Story I heard about a python.

[Clouds.]

I heard a story recently about a friend of a friend having a python as a pet or some sort of large snake, and he was pretty close to the snake and would have it out of the cage a lot.
Once he let the snake lie down on the bed with him and then went to sleep and apparently the snake stretched out as if lying alongside him at full length.
He thought that it was just because the snake was comfortable around him but apparently he found out that the snake was measuring the length of him to see if it could eat him or not!!
I haven't got any knowledge of snakes but has anyone else heard about/had this happen to them?
It kinda' freeked me out!

[Grizabella]

I don't have a python of my own, but from what I can find on the internet, it seems that these stories are false:

http://www.snopes.com/critters/snakes/measured.asp

Although stories like these about snake owners being dangerously unaware that their pets are calmly sizing them up as the main course of their next meals are interesting, they should be classed with other fictional tales of snake scarelore on the following bases:

• Pythons don't measure their prey before going after their meals: they grab, they squeeze, they eat. There's little fretting in their nature about relative sizes of intended edibles, nor does all that much go into their thinking process.
• For a snake to slurp up a human, it would not only have to be at least as long as its prospective dinner, but also capable of ingesting the width of the person. While a really big snake could indeed swallow a person's arm, it's quite unlikely that the kinds of snakes typically kept in homes could get its jaws open wide enough to take in an adult human's head and shoulders

[tortured soul]

Yes I've heard stories about snakes and I have a python myself.I had mind do it to me before. Lil bastard bit my hand and tried to swallow it whole. Man that was not a fun trip to the ER i'll tell ya that. Best bet is to have your friend keep the snake in its cage and if He or she is going to take it out keep an eye on it AT ALL TIMES

[Power Cosmic]

I have two snakes and I think I can speak with some authority here that...well, those stories are a load of rubbish...they're just myths propagated to scare people out of having these beautiful creatures as pets.
Also, about the biting...that shouldn't have happened, you sure your hand didn't smell of mouse at the time? Bar that, the snake should have been tamed down, or was it wild caught? Wild caught specimens can never truly adjust to captivity...

EDIT: Also, if you have a snake, don't be so paranoid about it, it can sense that you're tense and it'll just get stressed trying to figure out what you're tense about.
My two snakes are beautifully tame and would never bite anything that isn't a rodent of some kind. If kept right, they won't be aggressive, unless its a feeding response, and even then, that can be avoided.

[i_am_me_again]

I love snakes...they are lovely creatures, Id never own one though. I knew someone with a python and it was beautiful. Used to get it out the tank all the time...never had no problems.

People think snakes are dangerous....well...they are....but those are only wild snakes....

...For a snake as a pet, it would have had to be tamed.