Take a ‘slothie’ at Wild Florida

If you’ve ever dreamed of taking a “slothie” — a selfie with a sloth — Wild Florida can make that a reality.

Located in Kenansville, about 40 miles south of Orlando, the animal park offers two-toed sloth encounters at 10:15 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Up to 10 guests enter the sloths’ enclosure during each encounter. If you’re lucky, you’ll also get the bonus of interacting with the iguana that resides with the sloths.

During my encounter with Ari, the female sloth, she was happy to entertain her guests, while Guy, the male sloth, preferred his resting spot inside a ceramic pot.

The handler quickly moved Ari to a perch in the center of the enclosure so everyone had a good view, giving Ari an ear of corn to keep her occupied as some sloth facts were shared. My COMMENTARY husband’s favorite tidbit: Sloths only poop once a week and can lose up to a third of their body weight each time they go.

As the handler talks, guests have the opportunity to take their slothies and interact with the sloths. You can’t hold them, but you can pet their heads.

We spent our time (about 15-20 minutes) with Ari, since Guy wasn’t in the mood to interact.

The sloth encounter costs $41.93 plus tax, and reservations are required. If you book an animal encounter, you also get free admission to Wild Florida, so plan to stick around the park for a bit to explore the animal exhibits. You can feed some goats and alpacas in the petting zoo, catch some animal shows and grab a bite to eat at the Chomp House.

In addition to the sloth encounter, Wild Florida offers a VIP sloth experience — up to four guests each day get to feed and hold a sloth during this limited-time event that costs $213.93 plus tax and takes place at 9 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

The park also has ringtailed lemur, African crested porcupine, gator and albino gator encounters. Other Wild Florida experiences include dining with an alligator, a chance to be a keeper for a day or a behind-the-scenes tour of the wildlife park.

For more information and booking, go to wildfloridairboats.com/animalencounters/.