Born into a farmer family, Nguyen Van Nhut Khanh, 33, in Cai Lay town in Tien Giang province, has been accustomed to wild animals like snakes, turtles, and frogs since childhood. After finishing high school, Khanh joined the army and was discharged in 2011.

At that time, Khanh was given more than 10 ri voi snakes to raise and Khanh felt happy as the snakes grew rapidly and gave birth to small snakes.

The young man from Tien Giang learned about the snakes and found that "ri voi" and "ri ca" snakes are considered delicacies, with consistently high market prices, because these reptiles are no longer abundant in the wild. Then he decided to raise the snakes in cement tanks and quickly set to work on his farming plan.

“I spent VND70 million to buy breeders and build cement tanks to raise snakes. To date, I have 1,000 parent snakes, including 900 ri voi and 300 ri ca,” he said, adding that some snakes weigh up to 5 kilograms.

Both "ri voi" and "ri ca" snakes are non-toxic, easy to raise, grow quickly, and have delicious meat. The farming requires little care because the snakes are resistant to diseases, while they can sell for high prices. "Ri ca" snakes prefer fish with scales, while "ri voi" only like catfish; "ri voi" snakes look more beautiful than “ri ca” thanks to more attractive color.

Currently, Khanh's "ri voi" snakes produce about 4,000 baby snakes annually, while "ri ca" snakes lay around 3,000 hatchlings. Khanh's snake farm consists of more than 20 tanks, where there are bamboo roots inside, nylon strings, and plastic pipes for the snakes to hide in.

According to Khanh, "ri voi" and "ri ca" snakes are easy to care for. He just need to feed them once in every 5-7 days. 

"The most important thing in raising 'ri voi' and 'ri ca' snakes is good hatchlings which are round-bodied and have shiny, beautiful skin. These snakes are prone to skin fungi and intestinal diseases, so the water must be carefully treated before pumping into the tanks,” he said.

Snakes, after 24 months of raising, will weigh 1.5 kilograms and start reproducing, producing 5-10 offspring. In subsequent years, they will lay more, with each mother snake producing 25-30 snakes per litter. The breeding season for 'ri ca' is fifth and sixth months, and 'ri voi' from the third to fourth months of the lunar calendar.

Hoang Thanh