As the Lunar New Year 2025 approaches, on many travel groups, tourists are telling each other about a "heart-stopping" destination. That is Dong Tam snake farm, located in Binh Duc commune, Chau Thanh district, Tien Giang province.

Dong Tam Snake Farm's official name is the Center for Cultivation, Research and Processing of Medicinal Herbs, Department of Logistics and Technology of Military Region 9, covering an area of ​​12 hectares.

This is not only a place for scientific research, emergency and treatment of venomous snake bites, production of traditional medicine but also combines eco-tourism, attracting many tourists.

Coming here, visitors can admire the "snake kingdom" with many different types of snakes, from gentle snakes such as rat snakes, water snakes... to poisonous snakes such as king cobras, cobras...

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This is the unique "snake kingdom" in the West. Photo: Trung Dong

This snake farm also raises many rare animals such as tigers, red-faced monkeys, bears, small-clawed otters, gibbons, South American dragons..., there is a snake museum, an eco-tourism garden with a picnic area, crocodile fishing area, children's playground...

Snake farm representatives said that each year this place attracts about 200,000 domestic and foreign tourists.

Mr. Nguyen Trung Dong (33 years old, Tien Giang) has visited the snake farm many times and taken photos. Mr. Dong said that this is an interesting place for people who love animals, especially snakes.

All snake breeding areas have introductory information, or visitors can register to go in groups to have staff explain. Listening and learning about snake species is very interesting.

"The weather during Tet in Tien Giang is usually nice and cool in the morning, suitable for visiting the snake farm. Seeing a herd of snakes suddenly appear from the bushes and grass is truly a heart-stopping experience," said Mr. Dong.

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Dong Tam Snake Farm has more than 1,000 snakes of various types, mainly cobras and king cobras with nearly 700. In the photo is a yellow-bellied rat snake. Photo: Trung Dong

When entering Dong Tam snake farm, visitors will witness with their own eyes giant king cobras or cobras raising their heads, making sounds, spreading their hoods, and taking defensive stances... Many people are shocked when they suddenly see a snake raising its head and looking around.

Venomous snakes are kept in cages with iron nets, while non-venomous snakes such as water snakes, rat snakes, green vipers, golden vipers, and king cobras are kept in natural or semi-natural environments.

Mr. Nguyen Nhat Minh, whose photo collection of snakes at Dong Tam farm has attracted tens of thousands of likes on social networks, said: "To be able to hunt for impressive photos, I go to the snake farm at noon - a time when there are not many tourists, the space is quiet.

At this time, the sun was strong, clearly highlighting the snake's skin and creating impressive light and dark patches. I stood very far away, using a telephoto lens (long focal length lens) to take the photo, both to protect my safety and to limit the noise that would scare the snake away."

Impressive images of snakes. Photo: Nhat Minh

According to information from the snake farm, this place operates throughout Tet and can welcome thousands of visitors every day.

Dong Tam Snake Farm Ecotourism Site was recognized by the People's Committee of Tien Giang province as a 4-star OCOP standard tourist site in 2022.

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tien Giang province is completing procedures to propose the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to appraise the dossier to recognize Dong Tam Snake Farm Tourist Site as meeting 5-star OCOP product standards.

The snake farm is open from 7am to 6pm daily, with a ticket price of 70,000 VND/turn for adults and 40,000 VND/turn for children (children under 1m are free).

At the snake farm, there is a special activity that attracts tourists, which is the snake venom extraction demonstration. Through the procedure of extracting venom from cobras, red-tailed vipers, etc., the snake farm staff will disseminate knowledge about venomous snakes to prevent and provide proper first aid.

This is the only snake venom extraction show in Vietnam. During the Lunar New Year, there will be two snake venom extraction shows every day at 10am and 3pm.

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Snake venom extraction show attracts tourists. Photo: Trung Dong

On campus there is a snake museum built in 1996 displaying nearly 100 rare snake specimens, preserving specimens of most snake species currently found in Vietnam.

The mysterious story of the three-crested snake coiled in the sacred temple in Phu Tho Nha Ba Temple (Vinh Lai Commune, Lam Thao District, Phu Tho Province) is a place of religious activities of the indigenous people. Until now, generations have passed down mysterious stories about the temple, including the image of a three-crested snake coiled in the worship room.