it takes to be a zookeeper at Scales and Tails Utah. Over the next six weeks your student will work closely with the team to learn reptile husbandry through feedings, cleanings, handling skills and enrichment techniques.

Sessions are two hours long. During each session we will have a balance between the responsibilities of a zookeeper as well as getting to interact hands-on with dozens of incredible reptile ambassadors. Teens will learn how to maintain all of the animals individual needs through feedings, cleanings, and mistings to maintain their needed humidity levels.

This camp is perfect for the young minds that are considering entering a career in animal husbandry while building confidence and respect for these incredible animals. Each week the animals will get larger and more complex to keep the zookeepers interested and challenged in a safe environment.

SCHEDULE:

•  Nov. 16th – Zookeeper Tutorial – This week we will get to meet all of the animals we are going to work with over the next 6 weeks. We will start working with some of the more “common” pet reptiles at Scales and Tails. We will clean food dishes and prepare food for our herbivores for the following week.
• Nov. 23rd – Call of the Wild – Teens will learn how to pull some of our smaller animals out of their enclosures on their own. We will interact with a few more complex animals to learn how to read the body language of our animals. Teens will also get to help feed our herbivores.
• Nov. 30^th – The Serpent’s Lair – This week we are going to start working with some of our 6–8-foot snakes.  Teens will learn how to pull them out of enclosures using proper safety techniques. They will be given the opportunity to feed more of our animals such as our omnivores and insectivores. Students will work together to clean some larger more difficult enclosures, as well as learning how to redecorate enclosures and what goes into enclosure planning.
• Dec. 7^th – Heavy Hitters – Students will learn how to safely interact and hold some of our medium to large lizards including our tegus and monitor lizards. We will also be offering the large lizards their food. These will be our first carnivore feedings. We will introduce teens to with some apex predators of the US, including small alligators and snapping turtles.  If time allows, we will learn the importance of soaking our animals and misting their enclosures. 
• Dec. 14^th – Feeding Frenzy – It’s feeding day! Not just any feeding day, we are feeding snakes. Students will be able to feed some of our small to medium snakes. Today’s feedings will also include a demonstration of a large snake feeding (large being over 10 ft). We will discuss the importance of cleaning and sanitization of dishes and utensils used for feeding snakes. Bonus, if time permits, we will be able to interact with and learn how to catch up a small crocodilian.
• Dec. 21^st – The Keeper’s Quest – Welcome to the final week of the teen reptile zookeeper academy. Students will learn how to safely pull large snakes (10 ft+) and lizards (4 ft+) on their own WITH supervision. Teens have had five weeks to work with a variety of animals and find out what they enjoy most. They will get to handle and interact with some of their favorites. We will finish this final camp off with getting paint prints with their favorite animals to remember this experience forever!