Reptile Cafe in Phnom Penh - Having Tea with a Snake

Discussions about restaurants, cafes, coffee shops or bars in Cambodia. Feel free to write any reviews you have, whether its the best burger you've had in Phnom Penh or the worse pizza in Kampot, we want to read it! Discussions about Khmer dishes are also in here, or you can leave your own. If you own a restaurant, feel free to let the expat community know about it here so that we can come check it out. Found a favorite cafe or have a place we should avoid? Tell us about it. Asian recipes & questions are always welcome.
bvanfossen
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Re: Reptile Cafe in Phnom Penh - Having Tea with a Snake

Post by bvanfossen »

ofparadise wrote: Wed Sep 12, 2018 11:55 pm Saw this on straitstimes[dot]com a few days back... Gonna bring my son there to see how he responds. As long the snakes are venomoids, it seems like fun.
I did not see any snake there, but if they do have one I'm willing to bet it will be in a tank. There were 2 very small juvenile iguanas, and the only loose animals while we were there. They were still has stone by the registers, even while I pet them.
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Re: Reptile Cafe in Phnom Penh - Having Tea with a Snake

Post by ofparadise »

angkorjohn wrote: Thu Sep 06, 2018 2:42 pm
PSD-Kiwi wrote: Thu Sep 06, 2018 2:16 pm That place has been open for a few years...it actually used to be a pet shop selling reptiles, snakes and exotic birds, but I think they had some pressure put on them by an NGO, so they turned it into a café. Great place to take kids.
isn't there also "zoo cafe" on 432's - got monkeys and rabbits etc running around while you sip a coffee. Keep meaning to take the nephews. Anyone been?

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50506073/the-zoo-cafe/
Sounds perfect for my bratty boys.. lol.
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Re: Reptile Cafe in Phnom Penh - Having Tea with a Snake

Post by ofparadise »

bvanfossen wrote: Thu Sep 13, 2018 7:32 pm I did not see any snake there, but if they do have one I'm willing to bet it will be in a tank. There were 2 very small juvenile iguanas, and the only loose animals while we were there. They were still has stone by the registers, even while I pet them.
maybe they took out the stunt pets for the photoshoot... sigh... still, it does sound intriguing... might still check it out... this time without fear of snakes... :)
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Re: Reptile Cafe in Phnom Penh - Having Tea with a Snake

Post by bvanfossen »

Seems like for the news story/promotion the animals were loose but are now kept in their cages.
I'm sure if they had loose snakes they'd lose business like yourself

Just realized, there is a "reptile cafe" that has the snakes spiders and scorpions. Zoo cafe doesn't but 2 small tiny iguanas
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Re: Reptile Cafe in Phnom Penh - Having Tea with a Snake

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

Animal cafe trend a concern for wildlife experts in Cambodia
By Ouch Sony
06 Oct 2018 06:26AM
PHNOM PENH: As the trend to keep and display exotic animals in cafes in the Cambodian capital grows in popularity, wildlife experts have warned that the animal trade is largely unregulated and could be putting creatures at risk.

Reptile Cafe, one of the city’s recent openings, is located on a quiet corner of Street 448 in Phnom Penh. Inside, a few cages filled with iguanas are displayed at the front door. On the left is a cage for a large red parrot, while further in, several other glass enclosures are filled with orange corn snakes, geckos and spiders.
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They are unlikely and unconventional coffee mates, but all of them have been brought into the country to spark the curiosity of customers, according to owner Chea Raty, 32.

“Seeing the growing market for coffee shops, I had an idea and wanted to open a small cafe and show off the species that I love,” he said.

He now has more than ten different species on show, which guests can freely interact with. And he plans to introduce more.
“As some customers sip their coffee, they'll see that others dare to hold these animals. And they too would want to try and touch them.”

None of these animals, however, has proper documentation. Instead, they were registered as pets by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

Similar to Raty, Nay Sokhondara, 25, said he started his Zoo Cafe four months ago after seeing the potential of combining coffee and animals.

The species he keeps in his busy establishment include marmosets, guinea pigs, a chinchilla and a raccoon.
“Many young people don’t know these animals, so I want to introduce them,” he said.

Most of them were bought from a farm in Thailand, and some he brought back from Vietnam. He has no formal documents to bring them across the border and admitted to taking a risk in doing so.

“I have some people there. I know them, so I can trust them. Then sometimes, I paid them also,” Sokhondara said. “I need to spend one day to transfer my pets individually.”

None of the species, he added, is endangered and he too has registered them as house pets with a five-year licence. His next plan: To source a small kangaroo from Thailand and create a breeding farm.

Sarah Brook, a technical adviser to Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), said the trend of exhibiting wild animals is a worrying one.

“Wild animals do not make good pets, so it not good to encourage this practice,” she said.

“Even when bred in captivity they need a lot of care, a good diet and an environment similar to their natural habitat, and free of disturbance and stress.
“I don’t think a cafe in Phnom Penh can provide that.”
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/as ... a-10790694
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Re: Reptile Cafe in Phnom Penh - Having Tea with a Snake

Post by Freightdog »

Resurrecting an old thread.

Did this cafe close down, change direction, or relocate?
Little fella is of an age where I think he’d enjoy and benefit from somewhere like this, if it’s still about.
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Re: Reptile Cafe in Phnom Penh - Having Tea with a Snake

Post by truffledog »

Freightdog wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 10:38 pm Resurrecting an old thread.

Did this cafe close down, change direction, or relocate?
Little fella is of an age where I think he’d enjoy and benefit from somewhere like this, if it’s still about.
my google results for thai cangaroo (did not know they exist)..i wonder if ChatGPT would have a better answer

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