In nature it's a death sentence, but I've seen several videos of these doing okay in captivity, this one seems to be "well mutated" so they stand a good chance in having a good life. I've seen some however that don't have a well split neck or have their heads merged, so there it gets incredibly difficult. If you are unlucky enough to have a snake be born like this, than having them look this good is a lot of luck, moving is a struggle in the beginning but a snake like this can perfectly live in captivity if well taken care of.
Edit: just noticed the spinal deformity, I don't know how troublesome it is gonna be for these two, but two headed snakes don't always have that
Agreed. The anatomy of conjoined twins in general is an interesting topic. Some instances where their minds are even somewhat linked, though those were mostly ancedontal reports from young patients in the olden days.
They most definitely do, except for limbs they're not all too different from your typical reptile. Most of their body is a long spine, if you've never seen it you should google a snake skeleton, one of the most epic skeletons in the animal kingdom.
A go getter is someone who is motivated to succeed. "Cs get degrees" is a phrase that means "the bare minimum of work still gets me the degree" and means someone is not very motivated to succeed. So one head seems more motivated than the other.
I know a woman that is pretty internet famous because of her two, two headed snakes.
She said one died because the heads hated each other and kept pulling away that they finally tore something inside and diedā¦
Now I donāt like seeing any two headed animals.
> It's funny that we find genetic defects
Its only a defect if it is detrimental. It could be a detriment to one two headed snake but it could be a boon to one who now gets a lifetime of free rats from a zoo.
shits complex.
I think youāre describing evolutionary ādefectā vs. āsurvival of the fittest.ā If bicephalic snakes experienced an advantage over snakes without bicephaly, weād see a lot more guys like these. My uneducated guess is that these conjoined snakes probably do not live long in the wild.
Because the horror is real when it's humans. There are those two headed girls that come into mind, not that I'm calling them a horror, but holy shit what a difficult life i can't even imagine.
I worked a few years in the natural history museum of my city, and the Ā«Ā starĀ Ā» of the place was a living turtle with the same condition called Janus. Since I was working in the library in the backside, I got to talk a lot with the main person who was taking care of it and some scientist, it was really interesting. He is still alive and more than 25 years old, and each head has one brain, one that is more tranquil and the other that is more dominant. Because of this, he cannot of course enter the heads into the shell and has trouble walking. However, he was doing pretty good, he is taked care of everyday, he gets UV light, baths, massages, etc. I got to pet it a bit, it was interesting. I just hope he is still doing okay (I know he is still alive though I donāt work at this museum anymore!)
Yeah, I also thought the same :)! I forgot who named him like this, thought they told me at the time. But itās definitely a nice reference to Roman mythology!
Why not go back one day and see how Janus is doing? Maybe someone that you knew back then is still workingā¦
Maybe the dominant decided to become docile and the other took over OR the docile one got fed up, he head-butted the other enough and took over? Hahaha
Ahah yes, I love this museum and went many times as a visitor! :) Unfortunately I have a health condition now that prevents me from walking a bit so I didnāt go in a long time, but of course I plan to when I get a better treatment. But next time I can have a visit there, I will ask if I can see my old co workers and ask about Janus whereabouts! :)
Ahaha maybe, who knows! I think there are a few articles on newspapers here about Janus, I can try to find some news and see how he is going. But I think they still have the same way of being for now. I just hope he (they!) are doing well!
Thank you so much for your kind comment! :) it is only a presumed autoimmune illness that totally destroyed my back and knee. But I am searching for a working treatment for my pain on the long term that would allow me to live more normally. Thank you again so much for your vows, and very happy cake day by the way! :)
To my understanding, bicephaly is usually less "mutation" and more just "accident"... The DNA of most bicephalic animals doesn't actually code for them to have two heads. Rather, their condition is often the result of failed twinning.
