Junior Keeper

Our Junior Keeper sessions are hands-on experiences where children work alongside one of our animal keepers, learning what it takes to care for a wide variety of native animals.

Every session is unique, with husbandry tasks changing depending on what needs to be done around the centre on the day. We can also tailor the experience to suit your child’s interests wherever possible. Whether they love reptiles, mammals, amphibians or insects, we’ll do our best to include extra time with their favourite animals while still giving them the opportunity to help care for a variety of species across the sanctuary.

Activities may include:

• Preparing animal feeds
• Making possum leaf bundles
• Creating bug boxes for our lizards
• Decorating reef tanks for our fish
• Cleaning animal enclosures
• Feeding a variety of our animals
• Setting up enrichment activities
• Learning safe animal handling techniques

What does a typical session look like?

A typical 1-hour session may include:

• Meeting your keeper and discussing the plan for the day, including animal safety and expectations
• Preparing food for the animals
• Meeting and handling some of our lizards, with opportunities for photos
• Feeding our lizards and skinks
• Collecting and identifying suitable native browse
• Learning about our possums’ dietary needs and preparing nutritious leaf bundles
• Meeting, feeding and holding our possums

Please note that the activities listed above are an example only. Every Junior Keeper session is different and will vary depending on the animals’ needs and the husbandry tasks scheduled for that day. Regardless of the activities, each session focuses on spending quality time with the animals while learning about their care, welfare and natural behaviours.

Program Information

• Suitable for children aged 5–13 years
• Drop-off sessions only (unfortunately we do not have space for parents to stay)
• All staff hold current Working with Children Clearances
• Maximum of 5 children per session
• Minimum of 2 children required for a session to run
• Private one-on-one sessions are available for $100 per hour

Pricing

• 1-hour session: $50 per child (minimum of 2 children)
• 2-hour session: $100 per child (minimum of 2 children)