Dong Tam Snake Farm is the largest snake breeding and treatment facility in Tien Giang province, Mekong Delta.
Dong Tam Snake Farm, located about 9 kilometers west of My Tho City in Binh Duc Commune, Chau Thanh District, Tien Giang Province, is the largest center for snake farming and snakebite treatment in the Mekong River Delta. It has long been a popular tourist destination for both Vietnamese and foreign visitors. It is a unique tourist attraction in Vietnam.
Dong Tam Snake Farm is one of Vietnam’s largest snake centers, providing snakes with a green environment free of human interference. Dong Tam Snake Farm was founded on October 27, 1979, in an area riddled with mines and barbed wire left behind by the US troops.
Dong Tam Snake Farm, with its collection of over 50 snake species, is one of the country’s main snake-raising facilities, producing venom for local consumption and export. Tran Van Duoc, a retired Vietnamese soldier and snake specialist, used to operate this 12-acre farm (Tu Duoc also).
The farm is presently under military control, with a large collection of not just snakes but also other creatures such as crocodiles, bears, turtles, lambs, and ostriches. Some of them are mutants, the result of Ag.ent Orange spr.a.ying in the Mekong Delta during the war.
Dong Tam Snake Farm has long been a popular tourist destination for both local and international visitors. When we visited Dong Tam Snake Farm, we accompanied Lieutenant Colonel Vu Ngoc Luong, Deputy Director. We were both terrified and delighted when we saw the cobras, which were about 4 meters long and weighed 18-20kg, coiled up with an erect flattened head and dazzling eyes.
They appeared to be plotting an a.t.t.a.c.k on us. Cobras are a kind of poisonous elapid. They are known as the “monarch” of the snakes and are graded “E” in Vietnam’s Red Book. Cloud tigers are so named because they crawl as rapidly as the clouds that float in the wind. Each year, the cobras only produce one young snake. Dong Tam Snake Farm now includes over 200 parent cobras and many baby snakes ranging in age from 3 months to a year.
Cobras are a valuable and poisonous species. They are classed as “T” and are legally protected by the state. One gram of its venom may k.i.ll 160 persons weighing 60kg on average.
Another elapid species, which mostly inhabits mountainous and midland environments, may spew venom from 1.4-1.6 meters away, therefore visitors should keep a safe distance from them. The vipers are usually hiding under green foliage. They appear peaceful and sluggish, yet when thre.at.ened, they at.ta.ck as quickly as lightning. This species’ ve.no.m causes blo.od ves.sels to burst, resulting in cardiac collapse and de.ath.
Dong Tam Snake Farm is a one-of-a-kind attraction on the My Tho-Thoi Son Isle-Dong Tam Snake Farm trip. The tour guide at the farm will teach tourists about each type of snake, their traits and physiology, and how to distinguish between venomous and non-venomous snakes so that they can survive if b.i.tt.en by the snakes. Here, visitors seem to be lost in a kingdom of hundreds of species of snakes.
Many snakes are wrapping themselves around the trees. Visitors may also witness numerous rare and valuable amphibian species, such as pythons, crocodiles, and turtles, which are on the verge of extinction in Vietnam. Dong Tam Snake Farm features a museum with over 40 snake specimens that have been included in Vietnam’s record book.
This is Vietnam’s first snake museum. Visitors will appreciate the serene environment of the fruit gardens, which are evocative of peaceful countryside, in addition to learning about the snakes. Every year, between 30,000-40,000 local and international visitors visit this location.
It is relatively easy to go to the farm by motorbike or vehicle from Ho Chi Minh City. Follow the dirt road for 4 kilometers from Dong Tam Junction, then turn right and continue until you reach the snake farm. To reach there from My Tho, take Le Thi Hong Gam street west for about 7 kilometers along the river, then turn right immediately outside the Binh Duc post office. Then take the gravel road for 3 kilometers.
