The zoo near where I live has a kinda touchy feely hour 3 times a day where kids and adults can go along and Handle or 'pet' all kinds of exotics... obviously nothing overly large or dangerous! I went last year and held a BP for the first time and it totally made me and my boyfriend want to get one... which we did about a month ago! I was excellent to have a chance to experience exotic animals in a safe environment, I also held a cockroach which I NEVER thought I'd do! Really great especially for kids!

Good luck if you go for it!!