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Tailor-made herping tours

Tailor-made herping tours around Thailand

Tour description in short

Our tailor-made herping tours around Thailand have open itineraries. Our expert herping guides will take you on an adventure to search for your target species. Or simply try to find as much diversity of species as possible in the time frame you have.

We will get around by car to travel from destination to destination, as well as from habitat to habitat. And we will primarily set out on foot to search for reptiles and amphibians. Both during the day and at night.

Why our tailor-made herping tours?

Our flexibility will allow to maximize your chances within the time frame you have. On a day-to-day basis we will look at the conditions, and the success we did or did not have in finding the species you would hope to see. From there, we discuss if we wish to stay in the area where we are, or go herping in new terrain with new possibilities. This way of operating has resulted in many successful herping tours we have done over the years.

Thailand has so much to offer with its great diversity of herpetofauna, you do not want to miss this. And we will go the extra mile to get the most out of your trip.

Click the following button to contact us, or continue reading, below.

Tour package summary

Activities

Field herping
Jungle walk(s)
Night drive(s)
Night walk(s)

Tour details

1-day tour
Private tour
6000 Baht (per day)
Difficulty level: Easy to moderate

What's included?

Expert herping guide (English)
Transport

Omkoi Lance-headed Pit Viper, Protobothrops kelomohy — Omkoi Lance-headed Pit Viper, *Protobothrops kelomohy*, a species that we newly described with a team of herpetologists in 2020. Only found in northwest Thailand.

Tour itinerary

About the itinerary of our tailor-made herping tours around Thailand.
Note: We can organize long trips of one or more weeks.

Day 1 (±10:00 to ± midnight)

Rhabdophis nigrocinctus feeding on an undescribed Leptobrachium species — Black-banded Keelback, *Rhabdophis nigrocinctus* feeding on an undescribed Spadefoot toad, *Leptobrachium sp.*

Being tailor-made trips, we can of course not point out exactly how the itinerary will be. Depending on the total duration of your trip, perhaps the time of year, and the target species you would like to see, we make a decision which region(s) to visit. Even on each day itself, our herping guide will decide hour by hour what to do next, based on your preferences, weather conditions, results, or simply instinct.

On longer trips, some days we might cover long distances to get to a new region with new possibilities of species. Once in the field, we will usually go out on foot to search for the herps. Occasionally, we might do some road herping, but in most situations herping on foot is the most successful, and most fun.

Of course the nighttime is an important part of these tours. But when time allows we will also go out in the field in daytime.

Typically, we start the days a bit late in the morning to allow for some sleep. We do not really have a fixed end time at night. Usually we will go on till midnight which means about 5 hours or so of night herping. Though depending on the energy levels of both you and the guide, we might continue till later, or other nights we might finish a bit earlier.

A smiling Nepal Flying Frog, Zhangixalus smaragdinus from western Thailand.

Extra information related to these herping tours

Banded Krait, Bungarus fasciatus — A Banded Krait, *Bungarus fasciatus* from southern Thailand

Our herping tours can take place all year round. As long as our guide is available. Booking in advance is recommended!

However, it is wise to look into what time of year to visit. It's best to contact us to explain what species you would like to focus on, then we can give you more specific recommendations.

Overall, the wet season is usually the best to see a high diversity of species. It depends a bit on where in Thailand you are which months are considered wet season. Generally it is roughly May to October. In the South this extends till the end of the year.

But some species are best found in their mating season, which might be in the winter or the hot, dry season.

Monocled Cobra, Naja kaouthia — A Monocled Cobra, *Naja kaouthia* from Nakhon Sawan province

How much does a tour cost?

Abbott's Anglehead Lizard, Gonocephalus abbotti — Abbott's Anglehead Lizard, *Gonocephalus abbotti* from Halabala wildlife sanctuary

This is the fixed day rate for our tailor-made herping tours. This only covers the fee for our staff with one vehicle. This is a bit different from our usual tour packages which are often pretty much all-inclusive.

This fixed day rate does not depend on the group size, though it is limited to the number of people (with luggage) fitting in one vehicle. We have a vehicle available which fits up to four people plus our staff. If your group size is larger than four people, please, contact us for an offer.

The day rate does not include any of the costs made during the entire trip. This allows for a completely flexible itinerary. For example, fuel is not included. That means there is no limit on how far we can travel.

It is also important to note that not only you are expected to pay your own accommodation, food, drinks, entrance fees, and additional transport if required. But you are also expected to cover all those costs for our staff, which includes one room for our staff for every night of the entire trip at the accommodation you are staying at. The same applies to costs for food, drinks, and entrance fees to national parks for our staff.

Prior to the booking, we can give you a bit of an idea what those additional costs roughly are.

Group size:	Rate per day:
N/A	6000 Baht

What's included?

Expert herping guide (English)
Transport

Other tours in Thailand

Tours around Thailand (overview) Tailor-made herping tours

We'd love to hear from you

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Reviews of the Tailor-made herping tours

Our guests have rated us 5 out of 5 stars (2 reviews)!

2.

Name: Tim Christensen, United States

Tour: Tailor-made herping tours

Tour date: 13 May 2019

Rating:

I recently concluded an extraordinary ecological field tour with Tontan Travel (May 13-19, 2019). The tour was phenomenal...there's no other way to say it. It exceeded my expectations in so many ways. In my case, my major interest was observing/photographing insects, other arthropods, and herpetofauna (particularly snakes) - the tours gave me the opportunity to learn so much about these organisms in Thailand. Additionally, the tour was flawlessly organized and executed. Without a doubt, I will be returning next year! What a great time.

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1 / 16 Nganson's Bronzeback, Dendrelaphis ngansonensis

2 / 16 Cheirotonus parryi(?)

3 / 16 Leopard Cat
Leopard Cat in Khao Yai

4 / 16 Large-eyed Pit Viper, Trimeresurus macrops
The image that sums up the trip targetting snakes and arthropods, a Large-eyed Pit Viper, Trimeresurus macrops and some damselflies

5 / 16 Spider eating a wasp

6 / 16 Lantern bugs, Pyrops ducalis

7 / 16 Indochinese Water Dragon, Physignathus cocincinus

8 / 16 Vogel's Pit Viper, Trimeresurus vogeli

9 / 16 Striped Sticky Frog, Kalophrynus interlineatus

10 / 16 Large-eyed Pit Viper, Trimeresurus macrops

11 / 16 Chanard's Mud Snake, Enhydris chanardi

12 / 16 White-lipped Pit Viper, Trimeresurus albolabris

13 / 16 Tiger beetle species

14 / 16 Tarantula species

15 / 16 Paradise Flying Snake, Chrysopelea paradisi

16 / 16 Burmese Green Crested Lizard, Bronchocela burmana

❮ ❯

Tontan Travel wrote:

Thank you for your kind words. We hope to meet you again!

We've added some images of some of the species we found on your trip.
1.

Name: Robert B, United States

Tour: Tailor-made herping tours

Tour date: 30 Jul 2016

Rating:

We recently spent almost two weeks with Tontan. Ton is a very knowledgable and enthusiastic herper and Tan is a most gracious and pleasant host. I highly recommend them and look forward to returning to Thailand for further adventures with them in the not-too-distant future

Tontan Travel wrote:

Thanks Robert for you kind words. It was a great pleasure to spend 2 weeks of herping with you guys. And with a list of about 80 herp species, and in addition to that some amazing mammal sightings like the Dhole hunting down the leucistic muntjac in the water, made it a very special trip.

We're looking forward to meet you again someday, maybe visit some other parts of the country to find different species.

Greetings from the Thai jungle!