A rare two-headed copperhead discovered in Virginia

Cute little guy...:snake:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/23/us/tw...rnd/index.html

i absolutely LOVE copperheads! if i had the capacity to own venomous (i don't, never will) i would pick a copperhead first. they're beautiful, their temperament is great; couldn't ask for more.

and TWO HEADS!?!?!? i hope this bby lasts a while; they're lovely.

I hope he makes it too, can't really tell how big he is but young, for sure. I think copperheads are quite pretty...they're native where I'm at but I don't
ever go catching wild snakes to possess...the only way I'd ever have one is if a long-term captive one was no longer wanted, or one needed relocated &
was unlikely to survive that.

At least among the hots, they're less dangerous...but they can still put you in the hospital, & cost you a great deal of pain & money.

I've seen stuff here and there about snakes having two heads. How does that even genetically happen? Is it almost like other animals having two heads? The embryos just don't separate correctly?

Also, following up on the money for exotic pets, imagine how difficult it might be to get a license to own them. An exotic vet will probably be more on your bill, without a doubt

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Originally Posted by Traceur

I've seen stuff here and there about snakes having two heads. How does that even genetically happen? Is it almost like other animals having two heads? The embryos just don't separate correctly?

Also, following up on the money for exotic pets, imagine how difficult it might be to get a license to own them. An exotic vet will probably be more on your bill, without a doubt

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Well, there are "Siamese twins" in humans too...supposed to be 2 but the process got messed up...very hard for 2 headed snakes to survive, especially in the wild.
Can you imagine the trouble they'd have shedding properly? And if both want to eat the same prey item? Yikes!

States vary in costs & requirements to keep hots, but no matter where you are, finding vet help for a hot is no easy matter...& then, IF you can afford it. :rolleyes:

Vets have a lot invested in their education...few want to risk their lives & careers working with hots when there's plenty of easier (safer) money to be made with
just "normal" (non-venomous) pets. Zoos have vets working with their animals of course, so they do exist...and some of them get injured doing their job. I knew
a good vet in Calif. years back who had her own clinic but also worked with a local zoological park...she got bit by a rattlesnake while trying to treat it...she thought
her grip was firm enough, but it was able to turn it's head just a little & inject with one fang...she thought for a while that she'd lose her arm...it swelled up like
Popeye's on spinach...;) and then, when she was back to work but not quite 100%, she almost cut off one of her own fingers doing surgery because she didn't
have all the feeling back yet. In time, she was fine, all back to normal- she was lucky! but you can understand why most vets would NOT choose this line of work?

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Well, there are "Siamese twins" in humans too...supposed to be 2 but the process got messed up...very hard for 2 headed snakes to survive, especially in the wild.
Can you imagine the trouble they'd have shedding properly? And if both want to eat the same prey item? Yikes!

States vary in costs & requirements to keep hots, but no matter where you are, finding vet help for a hot is no easy matter...& then, IF you can afford it. :rolleyes:

Vets have a lot invested in their education...few want to risk their lives & careers working with hots when there's plenty of easier (safer) money to be made with
just "normal" (non-venomous) pets. Zoos have vets working with their animals of course, so they do exist...and some of them get injured doing their job. I knew
a good vet in Calif. years back who had her own clinic but also worked with a local zoological park...she got bit by a rattlesnake while trying to treat it...she thought
her grip was firm enough, but it was able to turn it's head just a little & inject with one fang...she thought for a while that she'd lose her arm...it swelled up like
Popeye's on spinach...;) and then, when she was back to work but not quite 100%, she almost cut off one of her own fingers doing surgery because she didn't
have all the feeling back yet. In time, she was fine, all back to normal- she was lucky! but you can understand why most vets would NOT choose this line of work?

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Absolutely. It takes guts.
Soemthing similar occurs at my work. Volunteers are leveled by color; green, yellow, red. Red volunteers can socialize red leveled cats- which are the most cautious ones. This includes barn cats (mostly interaction), Jackell Hyde, and other cats capable of causing harm if too nervous or shy. You'll only become a red volunteer if you're willing to take additional training. My best friend so happens to be one of the red leveled cats. But we've had people sent to the hospital and having to take a break from work because the bite/scratch was too bad. We've even had barn cats chase after and attack people. And trust me; people can bleed like hell if they aren't careful. But it happens.

https://thenypost.files.wordpress.co...trip=all&w=890

http://https://nypost.com/2018/09/23/rare-two-headed-snake-found-in-flowerbed-this-is-what-nightmares-are-made-of/

Two headed snakes are always quite the strange sight, but theres always something super cool about them.

If I had the ability to keep hots, a two headed rattlesnake sounds awesome.

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live long and prosper lil cutie!

This was reported on the local radio and the guy 'suggested' that two headed snakes don't last long as the two heads start attacking each other !?

