Boa found in Florida with two heads, two hearts and two separate digestive systems. Scientists claim that this has not yet been seen, comparing the snake, born as a result of a mutation, with "two twins in the same skin."

A boa constrictor with an extremely rare genetic defect was born to a snake breeder in Florida. The snake has two heads, two hearts and two digestive systems. According to scientists, she looks like two twins united under a common skin. Such animals rarely live to old age, but some manage to survive to adulthood.
Scientists at the Exotic Animal Center in Florida studied the unusual snake using X-rays and ultrasound. “I was shocked to see the second heart,” says Dr. Lorraine Tyler. Usually such animals have only one set internal organs».

The snake's owner brought it to the vets as soon as he discovered it had two heads. Other discoveries were made already in the process of research. Two-headed snakes - the case is not rare, but not isolated. This disorder is called polycephaly. However, snakes with a dual set of internal organs are extremely rare.

According to Dr. Thelen, the dual digestive system leaves the snake with a good chance of survival. “Usually two-headed snakes have only one digestive system and one set of kidneys, which makes it impossible to get enough food and completely eliminate waste from the body,” she says. “But this boa has no such problem. However, given the fact that two-headed creatures rarely live to adulthood, we cannot predict the fate of this boa constrictor with certainty and will be watching it closely.”

Boas are among the viviparous snakes. According to scientists, a genetic failure occurred, apparently, at the stage of formation of the embryo, which began to divide into two twins, but for some reason the separation was not completed.

In the East, many believe that the one who knows the snake, knows the world and the secrets of its creation. The snake strikes the imagination with its exceptional behavior and structure. These creatures live on the ground, in trees, underground, in water. They successfully mastered the territory of our planet.

Snakes are unusual animals, and therefore, from ancient times, arousing human interest. They do not have limbs, but at the same time they move quickly and hunt swiftly - there is no escape from their throw. Snakes are deaf, but incredibly sensitive; They strike the prey with poisonous sharp teeth or strangle it, tightly wrapping it in rings. Snakes swallow their prey whole, their jaws and ribs are incredibly extended. There are many such examples of the originality of snakes.

Two-headed snake - reality or fiction?

This phenomenon has nothing to do with fantasy stories. Among snakes, this kind of mutation is common, such as the appearance of a second head.

Where do two-headed snakes meet?

Such individuals different types are indeed sometimes born on Earth. In nature, they do not survive, although in terrariums they often live for quite a long time. It is curious that two heads on a single body do not feel like one being. Each of them tries to snatch food from her "colleague" during feeding.

The two-headed king snake (Lampropeltis getula) lived in the San Diego Zoo for a long time. Both heads of this creature were in constant fear for life, and as it turned out, not unreasonably. One night one head suddenly attacked another. The resulting conflict resolved the arrival of a zookeeper. He managed to subdue the rebellious heads. The rescued snake did not live long. Literally the next day, the head that was attacked decided to take revenge on the offender - the snake died in the fight.

Calabaria

IN natural conditions a two-headed snake (you can see a photo of this amazing creature in our article) cannot exist. But still there is one unusual view reptiles - Calabaria snake.

She pretends to be a two-headed individual. And she succeeds. She deceives not only predators, but also people. Calabaria has one head, very small in size, with small, almost imperceptible eyes. This snake, about a meter long, burrowing its head, looks for food in the leaves, while for caution it raises its tail and threateningly slowly shakes it from side to side, like a head.

There's a dark spot on her tail, and another under it, white color which mimics the neck very well. Such a trick always works, it distracts and frightens the enemy. The locals are sure that the Calabaria is a two-headed snake, and they are very afraid of it. In fact, she is completely harmless. There is another salient feature this snake - in case of danger, it quickly folds into a ball that is almost impossible to unfold.

Albino two-headed snake

The famous Florida biologist Daniel Parker is a true fan of reptiles. Day after day, he roams the nearby swamps in search of curious varieties of snakes.

A wide variety of reptiles live in his house. One day, one of his charges, a dairy-colored Honduran, laid her eggs in Parker's living room, and the cubs hatched from them. When the scientist began to consider the offspring, at first he did not understand what exactly was wrong with him.

He soon discovered that instead of black and red, the cubs were white and red, that is, albinos. In addition, one of them was two-headed. The scientist has not seen such a case in all the years of observation.

A two-headed snake has appeared in the Skazka Zoo in Yalta. She is rented in Germany. In Crimea, she will live throughout each tourist season. Its insurance value is 50,000 euros.

