RCReptiles.com

[RonCrawford]

Cambodian Child, 7, Has Had Special Bond With Python Since He Was 3 Months Old


UORN SAMBATH, 7, sleeps in a coil of his female python at his home in Setbo village, outside of Phnom Penh. He's built a strong friendship with the snake for seven years. (HENG SINITH / AP / December 3, 2007)


By KER MUNTHIT | The Associated Press
February 16, 2008

Being responsible parents, Cambodian rice farmer Khuorn Sam Ol and his wife might not be expected to be keen on having their child play with a 16-foot-long, 220-pound snake.

Yet they are unflustered that their 7-year-old son, Uorn Sambath, regularly sleeps in the massive coil of a female python, rides the reptile, kisses it and even pats it down with baby powder.

"There is a special bond between them," Khuorn Sam Ol explains. "My son played with the snake when he was still learning to crawl. They used to sleep together in a cradle."

The boy and his snake have become a tourist attraction in the Setbo village of Cambodia, about 12 miles south of the capita, Phnom Penh, as well as a source of wonder to the locals.

"People sometimes call the boy and the snake husband and wife," says Cheng Raem, a 48-year-old neighbor. "Maybe they were a couple from a previous life."

Boy and snake grew up together, ever since the python slithered into the family home when Uorn Sambath was 3 months old. His 39-year-old mother, Kim Kannara, discovered the reptile, then about the size of a thumb, coiled beneath a woven mat on their bed.

Khuorn Sam Ol took the snake away, releasing it in some bushes by a local river, but one morning two weeks later, he found it back inside the house. He decided to keep it and named it Chamroeun — progress, in English.

He came to believe the snake possesses a magical spirit that understands what he says and protects the family from illness. The snake has its own 7- by 10-foot room with a spirit house at which Khuorn Sam Ol prays for the python to keep his family happy and healthy.

The snake is so familiar with his son — one of four children — that it would never hurt him, he says.

According to Nikolai Doroshenko, a Russian snake expert living in Cambodia, it's true that pythons rarely attack humans unless provoked.

But there is still an element of danger in allowing any young child to play with a large python with a grip powerful enough to break bones, says Doroshenko, who runs the Snake House guesthouse in the southwestern city of Sihanoukville, with its own collection of snakes and other reptiles.

Chamroeun — whom it takes three adults to carry — eats about 22 pounds of chicken meat every week, posing a heavy financial burden on the family, says Khuorn Sam Ol.

His meals used to be a spiritual burden as well, when they fed him live rats and chickens. Uneasy that they were breaking the Buddhist injunction against killing living things, Khuorn Sam Ol says the snake eventually answered his prayers for it to stop eating live animals.

Wildlife and police officials used to come by to try to take the snake away and put it in a zoo. But they relented after seeing Uorn Sambath lovingly cuddling the reptile. They left with some pictures they took of the boy and the snake together, Khuorn Sam Ol says.

"I will not let anyone take her away from me, either. I love her very much," declares his son, Uorn Sambath, kissing his pet on the head.

Source: A Boy And His Snake

[SJ126]

That is so cool! I can't believe that the snake found it's way back to the same exact house and now sleeps with the boy. If only Perritas would stay and sleep with me. Oh well! At least i don't have to feed her 22 pounds of food a week. so there's an upside.

[magana559]

Ahh man if only a burm would find its way to my house! I would love it!

[Buck_99]

A few thoughts:

1. It's my opinion that this family is playing roulette with their child's life. Burms have killed bigger people than this, both children and adults. It has nothing to do with the snake's temperament or viciousness or anything like that. One day the creature gets confused, sees a foot, attacks and coils, then figures out later it's not food. Look it up, happened to a teenager in Colorado with a much smaller snake. No way I'd allow this animal to free-roam in my house unless for a supervised handling session.

2. Aren't they courting obesity? 22 lbs. of food per week seems like a lot for a snake that size. The 22 lbs. part isn't the issue, it's the every week part. Can any burm owners out there confirm this? I thought a snake this size would be a once every two to four weeks kind of feeder.

Then again, maybe keeping it fat and full is how they keep its appetite and aggressive feeding response down, for the child's safety.

Beautiful snake though, no doubt.

[deborahbroadus]

Agree with Buck, risky business. Perhaps that amount of food makes it less risky?

A man and his snake.
http://www.anapsid.org/louisbaby.html

http://www.anapsid.org/nyburm.html

Captive Burmese and teenager.
http://www.anapsid.org/coloburm.html


These snakes are beautiful and very docile compared to some, but because they lack reasoning facilities, it is dangerous to keep them unless one has the funds and room needed.

p.s. I have seen this story before perhaps? Ron is this the same child that was taking a bath with a burmese?

[RonCrawford]

[RonCrawford]

More photos:

[PyMama]

Kid is getting big now...I had seen this before when the child was smaller.. The family would take the snake thru town and it was really a huge part of the family..

WOW thats risky!

[Buck_99]

Same kid, great video:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/11/071128-snake-video-ap.html

[RonCrawford]

Thanks for the video link Buck! It's amazing how he's able to lay atop the snake while it carries him along on his back. Extremely POWERFUL serpent there!

[Buck_99]

Apex predator, that's what I'd call it!

Nice new avatar, by the way.

[RonCrawford]