Raising non-venomous snakes in Yen Thanh
Thanks to raising rat snakes, the family of Mr. Nguyen Van Sau in Kim Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district (Nghe An province) earns extra income each year to improve their lives.
The family of Mr. Nguyen Van Sau in Kim Thanh commune, a mountainous area of Yen Thanh district, had previously worked various jobs such as cutting acacia trees for hire, repairing motorbikes, and doing refrigeration work, but life was still quite difficult. Realizing that snake farming suited his family's capabilities, he switched to developing this business.
.jpeg)
Since the beginning of 2024, he has invested in building a barn. This is for raising commercially viable species of rat snakes such as the common rat snake, the striped rat snake, and the striped snake. These are all non-venomous snakes that pose no danger to breeders and have a stable market and high economic value.
According to Mr. Sau, the rat snakes and striped snakes are caught in the forest and raised when they are young. They are easy to raise; all that's needed is for the owner to feed them at the right times, on average once or twice a day.
The snakes can be fed by catching toads, frogs, and rats in the fields, or by consuming discarded livestock meat. They are raised for about 3-4 months before being sold, weighing 6-8 ounces each. Every 25-30 days, the soil under the cage floor is cleaned and replaced with fresh soil to prevent skin diseases.
At its peak, Mr. Sau raised hundreds of snakes, and most of the snakes were sold to regular customers who came directly to his farm to buy them for meat, at prices ranging from 200,000 to 400,000 VND per kilogram.
To ensure safety, Mr. Sau built his snake farm separately, far away from his livestock area. The enclosures are built with sturdy bricks and fitted with wire mesh to prevent the snakes from escaping, ensuring coolness in the summer and warmth in the winter.
Inside the enclosure, stones and straw are arranged to create artificial caves for the snakes to take shelter in. Thanks to snake farming, Mr. Nguyen Van Sau earns extra money to improve his family's life..
Mr. Nguyen Van Sau said: "Snake farming requires little capital and is easy to do; however, the market is very difficult, mainly selling in small quantities to acquaintances, so it's very hard to expand farming on a larger scale."
According to a representative from the Yen Thanh District Forest Management Department: Currently, snake farming is not widespread in Yen Thanh district. Some households, due to the small scale and spontaneous nature of their farming operations, pay little attention to registering for permits to breed wild animals.
In the long term, households raising snakes on a commercial scale need to notify the local authorities and the Forest Protection Department so that the relevant agencies can guide them through the procedures to apply for a business license. According to regulations, snakes are wild animals, so their breeding must comply with regulations on the management and protection of wild animals.
