But at night, she woke up more and more often, feeling the weight on her chest.

And when one night she was awakened by the snake’s sharp hiss, she knew it was time to see a veterinarian.

And that’s when she learned something terrifying about the python, and finally understood how dangerous it is to keep a wild animal at home.

The doctor leisurely weighed the python, palpated it, and listened to its stories of nocturnal “cuddling” and refusal to eat.

“You see,” he finally said, “this isn’t affection. Large pythons starve and stretch along their owner’s body—a typical complex before attempting to swallow large prey. The python is measuring whether the size is appropriate.