Stingray Feeding
Help feed the cownose rays in Stingray Touch!
Dip your hands into warm, tropical water for the distinctive experience of feeding cownose rays! With their mouths on the underside of their bodies, the majestic rays will glide over your hands searching for a seafood treat. Don’t miss this exceptional, hands-on experience to connect with these graceful fishes and the aquatic animal world.
Dates
Daily
while Stingray Touch is open
Stingray Touch and Feeding will open on Saturday, May 23, 2026.
Times
Feeding
times are 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (while supplies last!)
Ages
6
years old and up
Price
$5 ($3 for members)
Stingray Feeding
Help feed the cownose rays in Stingray Touch!
Dip your hands into warm, tropical water for the distinctive experience of feeding cownose rays! With their mouths on the underside of their bodies, the majestic rays will glide over your hands searching for a seafood treat. Don’t miss this exceptional, hands-on experience to connect with these graceful fishes and the aquatic animal world.
Dates
Daily while Stingray Touch is open
Stingray Touch and Feeding will open on Saturday, May 23, 2026.
Times
Feeding times are 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (while supplies last!)
Ages
6 years old and up
Price
$5 ($3 for members)
How to join a Stingray Feeding
- Visit the Ticketing Pavilion, Information Desk in the main entrance, Virtual Reality or the 4-D Theater to pay for your Stingray Feeding experience.
- Proceed to the Stingray Touch exhibit, outside on the Ground Level.
- You’ll be instructed to wash your hands before and after feeding or touching the rays.
- The rays’ diet consists of seafood, if you participate, you will be touching fish. Please do not participate if you have seafood/shellfish allergies.
- Instructions for how to hold the rays’ food and feed them will be provided before the experience.
Additional questions
If you have additional questions about this experience, please contact us at [email protected] or call us at 312-939-2438.
-
Rays eat a mixture of seafood every day. You’ll most likely be feeding them either silversides or anchovies.
-
The health and welfare of the animals always comes first. We set aside a portion of their diet for these guest feedings, while keeping the rest for our animal care team to feed them.
-
These are some of the things we need guests to wash off before putting their hands in the stingray habitat. This helps us provide the very best and healthiest home for the animals.
-
Stingrays' mouths are on the underside of their bodies. You’ll be guided to feed them in a way that keeps all fingers away from their mouths. Unless you’re feeding a ray, the most comfortable and safest places to touch them are their backs and “wings.”
-
The rays have free roam of their habitat–it's their home! They have space to get close to guests, but also move away when they want to. A little patience can go a long way. Give them a chance to join you!
Stingray Touch (seasonal)
Uncover the unique texture of a stingray as you dip your hands into the tropical waters of Stingray Touch. Are they smooth? Are they slippe...
Cownose Ray
You couldn’t find a better kind of stingray for an experience like Stingray Touch than the big-eyed, blunt-snouted cownose rays.
Touch Experiences
Meet some of our animals up close with an animal encounter! From smooth stingrays to leathery sturgeon, you'll be surprised at all the unique te...