Sounds a bit daft to me ..


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Originally Posted by Zincubus

This was reported on the local radio and the guy 'suggested' that two headed snakes don't last long as the two heads start attacking each other !?

Sounds a bit daft to me ..

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not all that daft. it's a constant tug-o-war between the 2 heads. 2 brains, 2 tongue and 2jacob's organ, maybe 2 sets of pits and 2 mouths. that's just on the head! the article on this lil 2-headed Copperhead even mentions that the left head is more dominant, but it would be better for the right side to eat b/c it has a more developed anatomy. the oldest 2 headed snake lived to be 17. it was a King that lived in the Biology dept at a university in Arizona. they def don't last long in the wild and are still a challenge in captivity.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Cute little guy...:snake:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/23/us/tw...rnd/index.html

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Awesome article, so adorable. IMO copperheads are one of the most beautiful snakes out there.

I know that in some 2 headed snakes, both heads do not always eat, or not with the same intensity at least. But imagine the chaos if they both want the same
prey! It can be managed in captivity: you could block their view of each other & with 2 people, offer food to each head at more or less the same time, though
you still might need a time lag so they don't have trouble swallowing both at the same moment...this is a challenge I've never had in keeping snakes, but I think
would be very interesting. In the wild, if both heads grab the same prey it just won't be pretty...:( And having 2 "opinions" of where to go all the time would
be a huge distraction that most likely would end with being a hawk's dinner.

I think 2-headed snakes might be more likely than normal snakes to harbor other defects as well that could impact their longevity. But I hope this cutie has
a good life now, "with a little help from his friends". :D This is one time that removing a snake from the wild is very justified.

RIP pretty lil one.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md...=.dd5df61a536f

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Rare two-headed snake found in Virginia has died

A rare, two-headed snake that was found a few months ago in a Virginia yard has died.

Experts said it wasn’t immediately clear what caused the snake to die, but snake keepers who specialize in caring for bicephalous snakes said it was “particularly challenged because of how far down the spine was fused.”

The copperhead was about six to eight inches long and was about two or three weeks old when it was found. It first showed up in a yard in Woodbridge, Va., in September.

A photo was posted to the Facebook page of a wildlife expert and the snake’s story quickly became a social media sensation. The snake was also a notable find among scientists and biologists who called it a rarity in the world of herpetology because two-headed snakes don’t often happen in the wild. Most of those that are alive have been bred in captivity.

JD Kleopfer, the state’s herpetologist, called it an “exceptionally rare” find at the time. In his three decades of studying snakes, he said he’d never seen anything like it. “This is an extraordinary animal,” he said, calling it “a Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus kind of moment.”

The fact the snake had survived in the wild was also unusual because experts said it was at high risk of being eaten by a predator. The snake was taken to a wildlife refuge center and there was talk of it being donated to a zoo.

Earlier this week, Kleopfer broke the news of the snake’s death on social media. He said, “sad news. Our little buddy peacefully passed away last week.” He went on, “no apparent reason, just found dead one morning.”

Kleopfer explained that he had talked to snake keepers who specialized in two-headed snakes and they said that sharing a body puts added stress on the reptile, particularly the spine “when the heads want to move in different directions.”

Experts had a chance to look at the two-headed snake and found it had several notable features. It had two heads but one heart and one set of lungs. Both heads appeared to have venom. It also had two spines that fused together to have two heads.

At the time it was found, Kleopfer said he didn’t want to name it for fear he’d jinx its survival.

Now Kleopfer said the snake’s body will be donated to a museum, but he did not specify which one.

His Facebook post ended with “RIP.”

Some commenters wished condolences and one called Zachary Tyler wrote, “damn. :( I would totally go to a funeral if there was one.” One person asked what were the chances of finding another two-headed snake in the wild?

Kleopfer responded, “Slim to none.” But he noted, there was one found last month in a couple’s yard in Frankfort, Ky.

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:(

Oh, I was afraid of that...Rest in Peace, pretty one. :tears:

https://www.apnews.com/98232d9934e8428e8c9246def117f975

Expert: Rare snake with 2 heads found in Virginia has died

November 16, 2018

WAYNESBORO, Va. (AP) — A wildlife expert says a rare, two-headed snake found several months ago in Virginia near the nation’s capital has died.
The Washington Post reports state herpetologist JD Kleopfer said in a Facebook post this week that the snake had died. He says it passed away peacefully last week for no apparent reason, and was discovered dead one morning.
The Copperhead snake was found in a northern Virginia neighborhood in September.

The Wildlife Center of Virginia previously said in a statement that an examination of the reptile found it had two tracheas and two esophagi, but shared one heart and a set of lungs. Biologists believe both heads were capable of biting and distributing venom.

Kleopfer says two-headed snakes are rare because they don’t live long in the wild.