Kensington Market is getting an exotic reptile café

If a reptile café was going to open anywhere in Toronto, let’s be honest, there’s nowhere it would thrive better than the biosphere known as Kensington Market. Mystik Café, which bills itself as North America’s first reptile café, aims to give caffeine seekers the opportunity to interact with all manner of cold-blooded beasts including snakes, lizards, chameleons, geckos, frogs and turtles starting on November 16.

Owners Jackie Lin and Millie Tang are partly opening the café to live out a lifelong dream. “Jackie has loved reptiles since he was a child in China,” says Tang, a private banker who now heads up operations. “His first pet was a chameleon—this was long before online resources existed to guide proper reptile care—and it passed away from dehydration.” Now, Mystik is hoping to heal that childhood wound with a place where visitors can be inspired by the intelligence of reptiles and see what responsible care looks like up close.

The coffee shop meets herpetarium is split into two distinct zones. Out front, there’s an ocean-themed space hawking Hatch coffee and treats from Circles and Squares Bakery and Kawartha Dairy. The back room goes for more of a Rainforest Cafe vibe, brimming with snakes, lizards, frogs, geckos and turtles in custom-built enclosures that purportedly mimic their natural habitats and resist the bustle of the café.

Related: Kiss and Tell—“My date’s apartment was full of snakes”

Thankfully for the reptiles, the jungle room’s capacity will be limited to 16 people at a time, and visitors will need a ticket that costs a tad more than a $5 coffee to enter. Tickets range from an expedient 15-minute look-see for $15.99 to a premiere hour-long experience where visitors can handle the delicate creatures in a supervised environment for $35.99—including a commemorative Polaroid, dessert and signature drink.

“Not all reptiles can be handled, as some can easily become stressed,” says Tang, noting that stress is one of the leading causes of premature death in captive reptiles. “But species like bearded dragons, monitors and certain geckos can form remarkable connections with their keepers. Some even behave like dogs.”

Mystik also plans to offer workshops and community events such as lectures on reptile care and terrarium-building classes. During opening week, visitors will be able to vote on names for their new scaly friends.

Related: A close-up look at Toronto’s first cat café (and its furry residents)

Tang ensures that Mystik’s reptiles and amphibians have come from ethical sources, including private rescues, responsible breeders and animal educators, and that they’re swapped out frequently for scheduled rest or if they show signs of stress. Still, it may be hard to shake the idea that these animals’ lives have been reduced to ambient entertainment for humans. That said, with winter firmly here, lounging beneath a warm light doesn’t sound like the worst way to live.