Then came the muted “hugs.” Safran would glide upward toward the woman’s throat and pause under her collarbone, brushing the skin with her forked tongue. The woman laughed about it, calling it a kiss. But more and more often, she woke up at night with the heavy weight pressing down on her chest.

One evening, she startled awake to hear the snake’s sudden hiss. That was the moment she realized it was time to see a veterinarian. What she learned there finally opened her eyes to the danger of keeping a wild animal at home. 😨😱

The Truth at the Clinic

The veterinarian calmly weighed the python, pressed along its long body, and listened as the young woman described the nightly “hugs” and the refusal to eat.

“You see,” he explained gently, “this isn’t affection. With large pythons, fasting and stretching out alongside their owner are behaviors before attempting to take on a big prey. She is measuring whether the size is right. The coiling is practice for constriction. You have a fully grown, strong female here.