Animal World & Snake Farm Zoo holds its Howl-O-Ween Extravaganza on Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25, and any child who arrives in costume gets in free with an adult ticket booked online. The zoo is in New Braunfels, on Interstate 35 about halfway between San Antonio and Austin, which puts it inside a comfortable day trip for most of Central Texas.
Two days is a short run for a Halloween event, so it is worth knowing what is in them before picking a weekend.
What is actually in the two days
More than a dozen trick-or-treat stations are set out along the zoo’s paths, which means the candy route is also the route past the animals. Around them the zoo runs Halloween-themed animal shows, a Creepy Crawly Station, an Epic Hay Maze, complimentary face painting and a costume contest. None of it is staged in a separate festival field. The whole thing happens while you walk the collection, which at this zoo means capybaras, otters, big cats, alligators and a great many snakes.
What is Halloween animal enrichment?
The item on the schedule worth planning around is the special Halloween animal enrichment. Enrichment is the keeper’s word for deliberately giving an animal something new to work on, a scent, a puzzle, a novel object, so that it has to investigate, manipulate or hunt rather than simply be fed. It is a daily part of animal care at a working facility, and in October the novel object is frequently a pumpkin.
That distinction matters here, because it is the difference between a zoo Halloween and a pumpkin patch with a petting pen. A capybara taking apart a gourd, or a big cat deciding what to do with one, is an animal solving something it has not solved before, in front of people who get to watch it happen. The decoration is for the guests. The enrichment is for the animals, and it is the better thing to stand in front of.
Practical notes
The free-for-kids offer is tied to an adult ticket bought online rather than at the gate, so the saving disappears if you turn up and pay at the window. The zoo publishes the event details and ticket link through its own zoo news page, which also lists the other family Halloween events running around San Antonio this month for anyone building a longer weekend out of it.
Animal World & Snake Farm Zoo is accredited by the Zoological Association of America. If you have been before, you will recognize some of the residents you are trick-or-treating past, including the capybara pups born here last year, who are not pups any more and are still among the easiest animals in Texas to like.
Quick answers
- When is Howl-O-Ween at Animal World & Snake Farm Zoo?
Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25, 2026, at the zoo in New Braunfels, Texas, on Interstate 35 between San Antonio and Austin.
- Do children really get in free?
Children in costume are admitted free with the purchase of an adult ticket, and the adult ticket has to be booked online rather than bought at the gate.
- What is included with admission?
More than a dozen trick-or-treat stations, Halloween-themed animal shows, the Creepy Crawly Station, the Epic Hay Maze, complimentary face painting, a costume contest and special Halloween animal enrichment, all of it spread through the zoo rather than held in a separate festival area.
- What is animal enrichment?
Deliberately giving an animal something new to investigate, manipulate or solve, such as a scent, a puzzle feeder or a novel object, rather than simply feeding it. It is a routine part of daily animal care, and in October the novel object is often a pumpkin.
- Which animals will we see?
The event runs through the regular collection, which includes capybaras, otters, big cats, alligators and a large number of snakes. Animal World & Snake Farm Zoo is accredited by the Zoological Association of America.
