This zoo offers visitors python massages

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This zoo offers visitors python massages
(Image credit: YouTube)

A massage is tough to pass up — except maybe at the Philippines' Cebu City Zoo, where you can get rubbed down by four giant Burmese pythons, free of charge.

The four deadly snakes, collectively weighing more than 550 pounds, crawl on visitors and begin a treatment that is described as "therapeutic" and "calming."

Before the massage begins, guests are briefed on how to behave around the reptiles. It's important for guests not to shout for help or breathe too heavily, lest they run the risk of upsetting the snake and being squeezed to death.

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But don't worry — each python is fed 10 chickens before the massage begins, so the reptiles shouldn't be craving any more food. Just hope they're not hungry for seconds.

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Kaitlin Roberts is the TheWeek.com's web intern. She has worked for StoryCorps and American Documentary and is a graduate of Davidson College.