- Tell our readers a bit about yourselves.
My name is Jessica Bigham and my husband is RJ Bigham. We have been married since 2017, and we have 2 little boys, Rogan (4) and Billy (2). I am a license clerk for Tuscaloosa County. RJ made Bigham Farms & Exotics his full time job in June of 2022. We love spending time with our animals on our farm, taking walks on our trail by the creek, traveling, visiting other zoos, and spending time with our family.
- What inspired you to open Bigham Farms.
When RJ was growing up, he was fascinated by all types of animals. His dad & brothers always talked about building a zoo together. His mother and grandparents lived in Florida, so he would spend his summers there. He loved learning about reptiles and catching them while staying in Florida. When RJ and I first got together, we took a trip to Florida, and started talking about having a zoo. We already purchased our blue & gold macaw, Poncho. After visiting Florida, we decided to move there for six months. Every day felt like a vacation. We went to a lot of zoos, and one that really stood out was Amazing Animals Inc. After visiting them, we knew we would love to have a facility like theirs. They had amazing animals (literally) with clean cages; you could tell all of the animals were loved and happy. We are still in contact with them to this day! When we moved back to Alabama, we moved on to our property in Coker. RJ worked a lot of overtime to build our place. We had farm animals for the longest plus Poncho, we finally bought our first exotic animal, Wally the Wallaby. We kept growing from there, and we finally opened our farm in 2022!
- What's one question you get asked most?
The question we get asked the most would have to be what made you get into exotics or where do you even find these animals. RJ’s whole childhood was about animals. He also has a lot of connections with animal people! I have always been an animal lover. I only had a dog and cat growing up, but I love learning about these exotics through RJ. He is the best teacher!
- Do you have a favorite animal on the farm?
It is hard to pick a favorite, but if we had to pick it would be our baby Camel, Woody & Louie the Lemur.
Here is a list of the animals you can see at Bigham Farms: Wallaby, Ringtail Lemur, Coatimundi, Patagonian Cavies, Macaw & Cockatoos, emus, goats, mini horses, tortoises, turtles, snakes, tarantulas, scorpions, legless lizard, camel, African serval.
In addition to public weekends, Bigham Farms also offers field trips, birthday parties, and will even visit your classroom for educational experiences.
 Photo Credit: Bigham Farms |
Check out their Facebook page HERE.