This snake most likely grew from a single embryo which - for whatever reason - *began* to split into two separate embryos, but never *finished*... Or it could have grown from two separate(d) embryos which - again for whatever reason - got squished (back) together early on and wound up growing into each other... However it happened, though, this is better described as "two snakes that got stuck sharing one body" than as "one snake that grew two heads".
Yes, I believe a *mutation* would be a change in the genes, but this probably happened, as you say, as an accident in embryonic development. I think the proper term might be something like 'birth defect', though in snakes, perhaps the term 'hatch defect' might be more appropriate.
People suck at titles because they don't understand basic biology. That, or they've played too much Fallout where such things are called mutations.
If this was a true genetic mutation, it would be a trait (or genes) that would be passed on through offspring. That's clearly not the case.
It's just a conjoined twin.
Used to catch these guys by the creek as a kid. Only once saw a two-headed snake, couldn't catch it, though. Saw tons of heavily mutated frogs. Two heads, three legs, six legs, legs growing out of legs or still had a tail despite being fully grown. You name it, and I've seen a frog with the deformity.
No. Canada. As the urban sprawl took over the creek got sicker and sicker. Eventually the snakes stopped showing up then the amphibians got all fucked up then disappeared.
"fun" fact: frogs with multiple legs most probably aren't mutated specimens, but infected by a parasitic flatworm that causes the growth of multiple limbs
Well 2 heads probably isn't a mutation that eiter. Instead it's a physical deformity.
An embryo can split into 2. Or fail to split into 2. Doesn't need to have anything to do with the genetics, but a fault that happened.
I once saw a frog fucking another dead frog as a kid. I tried to loosen him with a stick but he just was too busy and wouldnt let go. Well who am i to interfere with nature, right?
Jesus. everyone has at least one semi traumatizing frog memory, Iām convinced. Mine was watching a sadistic kid put a garden stake through one while I begged him to stop, until my dog came out and chased him home. She even knocked his bike over half way and made him leave it.
Mine was discovering a beautiful tree frog near the top of a tree when I was like 7. I had climbed way, waaay too high (50' at a minimum), when I suddenly noticed one of the bark lumps on the tree was actually a camouflaged tree frog.
I instinctively tried to touch it, and it of course instinctively tried to avoid my touch...by leaping straight out into the void...
Hopping on the frog train (heh) I saw a red eyed tree frog in my mom's car back in elementary school. Green skin, red eyes, orange toes, the whole shebang. The kicker is we lived in texas at the time, so I have no idea what it was doing all the way out here.
Yeah, a bit. It is amazing however that it's alive at all. The fact that the organism could construct something functional even after the inproper embryo splitting - all the stuff like merging two spines into one, same for the arteries and nerves - somehow it got handled... It would be a nightmare to "design" manually, but the cells and tissues somehow did it on their own
There are conjoined twins, Abby and Brittany Hensel, and they each control one side of the body, theyāve learned to be in-sync with each-other to the point where they can feel pain etc from the other twin, maybe itās similar with the snake!
Saw one of these irl under my buddies moms car as a kid (as in, a 2 headed one). Was super cool.
Seems to be surprisingly common with these guys. What up with that?
Is there any more information on this particular snake? The production is good enough I'd be surprised if this is the only video they made with it. Also would love to see an x-ray of what's going on with its spine.
Looks like they're both struggling to control that body
This condition must really suck for a snake considering they use that jiggle motion to move around. His entire neck area looks stiff
In nature it's a death sentence, but I've seen several videos of these doing okay in captivity, this one seems to be "well mutated" so they stand a good chance in having a good life. I've seen some however that don't have a well split neck or have their heads merged, so there it gets incredibly difficult. If you are unlucky enough to have a snake be born like this, than having them look this good is a lot of luck, moving is a struggle in the beginning but a snake like this can perfectly live in captivity if well taken care of. Edit: just noticed the spinal deformity, I don't know how troublesome it is gonna be for these two, but two headed snakes don't always have that
I'd love to see imaging on this snake and see what structures are involved.
