The Critter Squad

I’m only giving this for their booking methods. It takes way too long and is so frustrating with every excuse as to why they can’t return your calls in a timely matter. I had this happen with purchasing a gift certificate for a school fundraiser and trying to book a 6 week art course which I finally gave up on. I was really looking forward to offering this art class to our community.

The people at Critter Squad on the phone are in a big hurry to hang up and go about their day. I just wanted to get some of information about for my daughters birthday party I want to do in the summer. I wanted to know the type and quantity of animals, how they are transported and if al the kids will be able to hold or touch the animals. They kept referring me to the website which I found to be very confusing and I just wanted to ask a few questions about the package I was planning on ordering. Well I haven’t ordered it yet, and not sure I will. I will check out what other companies are doing and see how they treat me. Very disappointed :(

I called to book them for my sons party and the minute I hung up the phone realized I told them the wrong date. The correct date of the party they were booked. I asked since I booked literally 2 minutes ago if I could get my deposit refunded and if not I would try to find a date that did work even if it meant rethinking the date of the party. I was told no problem getting my deposit refunded. This was in January and every month when I got my statement and didn’t see a refund I would call and ask about it and the girl answering the phone said, «oh sorry that should have been refunded let me talk to accounting» This went on for months until now in May the girl told me the owners were refusing to give me my deposit back. I understand and own that I gave them the wrong date but after hearing several times, over months that I would get my deposit back I just feel like this is bad business. If your employee told me the wrong thing over and over again, make good on your promise. And as a business owner $ 50.00 is worth getting what would have been a return customer for future parties. They may be great for animal parties but I sure think this is pretty lame customer service.

Two years in a row business is so late to return calls, they’ve booked your date by the time they call you back — even after confirming with initial email that the date and time you needed was available. But when you try and get them on the phone, with daily unanswered calls, they are so late to finally call back, you’re date has been given away. Horribly unreliable in a world and market so much more well geared to costumer service.

The Critter Squad was great to work with for my son’s sixth birthday party. Booking the party was very easy. Kat showed up on time and kept about 15 six-​year-​old boys entertained for about an hour, with a great energy and lots of information to keep the boys engaged about each animal. Many of the parents thought it was a wonderful idea for a party… We could all sit back and relax and enjoy the show as well. The chinchilla was absolutely adorable! Softest animal I have ever touched. But I think the snake was a fan favorite for the boys.

My son loves reptiles and critters and wanted a reptile based party and I heard great reviews about the critter squad from my friends so I gave the a try. My son absolutely loved his party due to the critter squad. The staff were amazing with the kids and were full of knowledge on the animals they brought. The animals they brought were really cool and the kids absolutely loved them. My son wants them for his next birthday ! I highly recommend them.

I decided to book Critter Squad for my son’s birthday party. My little one is very curious about animals and likes to ask a million questions. I expected them to get a little irritated with all the questions, but they were very good with the kids and being patient. I’m not good when it comes to party planning, so I kinda just let them do their thing. They brought party bags, cotton candy, a rhino mascot, and even took pictures. They all wore matching uniforms, which I thought was cool. Its not as cheap as getting a standard birthday cake, but I’m very happy with the price when I break it down. The level of professionalism, the time and effort put in, and most importantly, the smiles and looks on all the kids’ faces… My son will probably bring this up years from now. If you want to be the parent of the kid with the coolest party — this is the way to do it. Highly recommended!

I booked the Critter Squad for my son’s 3yo birthday party and it was big hit with all the kids and adults. It’s a great experience to be able to see some of these creatures up close and personal. Not all the critters could be touched (like the scorpion, but I’m ok with that) but the ones that could be pet (snake, rabbit, chinchilla) my son was absolutely thrilled to be the first one called up to pet them.
Cassie arrived right on time and was so patient as we tried to corral all 50 guests in the crazy unexpected heat of the day. She stayed the full hour and showed all 18 animals (we did the ultimate critter party) and was so informative and engaging.
I highly recommend this team!

Did the ultimate critter package for my 3 year olds bday party. Courtney did an amazing job at keeping the kids (ages ranged from 3 – 10 yrs old) entertained and highly engaged for a full hour! Courtney had something educational to say about every animal and made sure that she answered all the questions the kids had. She brought 18 different animals that ranged from a small leopard gecko to a green iguana named Iggy. They honored the groupon price mentioned during our phone booking and accommodated our request of No snakes! Overall highly pleased with their service. We would book them again.

