Man raises 300 cobras every year

Raising a herd of more than 300 king cobras each year has brought great profits to Mr. Pham Van Dung, team 13, Thanh Luong commune, Dien Bien district, Dien Bien province. After 7 years of working with the herd of "serpent snakes", the nickname "Mr. Dung the snake" has become familiar to many customers.

Raising snakes from passion

It has been decades since Mr. Dung and his wife left Vinh Phuc to build a new economic zone in Dien Bien, but he has never stopped thinking about his homeland. His mind is always filled with the imprint of the "father-to-son" profession - raising king cobras.

“I have been passionate about raising snakes since I was a child. In my hometown, many people became billionaires thanks to raising this highly venomous snake. When I first came to Dien Bien, I really wanted to raise them, but there was no place to sell them, and the licensing procedures for raising this type of snake were very complicated,” Mr. Dung sighed when mentioning his passion for raising snakes when he was not satisfied. But after returning to his hometown and seeing many families getting rich thanks to raising cobras, Mr. Dung decided to build a snake farm in Dien Bien.

» The first model of raising king cobras in Nghe An

Mr. Dung checks and pairs snakes for breeding season.

To ensure the output of commercial snakes, Mr. Dung surveyed the market and contacted snake farm owners in his hometown to ensure they could be sold. "It sounds simple, but I invested nearly a billion dollars in a snake farm, built a safe cage, and applied for a certificate from the competent authority. It took nearly a year to complete," Mr. Dung shared.

In 2010, Mr. Dung started raising the first batch of 100 cobras. According to Mr. Dung, at that time, if he imported breeding snakes, the cost was very expensive and the profit was not much, but he still decided to raise the first batch for breeding. "If I have the technique, why not breed them myself?

But to do this is also a feat, the breeder must know the estrus period to pair the snakes, if not at the right time the snakes will bite each other and die.

When a snake lays eggs, you must also know how to incubate the eggs to maximize the hatching rate of the baby snakes. This step requires good technique to do," Mr. Dung confided about snake raising techniques.

The king cobras, after being raised for 1 year, weigh 2 - 3kg, bringing great profit to Mr. Dung's family.

From 100 king cobra parents raised in the first year, Mr. Dung expanded his commercial snake herd, at the time he raised a lot of snakes up to nearly 1,000. After 2 years of investing in the snake farm, Mr. Dung sold more than 300 snakes in the first batch with an average weight of 2-3kg/snake, the average selling price was 1 million VND/kg, after deducting expenses, he also pocketed more than 300 million.

Stop eating when the "snake" is sick

Mr. Dung loves king cobras and takes care of them like a baby. When he sees a snake sick or not eating, he immediately checks the snake's food source and cage to find out what's wrong and cures the snake. "Spending billions of dollars to invest in a herd of snakes, how can we not take care of them? Sick snakes will affect their reproduction and growth. Therefore, we have to check regularly. When we see signs of weakness or not eating, we have to find a way to treat them," said Mr. Dung. Many times, when the "cobras" got sick en masse due to inadequate food, Mr. Dung forgot to eat and sleep to find a way to save the snakes.

For snakes to grow quickly, their food must be clean, the main food sources are toads, water snakes, and frogs. Because the local food source is not enough to supply the snakes, he often has to import food from the provinces downstream. According to Mr. Dung, he strictly controls the food source, if the food is left for a long time, the snakes will often get sick.

According to Mr. Dung, snakes are very aggressive during breeding season, so snake breeders must be careful when pairing them. If they are not careful, they will be attacked by snakes, endangering their lives.

“The most difficult part of raising this type of venomous snake is feeding, mating the snakes, and when the snakes have just hatched. When feeding, when opening the cage door carelessly, the snakes in the corner will attack, which is very dangerous. When mating, if the timing is not right, the snakes are very aggressive, and if you are careless, you will be attacked,” Mr. Dung added about snake raising techniques. Pointing to the scars on his arms and legs, Mr. Dung remembers each time he was bitten by a snake. “People are scared when they see snakes, but I am used to it, and have been bitten many times, but I have a family medicine, so when I am bitten by a snake, I apply the medicine immediately, otherwise it will be life-threatening.”

To ensure that snakes grow and develop well, according to Mr. Dung, it is necessary to regularly clean the cages, sprinkle lime, and spray disinfectant to prevent snakes from getting sick. The cages are always lit to ensure warmth in the winter and have fans in the summer to ensure the cages are always dry. In addition to raising commercial snakes, Mr. Dung also sells snake eggs and baby snakes to anyone who wants to raise this type of "python". Mr. Dung is also willing to provide instructions, techniques, and experience in raising snakes for households who want to raise them.

From his passion for snake breeding, with 100 parent snakes at first, Mr. Dung's snake farm can now breed thousands of snakes each year, bringing him a profit of 300 - 500 million VND. "We breed but have to determine the output market, otherwise if we breed massively, the market price will drop and affect our income. The snakes I raise are all bought by traders, so for 7 years I have never lost money from snakes," Mr. Dung added.

According to danviet