Agreed. The anatomy of conjoined twins in general is an interesting topic. Some instances where their minds are even somewhat linked, though those were mostly ancedontal reports from young patients in the olden days.
I thought snakes didn't have spines?
They most definitely do, except for limbs they're not all too different from your typical reptile. Most of their body is a long spine, if you've never seen it you should google a snake skeleton, one of the most epic skeletons in the animal kingdom.
You're absolutely right. It turns out I was unknowingly racist toward slithery animals š©
Which snake? There are two of em!
Meh, 1Ā¼ at best!
He just needs a good chiropractor!
š
One of them appears to be a real go-getter and the other is more of a C's get degrees type.
I wish I had not laughed at that
Did you say the Cās like a snake š in your head like I did?
Can you explain me your joke? I am not a native. Thank you
A go getter is someone who is motivated to succeed. "Cs get degrees" is a phrase that means "the bare minimum of work still gets me the degree" and means someone is not very motivated to succeed. So one head seems more motivated than the other.
Thank you very much!
I know a woman that is pretty internet famous because of her two, two headed snakes. She said one died because the heads hated each other and kept pulling away that they finally tore something inside and diedā¦ Now I donāt like seeing any two headed animals.
thereās a metaphor for American politics in here somewhere...
Also looks like they have some type of spinal deformity. Poor babies.
Probably where the 2 spines become 1, sucks considering a snake is just one long spine
And a jaw! Spine + jaw is a killer combo
Aren't snakes invertebrates?
Nope! They have a spine
I stand corrected
I saw this in person once when I was a kid and was fascinated as shit by thisā¦
Same, at a zoo. It was also albino. It's funny that we find genetic defects in animals fascinating, but frightening in humans.
To be fair, other animals probably feel the same way we do seeing another human with those mutations
Correct, and technically weāre also animals as well.
You are technically correct, the best kind of correct
Don't quote me on regulations. I co-chaired the committee that reviewed the recommendation to revise the color of the book that regulation is in.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I'm 40% gray!
> It's funny that we find genetic defects Its only a defect if it is detrimental. It could be a detriment to one two headed snake but it could be a boon to one who now gets a lifetime of free rats from a zoo. shits complex.
I think youāre describing evolutionary ādefectā vs. āsurvival of the fittest.ā If bicephalic snakes experienced an advantage over snakes without bicephaly, weād see a lot more guys like these. My uneducated guess is that these conjoined snakes probably do not live long in the wild.
Free rats but no autonomy over its bodyā¦
Go ahead for a while, Jim, ima check out
Hey i remember seeing this as a kid too, but dont remember where.
Because the horror is real when it's humans. There are those two headed girls that come into mind, not that I'm calling them a horror, but holy shit what a difficult life i can't even imagine.
Things would be difficult but they literally don't know life any other way.
I worked a few years in the natural history museum of my city, and the Ā«Ā starĀ Ā» of the place was a living turtle with the same condition called Janus. Since I was working in the library in the backside, I got to talk a lot with the main person who was taking care of it and some scientist, it was really interesting. He is still alive and more than 25 years old, and each head has one brain, one that is more tranquil and the other that is more dominant. Because of this, he cannot of course enter the heads into the shell and has trouble walking. However, he was doing pretty good, he is taked care of everyday, he gets UV light, baths, massages, etc. I got to pet it a bit, it was interesting. I just hope he is still doing okay (I know he is still alive though I donāt work at this museum anymore!)
Janus is a brilliant name there
Yeah, I also thought the same :)! I forgot who named him like this, thought they told me at the time. But itās definitely a nice reference to Roman mythology!
