Behind the Scenes at Billabong Sanctuary
Can't get enough of our incredible native animals? Why not take a fascinating Behind the Scenes Tour for a close encounter with even more awesome wildlife!
Your personal tour starts in the Reptile House, which is packed with snakes, lizards and crocs. These 
animals are here because they are breeding pairs, they are too young to go on display, or we simply don't have facilities for them out in the park at the moment.
For example you may have heard of the stunning green tree python that lives only at the tip of Cape York. Very few people see them in the wild, but you can get up close to two of these emerald-coloured beauties.
You can also see Stimson's pythons, Collett's snakes, a woma, a red-tailed boa, brown tree snakes, and some huge water pythons as well as those awesome Burmese pythons.
You may get to hold a bug-eyed baby croc.
This little fellow is only 6 months old, and was hatched in our purpose-built incubator. We're growing him up to be a handling croc during the shows. If you're here during the breeding season, you can see the eggs we've gathered from the nest in our croc enclosures.
Your Ranger guide will explain why we have to take them away from Mum, and how they are cared for to ensure maximum hatching success.
Move on to the Food Prep area where Rangers and volunteers count out frozen fish, chop fruit, mould special meat patties and prepare those chunks of meat for the big crocs. Every one of our animals has special dietary needs and it takes most of the day to carefully measure out their particular food into dozens of individual bowls.
Out back you may get up close to a prickly echidna, carefully cradled in the Ranger's gloved hands, or a bearded dragon or shingleback lizard. If it's lunchtime for the big goannas, you can watch them chomp down a tasty morsel or two.
In the big aviaries you'll see new birds that are being hand-raised, such as Lockyer the whistling kite, and William and Vincenzo, two baby barn owls. They will be trained to join the daily free-flight show during Feathered Friends.
Then get ready for lorikeet feeding time, as these spectacular parrots swarm down to land on you while you offer them a nectar treat. It's like being inside a living, chattering kaleidoscope of rainbow-coloured feathers.
This exclusive Behind The Scenes Tour is an amazing bargain at only $10 per person ($5 for kids). You'll have your very own Ranger answering any questions, and showing you animals that most people never see. Just tell any of our friendly staff that you are interested, and be ready at 2:00 in the photo area for your unique interaction with some very special wildlife.
Check out our Facebook page for a photo album of even more Behind the Scenes animal adventures.
It was like watching the Discovery channel live, it was really a fantastic experience. – Ventakesh, India |
