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Indonesia's snake massage

AFP Published November 5, 2013
While many people who get the massage at the centre, called Bali Heritage Reflexology and Spa, are thrill seekers or just looking for a new experience, a handful, like Tilukay, are trying to get over a life-long fear of snakes.
While many people who get the massage at the centre, called Bali Heritage Reflexology and Spa, are thrill seekers or just looking for a new experience, a handful, like Tilukay, are trying to get over a life-long fear of snakes.
“We are angry to hear about any kind of animal exploitation, including snakes,” group spokesman Benvika, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told AFP.
“We are angry to hear about any kind of animal exploitation, including snakes,” group spokesman Benvika, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told AFP.
Pythons slither over Indonesian customer Ferdi Tilukay, a 31 year old accountant, for a “snake body massage” session at the Bali Heritage Reflexology and Spa located in the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta.
Pythons slither over Indonesian customer Ferdi Tilukay, a 31 year old accountant, for a “snake body massage” session at the Bali Heritage Reflexology and Spa located in the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta.
Before the 90-minute treatment, which costs 480,000 rupiah ($43), the snakes are taken out of the plastic boxes where they are kept and cleaned with anti-septic.
Before the 90-minute treatment, which costs 480,000 rupiah ($43), the snakes are taken out of the plastic boxes where they are kept and cleaned with anti-septic.
The spa, which is decorated with wooden furniture in the style of a traditional house on the resort island of Bali, keeps five snakes which are fed a diet of live rabbits.
The spa, which is decorated with wooden furniture in the style of a traditional house on the resort island of Bali, keeps five snakes which are fed a diet of live rabbits.
Animal rights groups have raised concerns, with the Jakarta Animal Aid Network describing the treatment of the snakes as “exploitation”.
Animal rights groups have raised concerns, with the Jakarta Animal Aid Network describing the treatment of the snakes as “exploitation”.
The spa’s general manager Paulus Abraham insisted that the snakes were not being ill-treated -- and that they enjoyed the contact with humans that came from the massages.
The spa’s general manager Paulus Abraham insisted that the snakes were not being ill-treated -- and that they enjoyed the contact with humans that came from the massages.

Lying on a massage table at a spa in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, Feri Tilukay closed his eyes and smiled blissfully as three enormous snakes slithered all over him. He is one of a small band of customers brave enough to try the “snake massage”, where the gentle hands of a professionally trained masseuse are swapped for the cold, scaly skin of six-foot (1.8-metre) pythons.

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