Dong Tam Snake Farm

Dong Tam Snake Farm is located about 10km from My Tho in the direction of Vinh Long, breeds snakes for eating, for their skins and for producing antivenin. Most of the snakes raised here are pythons and cobras.

The king cobras are raised only for exhibit – they are extremely aggressive and are even capable of spitting poison, do not get too close to their cages. The regular cobras are kept in an open pit and they will generally ignore you if you ignore them, but will strike if they are provoked. On the other hand though, the pythons are docile enough to be taken out of their cages and handled, but be warned that the larger ones are capable of strangling a human.

The farm was formerly run by a retired Viet soldier colonel named Tu Duoc, who ran the place very efficiently. Unfortunately, after his death in 1990, facilities have gone steadily downhill.

The snake farm is really to be recommended to those truly charmed by snakes. Dong Tam also has a collection of mutant turtles and fish on display. The cause of their genetic deformities is almost certainly the spraying of Agent Orange during the American War, which was particularly intensive in the forested parts of the Mekong Delta. The snake farm is operated by the Vietnamese military for profit and is open to the public. The restaurant here includes cobra on the menu and there's a shop where you can stock up on cobra antivenin.