ALTAMONT — Maya and Norman each have distinct personalities, says owner Adam Bornt. Maya is a “sweetheart,” and Norman is cuddlier on some days and more independent on others. Maya is an eight-foot boa constrictor, and Norman, who weighs in at 18 pounds, is a tegu, the largest type of lizard it’s legal to own in New York State.

These are just two of the more than 30 reptiles that Bornt, 24, owns. Through his company, Uncharted Wild, he will be showing and talking about some of these creatures during onstage presentations at the Altamont Fair.

Very docile and well socialized, Maya and Norman are two of the mainstays of the educational shows Bornt offers. The goal of his shows, he said, is to teach people that “reptiles are cool” and that they don’t need to be feared.

Bornt lets people, including children, hold Maya the boa, who weighs about 15 pounds. She is not strong enough, he says, to overpower a human even if she wanted to, which “she never would.”

He doesn’t usually let people hold Norman — not because Norman would intentionally hurt them, but because, as a natural burrower, the tegu has evolved to have long, curved claws. Bornt clips them, but still, when shifting his weight, Norman could hurt someone’s arm or shoulder. So Bornt keeps him on his own shoulder, and allows people to pet him.

The animals all live with Bornt in “a kind of addition” onto his parents’ house in Troy, because “no apartment would let me live with all these animals,” he says.

He studied zoology at the State University of New York College at Oswego and was head intern at a zoo there, G & G Animals, where he cared for reptiles and filled in for the owner, doing shows as needed.

Like many of his animals, Maya the boa was rescued. She came from a woman who was trying to care for her son’s snake after her son was deployed overseas with the military, but she was keeping Maya in a basement that, at 60 to 70 degrees, was too cold. Maya was sickly and had parasites.

Bornt has had the snake for two years, and she has only recently completely overcome her respiratory issues, gotten rid of all of her snake mites, and begun to put on weight. She will still put on another five or 10 pounds, he said.

He has also gotten several of his animals after parents have bought their children reptiles and the children have  lost interest.

He tells people that owning a reptile is quite different from owning a mammal or bird. One factor is longevity. Red-footed tortoises, for instance, can live 40 to 80 years. “If you give one to a 10-year-old kid, by the time the child is heading to college,” Bornt says, “the tortoise may only be one-quarter of the way through its natural life.”

Also, each animal will have very specific heat and humidity requirements that need to be closely followed and that can be expensive to set up, as well as its own feeding preferences and schedule.

A parrot rounds out the Bornt household, but the bird stays in the family’s living room, where, Bornt says, “she likes the attention from everyone.”

Uncharted Wild will do a show on a mini-stage at the Altamont Fair during its last four days, Thursday through Sunday. Afterward, he says, people will have a chance to pet several of his animals, including Maya and Norman.

****

Uncharted Wild’s reptiles will be onstage for one show during each of the fair’s last four days. The shows are scheduled for 5 p.m. each day. On Thursday and Saturday, they will be at the Fairground Office Gazebo, and on Friday and Sunday, at the Fine Arts Building Gazebo.