It’s natural to find snakes and lizards roaming in a zoo, desert or forest. But, what if your first encounter with them is at your friend’s house? Not only that, but among a spider, owl, scorpion and a few cats? It must feel pretty insane! It’s for that reason that many of Youssef Najm’s friends never set foot inside his apartment, which, at some point, housed around 80 pets from various species. "I think I just watched National Geographic too much as a kid,” he quipped, explaining his passion for pet hoarding and pet breeding.
With a particular interest in reptiles, Najm’s hobby grew into a message of awareness, educating people about how they can keep reptiles as pets. Drawing from his experience of caring for around 60 snakes and seven lizards, he noted that these cold-blooded animals are not as harmful or scary as commonly perceived. He believes that our misconceptions about them are often rooted in childhood myths and Hollywood movies.
Najm gave an example of a certain reptile, describing it as the "nicest pet in the world”. It’s the bearded dragon, which experts have found to possess a remarkably gentle and friendly personality. They can stay in the same place all day, barely exploring to chase roaches for food. They don’t harm any human being; they might rarely bite, but only when they feel threatened, Najm told Kuwait Times.
Similar misconceptions surround snakes, with people always imagining their elongated bodies weirdly moving and sniffing humans, ready to attack at any moment. However, Najm refuted this belief, noting it’s typically the snakes that fear humans, and all the incidents he remembers from getting bitten by them were due to errors he made, such as making a sudden movement.
Therefore, he highlighted the importance of understanding the body movements of each reptile for better communication and avoiding any risk. Yet, even in the event of a snakebite, Najm reassured that snakes are relatively harmless, with only around 20 percent of them being venomous. "I would choose to get bitten by one of my snakes than one of my cats. Cats can rip my hand, but snakes would just bite and let go,” Najm remarked. According to him, they are also the most convenient pets that one could own. "If you can’t take care of a cat, dog or bird, get a snake. All you need is to feed it once a week.”
Najm acknowledged that despite his love for reptiles, their relationship isn’t as intimate as one might have with a dog, for example. He summarized it as "just food, fight and flight”. What he finds most unique about reptiles compared to other animals is their personalities, behaviors and breeding systems. He particularly admires how mixing their genes can result in infinitely fascinating variations, such as producing offspring with unique combinations of colors, stripes, spots or other markings.
One challenge he encountered with reptiles was the lack of awareness about their health issues in Kuwait, with 99 percent of veterinarians unfamiliar with reptile care and unwilling to treat them. Najm recalled an unfortunate incident when one of his bearded dragons got sand in its eye, resulting in permanent blindness because he couldn’t find professional help to address the issue. "Therefore, as pet lovers, we have no choice but to do our own research and be their veterinarians ourselves,” he rued.