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Reptile Gardens offers more all-around entertainment than any gator-themed attraction in Florida. Four shows rotate throughout the day, featuring snakes, alligators (and of course alligator wrestling), birds of prey, and the "Bewitched Village," an elaborate display of trained animals performing their tricks.
Between and after the shows, visitors can wander past the alligator pits, view exotic plants and smaller, harmless reptiles inside a walk-through terrarium, and give thanks that creatures like the Brazilian Giant Cockroach are kept safely behind glass. Small children can play "horsie" atop 400-lb. giant tortoises...but if they're prone to nightmares, keep them away from the photos of swollen, purple limbs in the second-floor snakebite display.
As this postcard suggests, Reptile Gardens has been here since 1937
Some of the hungrier 'gators awaiting their meal
Old-fashioned gator wrasslin'
Giant tortoise enjoying a veggie dinner
Albino Burmese python embracing its attendant
Barrel cactus in Reptile Gardens terrarium
Scarlet macaw at Reptile Gardens
Two rattlers, one water moccasin and a copperhead
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