Hanoi’s Pet Cafe aims to charm nation of snake-eaters

DPA/HanoiVietnam may be famous for its rapacious wildlife consumption, but the creatures on display at one cafe in Hanoi are definitely not on the menu. From the outside, a busy thoroughfare in the centre of the city, Pet Cafe looks innocuous enough, despite the iguana staring languidly out of the window. Step inside, and the atmosphere is rather different. On either side of the counter, large glass display cases reveal a menagerie of animals of all shapes and sizes - lizards, snakes, a large tarantula and even a sleepy hedgehog. Pet Cafe opened in 2010 and remains the only one of its kind in the city. Customers can sit at small bamboo tables, order a hot drink or fruit juice and handle one of the many animals on display. Owner Nguyen Minh Nghia, 31, says he wants people to feel comfortable with animals like this - especially reptiles - so they stop being afraid of them. “When customers come to the shop they are usually afraid,” he says.  “But after they play with the snakes and the lizards, they are more relaxed. It’s fun.” Pham Thu Phuong and Ngoc Hoang Bich - two 20-year-old economics students from the city - sit in the corner sipping tea next to a display case with a large python. “A friend posted a picture of himself on Facebook with some snakes in this cafe so we wanted to come and see,” Phuong says. “It’s very interesting, there are no other cafes like this in Hanoi.” The women say they are waiting for more friends to arrive before they handle the snakes themselves. “I’m not scared of snakes, but I think some of my friends are,” Bich says. “But I will not pick up the spider, spiders are disgusting.” There are 30 animals in the cafe, and owner Nghia keeps another 10 at his home. The former stockbroker started collecting pets eight years ago after prompting from some American friends. He bought an iguana at a reptile market in Thailand. “It was the size of my thumb,” Nghia says, nodding towards the now- 1.7m-long lizard in the window display unit. “I called it ‘Maddy’ because it was so crazy,” he says. He learnt how to care for the animals on the Internet, and raised them all himself. “That’s why they are safe to handle,” he says, placing a large hairy tarantula on the palm of his hand. A photograph on the wall of his 5-year-old daughter playing with a large python is testament to his confidence. Snakes and lizards are usually viewed very differently in Vietnam.  They are often made into tonic wine, which is believed to have medicinal qualities. Snakes are also considered a delicacy and are served as special dishes at wildlife restaurants. “I tell my friends not to eat snake meat or drink snake wine,” Nghia says. “I hope if they see how nice snakes are, they won’t want to eat them.” Nghia first became interested in keeping reptiles as pets when he was a child. “I saw some men killing a Chinese Water Dragon [a lizard native to Southeast Asia]. I persuaded my dad to buy it and we took it home,” he said. “But it died after three years because I didn’t know how to look after it.” Nghia buys most of his animals in Thailand, however he has sourced some closer to home. “A few snakes and a squirrel I bought when they were babies,” he said. “I asked people to get me them from the forest.” Looking after the animals properly is expensive. The reptiles need lamps that mimic sunlight, and Nghia has to import the equipment. The most difficult to care for is the chameleon, Nghia says, because it requires an exact temperature of 25 degrees centigrade all year, and in Hanoi the winter is chilly. The upkeep of all the animals costs Nghia around $350 per month, part of the reason why, since it opened, the cafe has failed to turn a profit. “I earn a living from renting out some property, not from the cafe,” he says, adding that the money isn’t so important to him. “Having pets like this is a wholesome hobby,” he says. “It’s much better than other things that people do in their free time, like drinking beer.”