13-year-old Bingzhe from
Dongguan,
Guangdong Province, has been living and
sleeping together with a gigantic python
ever since he was a baby.
Bingzhe’s father said that the black python has
been a family pet for 19 years, Yangcheng
Evening News reported. After Bingzhe was born, the non-venomous constrictor became the boy’s
nanny since both of his parents were busy
working. Bingzhe was nine
months old when the
20kg python started to sleep in the same bed with the boy.
The unlikely pair has
been best friends ever since. They play and have fun together. And during
hot
summer nights the snake’s cold body is a
natural
air conditioner for the boy who likes to
use it as a pillow.
The pet python is currently 4-meters long and
weighs nearly 100 kilograms – big enough to
swallow an adult human. But according to the
boy’s father, the constrictor is very tame and has never hurt anyone. Bingzhe, who hopes to become an animal
expert when he grows up, wishes that as the
Year of the Snake nears, people won’t eat as
much snake meat.