In a remarkable twist of fate, an incredibly rare two-headed snake has defied all expectations and approaches its 17th year of life. This black rat snake, essentially two snakes sharing one slithering body, has grown to an impressive five feet long, surpassing the life expectancy of its regular counterparts in the wild. Discovered by a young boy in his yard in Delta, Missouri, back in 2005, the snake was brought to the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center.
The existence of a two-headed snake alone is already a one-in-a-hundred-thousand long shot, but for it to survive to such a ripe old age is nothing short of a one-in-a-hundred-million wonder, according to Steve Allain, a snake expert and council member of the British Herpetological Society.
Allain remarked, “I know of another two-headed snake that survived until it was 20, so it isn’t impossible for them to survive that long. However, it is extremely unlikely. I’d say that it’s likely one in a hundred million.”
Alex Holmes, a naturalist at the conservation center, described some of the challenges faced in keeping such an unusual snake alive. “A normal snake their size would be capable of eating full-sized mice with ease,” he said. “But their conjoined spine makes it more difficult to swallow anything but very small, young mice, which we thaw from frozen. The heads are quite competitive when they eat, so we cover one head at a time with a drinking cup and feed each individually.”
He further explained, “We wait a period of time to make sure the food has passed their junction to avoid a ‘traffic jam’ from the left and right head’s meals meeting in the esophagus. They share a stomach, but we feed them both to stimulate their natural instincts and provide some mental enrichment. In the wild, the snake – strictly speaking, two snakes sharing one body – might never have made it. Most conjoined hatchlings would not survive.”
Paul Rowley, a herpetologist at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, acknowledged the difficulty of calculating such long odds. He stated, “It’s difficult enough with any normal hatchling or newborn snake – within a group, there will be some that are going to die for no known real reason. But with animals that are conjoined like snakes with two heads, you’ve got problems with how compatible they are to each other, what organs are shared, and how they’re cared for. And, again, it’s like any conjoined twins – if one gets ill or one has organ failure or problems, it’s obviously going to affect the other one. So you’re doubling the problem. To last 17 years is a real achievement.”
Snakes can be born with two heads when an individual egg is fertilized and starts to divide into twins but doesn’t fully separate. In this case, the developing embryo split partially at the top but failed to separate further down. The exact date of its birth is unknown. Black rat snakes reach sexual maturity at seven years for males and nine years for females.
Their main predators are foxes, hawks, and owls, which they scare away by imitating the rattle of a rattlesnake by coiling their bodies and vibrating their tails in dead leaves. They are shy creatures that shy away from confrontation but have been known to strike when feeling threatened. They are non-venomous.