As a former employee, I can vouch for the care of these animals and the amazing teachers. The animals are very loved, and very well taken care of. The people that work there are very passionate animal lovers and are excellent teachers. The facility manager’s passion to care for those animals is something I’ve never seen before, and is very admirable. The company’s owner has been training animals and showing them off to children for years, and is extremely knowledgeable.
The Critter Squad has such a large collection of animals ranging for domestic animals like rabbits to exotic animals like monitor lizards and pythons, all of which are friendly. All of the animals that go out to birthday parties, assemblies, carnivals, classroom shows, after-​school classes, etc. (they literally do it all), are trained so well. Most animals can be pet and/​or held by toddlers even, that’s how sweet they are. The teachers make sure their shows are not only fun and hands-​on, but they also make sure the children learn about the animals. It was always amazing hearing children tell their parents how much fun they had, and talking to their friends about their favorite animals (Hindu the Flemish giant rabbit most of the time) and spouting off facts like a little biologist.
Working for The Critter Squad was one of the greatest experiences of my life! And I definitely recommend this company to anyone with a love of animals!

I was recently at a party for my younger cousin and the Critter Squad was there. They were running a petting zoo and besides the fact that the animals where so cute and amazing, the animal teachers/​handlers for the day were amazing! They were so informative and just from talking to them you can totally tell they love animals! I would recommend these guys to anyone! The Prairie dog and ferret were so fantastic… plus I think they are the only ones with those animals in this area.

Hired critter squad for my child’s birthday party!!! It was home greatest experience from start to finish! The teachers were so knowledgable and good with kids… So many cool animals too! Would recommend to anyone!

I cannot recommend this company enough! In short, they went above and beyond what I expected, which is something you sadly don’t find often these days. I booked them for my daughter’s 7^th birthday party. They scrambled to accommodate the time and day I needed, sent an awesome animal handler who was great with the kids, were prompt and professional, and even stayed longer than we expected. The animals were beautiful, friendly, and looked well cared for. We booked a reptile party (which included a dramatic, HUGE python), but she brought out a couple «furry» friends at the end as a bonus! The kids were enthralled. Thank you Critter Squad for a successful party!

Critter Squad was amazing, I hired them to do an animal show for my son’s birthday party. The show was very entertaining and very educational for the kids. The staff was extremely friendly and patient with all the kids. I would highly recommend Critter Squad!

Thank you Critter Squad and Kat. I did a party for my 4-​year old grandson, he always talked about the Critter Squad when they came to his pre-​school. I did the Ultimate Party, there were so many animals, there were bunnies, hamsters, chinchillas, a Guinea Pig and many many more. Kat the lady that came was wonderful, she had a great time with the kids and answered kids and parent questions. She let all the kids touch the animals and even helped with Karen who did not want to go near the animals, she was a fan at the end. You will not be disappointed in hiring the Critter Squad. What a fun time we all had. Thank you Kat!

My daughter takes after school enrichment classes from the Critter Squad. They are an amazing company. She has loved all the teachers she has had at her school and seen so many different animals. They really do a great job.
She loved the after school classes so much that we hired them for her birthday party. Courtney arrived at our house on time, and was so very lovely with the children. She was very intelligent and had an answer for ANY question anyone had about the animals. She handled all the children extremely well and did a fantastic job. Handling a bunch of excited children jumping around trying to touch all the animals has got to be extremely frustrating, but you would never have known that from how cool and collected Courtney was.
She made my daughters birthday a very positive, memorable experience.
I would recommend this company to anyone.
They take credit cards, cash, check and sent me an invoice ahead of time.
Fantastic company, fantastic employees. 5 Stars.

I run a day care in the South Bay. We have used Critter Squad twice for camp day presentations and I have zero complaints. I love what they do and the animals that they bring to show the children. The presentation has always been educational, exciting, and most of all safe for the animals and children. I am also pleased with the pricing of the Critter Squad Presentations. I love animals and I definitely have not witnessed or noticed any maltreatment during presentations.

I’ve seen the Critter Squad put on multiple shows at birthday parties and misc. events and decided to book them for Reptile Week and my daughter’s preschool. I had numerous conversations with the staff prior to the event. They handle my questions, payment, etc. so professionally and promptly! The party was early morning on the Westside and I was nervous about traffic, but Courtney arrive RIGHT ON TIME! She came in with enthusiasm & such knowledge pertaining to the reptiles! She engaged the kids, kept 3 year olds entertained and in awe for 30 minutes!
The show was entertaining and lively. The customer service was impeccable! And overall I give them 5 stars!

Called to get info for a party and was amazed by the knowledge and how many little critters they can bring. I am a huge animal person and am looking forward to having them come out to do my party. I will give a review after also … I’m not easily impressed by animal people … But I am truly looking forward to seeing how much they will teach the kids and and can’t wait to see the look on the kids faces.
More to come after the party !!! As for now I am very happy to have found this cool way to interact with animals and still have kids having fun while !!! Would give more stars if I could… Will see you all after the event…

I find it hard to believe that people who care about animals would utilize this «service.» I first learned about this company because they provided the «entertainment» at a friend’s child’s birthday party. It was one of the hottest days of the year in Orange County. The animals were obviously stressed due to the heat and/​or unwanted contact with a group of 25 three-​year-​olds. The chicken was panting. The rabbit, whose coat was very long and thick, was moving around her enclosure clearly looking for a way to get out of the hot sun. No shade was provided to her for at least half an hour. It was very upsetting to watch.