Raising cobras and wild animals, a Thai Nguyen man easily pockets 400-500 million/year

Sharing with PV Dan Viet, Mr. Duong Van Chung (Cau Luu hamlet, Tan Loi commune, Dong Hy district, Thai Nguyen province) said: Since I was a child, I have had a passion for snakes.

Therefore, I often catch snakes to raise. At first, I raised a few to get used to them, but later, after researching the market and seeing that the demand was very high, I decided to invest in a barn and buy breeds from Vinh Phuc to raise on a large scale."

Mr. Duong Van Chung (Cau Luu hamlet, Tan Loi commune, Dong Hy district, Thai Nguyen province) has had a passion for snakes since he was a child and that is the reason he came to the profession of raising cobras and king cobras - wild animals of the reptile class. Photo: Ha Thanh

In 2016, he started investing in systematic animal husbandry, in which he chose to raise cobras and buffalo tigers.

Because of his passion since childhood, Chung learned all the techniques of snake care by himself, in addition, he learned more experience from breeding farms in large craft villages. With a barn area of ​​about ^300m2 , Chung is currently raising more than 2,000 king cobras and buffalo tigers.

According to Mr. Chung, raising snakes basically does not take too much time, because snakes eat little, on average only need to be fed once every 5-6 days.

To ensure food source for cobras, Mr. Chung buys chicks from hatcheries, then cuts them into small pieces and cooks them for the snakes to eat.

With the current number of snakes, on average, each feeding is about 300 kg of food. Each year, the cost of food for a snake is about 100,000 VND.

With an area of ​​about 300 square meters of barn, Mr. Chung is raising about more than 2,000 king cobras and buffalo snakes. Photo: Ha Thanh

According to Mr. Chung, cobras grow best in temperatures ranging from 25 to 30 degrees Celsius. Photo: Ha Thanh.

Cobras thrive best in temperatures between 25 and 30 ^degrees Celsius. Therefore, in the summer, if the temperature is high, use a cooling fan or a heat-resistant system.

Snakes usually hibernate from late September to February of the following lunar year, during which time cobras will not eat.

Because of the nature of snakes, they will not eat prey at temperatures below 20 ^degrees Celsius. In addition, snakes should not be fed prey at low temperatures as this will affect the digestive function of this animal.

During the breeding process, snakes rarely get sick, only occasionally getting lung disease due to not being able to adapt to the erratic weather changes.

Or get intestinal diseases if eating unsanitary food. Therefore, to prevent snakes from getting sick during feeding, breeders will mix digestive enzymes and antibiotics into the food to increase resistance and prevent disease.

Cobra eggs hatch in humidity conditions of 70 - 80%. Photo: Ha Thanh

Snake eggs are incubated in conditions that ensure humidity, the most suitable humidity for snake eggs to hatch is from 70 - 80%. For king cobra eggs, the incubation period lasts from 70 - 72 days, and for cobra eggs it lasts from 60 - 62 days.

In the beginning, when the baby snakes are newly hatched, many of them will not know how to find food on their own, so keeping the group sparse will make it easier to take care of them.

For snakes that hatch eggs, the female snake will start to reproduce in the second year, and the male snake can be sold for meat. For female snakes during the reproductive period, you should feed them foods containing calcium so that they will lay eggs regularly, lay many eggs, and have beautiful eggs.

Each adult female snake will lay 20-50 eggs during each breeding period. "From last year to this year, due to high market demand, cobra eggs have a high selling price of 50,000-70,000 VND/egg.

I brought snake eggs to the snake breeding village of Vinh Son, Vinh Tuong in Vinh Phuc province so they could sell them to Chinese traders to hatch," said Mr. Chung.

Mr. Chung sells cobra eggs to large snake farms in Vinh Phuc for 50,000 - 70,000 VND/egg. Photo: Ha Thanh.

In 2024, Chung’s family sold nearly 10,000 snake eggs and about 7,000 – 8,000 commercial snakes. Currently, commercial snakes are priced from 600,000 – 700,000 VND/kg.

Currently, Mr. Chung is providing breeding cobras to many households in some provinces such as Quang Ninh and some neighboring localities.

In addition to providing breeding cobras, he also provides guidance on barn construction and breeding techniques, and completes paperwork to ensure safety for breeders. Chung sells adult breeding cobras for between VND800,000 and VND900,000 per kilogram.

In 2024, calculating the total income from selling snake eggs and cobra breeds, Mr. Chung earned about 400 - 500 million VND.

In addition to participating in effective family economic development, Mr. Chung is currently the Head of Cau Luu Hamlet with 8 years of working experience and many achievements.

Source: https://danviet.vn/nuoi-ran-ho-mang-dong-vat-hoang-da-mot-nguoi-thai-nguyen-bo-tui-400-500-trieu-nam-ngon-o-20240827114410332.htm