You’ve become aware of cat coffee shops and dog coffee shops, however have you become aware of a reptile coffee shop?
The idea isn’t totally unique. Reptile coffee shops are incredibly popular in Japan, a nation that’s likewise home to… a capybara coffee shop?
However reptile coffee shops are not typical in Malaysia. We had Scary Crawlies Exotic Family pet Coffee shop (completely closed now) in Bintulu, Sarawak, and there’s Zoology Coffee Shop in Melaka, though it isn’t unique to reptiles.
Both had actually opened a while back, now there’s a more recent entrant, and it’s located in Klang Valley.
Opened on December 17, 2022, it passes the name of Fangs by Dekõri (Fangs).
Found in Bandar Sunway, Fangs is a dessert coffee shop with a twist. It’s home to a number of snakes, lizards, frogs, some charming gerbils, and a tarantula. These animals come from the owner of the coffee shop, Yap Ming Yang (Yap).
“They used to all be in my room,” he informed us, joking, “It’s very lonely now.”
A real reptile enthusiast, Yap’s fascination with animals began at a young age. He shared that he utilized to like capturing and observing spiders from around his home.
“I like feeding them, and watching them just live,” he mused. “They’re very interesting little creatures. You just see their behaviour, there’s so much more [to them] than meets the eye.”
From those little spiders, he began to keep tarantulas, then reptiles. According to him, these neighborhoods are really interconnected.
Individuals who keep tarantulas frequently keep snakes, and individuals who keep snakes might keep lizards, and so on etc.
His interest describes why he chose to pursue a degree in tropical environment biology. Prior to opening Fangs, he likewise utilized to import and offer reptiles.
However something Yap had actually constantly had an interest in doing is beginning a reptile-themed coffee shop.
“The thing is, I don’t have any F&B experience,” he confessed.
Rather of quiting, however, Yap chose to go another path.
Dealing With Dekõri to bring his vision to life
According to Yap, Dekõri, a Malaysian dessert brand name, had simply recently opened its franchise opportunities.
Yap chose to conjecture and provided his concepts to Dekõri. Remarkably, the Dekõri group was on board and even offered Yap complimentary reign over the interior decoration of Fangs.
When asked if Yap had actually thought about any other F&B brand name to deal with, he said no.
“I don’t think Fangs by McDonald’s would work,” he joked.
Although Fangs sports a more biophilic style compared to the normal Dekõri outlets, the menu is a standardised one that includes Dekõri’s signature Kakigoris, waffles, and taro ball desserts.
Nevertheless, Dekõri has 2 kinds of coffee shops—Premium Café and Dessert Café. As the previous kind, Fangs likewise serves soups, pasta, and croissants.
If you’re questioning whether any pests have actually made it into the food too, the response is no, although Yap quipped that he’s “always wanted to sell edible insects”. Most likely not anytime quickly though, and most likely not through Fangs, he ensured.
Keeping a trouble-free environment for human beings and reptiles
Something individuals frequently inquire about reptiles, Yap said, is how expensive it is to look after them. The response? Not expensive at all.
This may be unexpected to some, however reptiles are rather low-maintenance. For example, snakes just need to consume as soon as every 2 weeks, while tarantulas just consume as soon as a month.
“If you add all the maintenance of all of these animals together, it’s practically equivalent to [caring for] one dog,” he pointed out.
The tedious tasks are just changing the animals’ water and cleaning out their poop.
Another common concern for any animal café is the stress levels of the animals. For instance, the ethics of animal cafes in Japan have been largely debated and discussed.
But Yap believes that he has met all the requirements of his animals, including places to hide, so it shouldn’t be a problem.
“I’ve been keeping snakes for a long time,” he assured. “You can tell when animals are stressed.”
Because Yap is able to settle the maintenance of the animals himself, staff members at Fangs actually do not need to be adept at handling them.
Yap was able to show his expertise during our visit. Mid-conversation, he excused himself, dashing off to instruct patrons on the correct way to engage with the snakes.
“I’m actually more concerned about them injuring the snake than getting injured,” Yap commented as he sat back down. The snakes are already familiar with humans—it’s the humans that aren’t quite as familiar with the snakes.
Thankfully, there hasn’t been any incidences in the store.
Yap has also gotten clearance from the appropriate government agencies and obtained a surat sokongan (letter of support) from them. To do so, they had to write down a list of detailed SOPs within the cafe.
One such SOP is that, before eating, patrons must clean their hands with the provided sanitiser after touching the animals.
Showcasing the beauty of reptiles
One of the reasons why Yap felt inspired to start Fangs was because he believes that reptile hobbyists in Malaysia just have actually a few places they can go to and express their interests. Other than exotic pet stores, there don’t seem to be many other options.
As new as the café is, Fangs has actually already hosted a meetup for the reptile community by partnering up with Exotic Pets Studio. Many brought their own reptilian pets to the meetup, and someone even brought a meerkat.
Yap’s goal is to host a weekly meetup at Fangs for the community, as well as grow that said community.
“I would love for this hobby to grow,” he said. “Not many people know that these reptiles are easy to keep, they’re friendly.”
Many people associate snakes with danger, and oftentimes may kill them on sight out of fear. Giving these people an opportunity to really feel and interact with a snake might put some of those fears at ease.
Holding the corn snake at Fangs, I was reminded of another café I’ve been to—the aforementioned Zoology Café in Melaka—which also had a pet snake for customers to interact with.
Having done his own research, Yap is also acquainted with Zoology Café. Compared to Fangs, though, he considers the Melakan café to be more of a sit-down restaurant that lacks the cafe vibe that he is pursuing.
In time, Yap is likewise interested in diversifying the kinds of animals he keeps in the store, such as fish and shrimps.
Still, reptiles appear to be where his heart lies.
“I enjoy the idea that I can let normal people come and hold the snake, something they usually wouldn’t do,” Yap revealed. “I would like to give that experience to people outside of our community.”
- Discover More about Fangs by Dekõri here.
- Check out other short articles we’ve blogged about Malaysian start-ups here.
