TEEN REPTILE ZOOKEEPER ACADEMY

SCALES & TAILS UTAH PRESENTS:
TEEN REPTILE ZOOKEEPER ACADEMY
Six Session Series: Mondays - 11/16/26 - 12/21/26
Time frame: 4pm – 6pm, each Monday
Location: Scales & Tails Utah, Kearns, UT
Cost: $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:

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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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!