According to experts, a two-headed snake is born one in a million cases. This is a unique animal - it has two heads, two "sets" of brains, a single belly. One of the heads is usually dominant, the other is more passive. They eat at the same time. When feeding at the zoo, a plastic spatula is placed between the heads so that one does not eat the other.

We are all familiar with two-headed snakes from childhood. These negative characters are present in many fairy tales. But are they so groundless and unrealistic? As it turns out, the Serpent Gorynych, with two heads, is not such an invention. He really exists. To be convinced of this, it is enough to visit the animal exhibition held in Basel (Switzerland). It is clear that such creatures are incredibly few. According to the head of the exhibition, there are only eight of them. Looking at such a creature, one involuntarily recalls the tale of the two-headed snake.

In humans, such reptiles are not very partial. This is evidenced by numerous drawings depicting a man with a snake's head. It is in this form that a werewolf with superhuman abilities appears before us. Well, you don’t need to be introduced to the three-headed Serpent Gorynych. It's very famous fairy tale character, and negative. He either steals the princess, or fights with the hero. At the same time, it is worth cutting off his head, as it immediately grows back.

Where did these stories come from? After all, as they say, "a fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it." Doesn't it have a real basis? And if there are Siamese twins, then why not snakes with two heads?

It is clear that such a reptile in any person can cause not only fear, but also disgust. But nature, apparently, on this occasion did not consult with anyone, and allowed these creatures to be born. Of course, a two-headed snake is a rarity. This is most likely an anomaly, a deviation from the norm for some reason. Among these unusual creatures, for example, includes a two-headed snake born in Honduras. Scientists at the University of Florida, she plunged into a real shock. It was not only her two heads that shocked, but also the bright, red-orange body color, with numerous light stripes, which is why she was called dairy. Such a reptile is a real exclusive. She is incredibly beautiful and original. However, all albino snakes have an incredibly bright body color, with a predominance of red and orange colors.

The behavior of two-headed snakes in captivity is somewhat different than their one-headed relatives. The whole point is that two heads are trying to lead one body. In this case, the incoming brain signals can be completely different. If such a snake is left in wild nature, then she will certainly die, since she will not be able to get food for herself. People feed her at the zoo. In this case, the heads are constantly in conflict with each other. Such a snake lives in a zoo in Germany.

It is interesting to observe the feeding of a two-headed snake. Before giving her food, a partition is inserted between her heads. Otherwise, they will start fighting. Despite the fact that they have one body, their heads perceive each other as rivals. In this case, one of the heads behaves actively, and the other passively. While eating, the active head can devour the passive one. In some snakes, the stomach is divided into two parts that communicate with their head. If you deprive one of the heads of food, then it will die of hunger. The second head will continue to live, as if nothing had happened.

The old, well-known proverb says that one head is good, but two is better. However, what if we interpret these words literally: what will two heads promise to one owner? It is not known by hearsay two-headed snakes, which are relatively often born as a result of mutations or deviations in early stages embryonic development.

Similar mutations in snakes occur hundreds, thousands of times more often than in other suborders of reptiles and millions of times more often than in other animals. It is believed that most often two-headed cubs appear in water snakes - about 1 out of 1000. But they do not live long at all, in nature no more than a week, a maximum of several. Which, in principle, is not surprising - a snake whose heads cannot decide which way to crawl and constantly quarrel with each other is not only unable to hunt, but is also a very simple prey for predators.

In captivity and with special care, snakes with two heads can live quite a long time. For example, so that the heads do not fight for food or, even worse, do not try to kill each other in zoos, they use a rather simple but quite effective technique - an opaque partition is installed during the meal, only in this way can both heads eat calmly.

A two-headed rat snake named V

Incidentally, in most cases genetic mutations) it is not necessary for both heads to do this, the digestive system is common. So, as a rule, it happens, a more active head sets the tone in the direction of movement and, accordingly, the extraction of food, a passive head plays the role of an involuntary companion. Two-headed monsters, born as a result of incomplete separation of identical twins in the early stages of their development, often have separate digestive systems, hearts and some other organs. It is even more difficult for them, they are essentially two beings in one body.

Two-headed albino snake, which was demonstrated in the Yalta zoo a year ago

Another difficulty that these mutants have to face is the sexual aspect. The genital organs of a snake are either male or female, the third is not given, but with heads everything is more complicated: they can be of different sexes. So it was with a two-headed rat snake named V, which was contained in Berlin Zoo, one of the heads and genitals is female, and the second is a man.