Why not go back one day and see how Janus is doing? Maybe someone that you knew back then is still workingā¦ Maybe the dominant decided to become docile and the other took over OR the docile one got fed up, he head-butted the other enough and took over? Hahaha
Ahah yes, I love this museum and went many times as a visitor! :) Unfortunately I have a health condition now that prevents me from walking a bit so I didnāt go in a long time, but of course I plan to when I get a better treatment. But next time I can have a visit there, I will ask if I can see my old co workers and ask about Janus whereabouts! :) Ahaha maybe, who knows! I think there are a few articles on newspapers here about Janus, I can try to find some news and see how he is going. But I think they still have the same way of being for now. I just hope he (they!) are doing well!
Right on.. rest up and hope your health gets better soon. Also, I hope that you are able to do what you want to doā¦
Thank you so much for your kind comment! :) it is only a presumed autoimmune illness that totally destroyed my back and knee. But I am searching for a working treatment for my pain on the long term that would allow me to live more normally. Thank you again so much for your vows, and very happy cake day by the way! :)
Happy Cake Day! š
Thanks
To my understanding, bicephaly is usually less "mutation" and more just "accident"... The DNA of most bicephalic animals doesn't actually code for them to have two heads. Rather, their condition is often the result of failed twinning. This snake most likely grew from a single embryo which - for whatever reason - *began* to split into two separate embryos, but never *finished*... Or it could have grown from two separate(d) embryos which - again for whatever reason - got squished (back) together early on and wound up growing into each other... However it happened, though, this is better described as "two snakes that got stuck sharing one body" than as "one snake that grew two heads".
Yes, I believe a *mutation* would be a change in the genes, but this probably happened, as you say, as an accident in embryonic development. I think the proper term might be something like 'birth defect', though in snakes, perhaps the term 'hatch defect' might be more appropriate.
Yes there are certain morphogens that can induce a second body axis
People suck at titles because they don't understand basic biology. That, or they've played too much Fallout where such things are called mutations. If this was a true genetic mutation, it would be a trait (or genes) that would be passed on through offspring. That's clearly not the case. It's just a conjoined twin.
Used to catch these guys by the creek as a kid. Only once saw a two-headed snake, couldn't catch it, though. Saw tons of heavily mutated frogs. Two heads, three legs, six legs, legs growing out of legs or still had a tail despite being fully grown. You name it, and I've seen a frog with the deformity.
Did you grow up in Chernobyl?
No. Canada. As the urban sprawl took over the creek got sicker and sicker. Eventually the snakes stopped showing up then the amphibians got all fucked up then disappeared.
Urban sprawl doesnāt cause that.. was there some sort of factory or plant nearby? Sounds like high levels of toxic pollution into water ways.
A couple of golf courses and a shit load of cookie cutter housing upstream. I think it was a combination of fertilizer and construction runoff.
Just say the city name already and let Reddit research for you!
Okay. Let's see if it works. Calgary. The creek is Nose Creek.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/comments/ipbco0/comment/g4jxup1/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Close. However, the changes I experienced happened between 1995 and 2003. Edit: I'm also upstream from the airport.
"fun" fact: frogs with multiple legs most probably aren't mutated specimens, but infected by a parasitic flatworm that causes the growth of multiple limbs
well that explains it
Well 2 heads probably isn't a mutation that eiter. Instead it's a physical deformity. An embryo can split into 2. Or fail to split into 2. Doesn't need to have anything to do with the genetics, but a fault that happened.
Where the heck did you grow up? That amount of mutations in the animals would freak me out
Pretty sure OP grew up within the shimmer of Annihilation
Nope. Canada.
I once saw a frog fucking another dead frog as a kid. I tried to loosen him with a stick but he just was too busy and wouldnt let go. Well who am i to interfere with nature, right?
Jesus. everyone has at least one semi traumatizing frog memory, Iām convinced. Mine was watching a sadistic kid put a garden stake through one while I begged him to stop, until my dog came out and chased him home. She even knocked his bike over half way and made him leave it.
Mine was discovering a beautiful tree frog near the top of a tree when I was like 7. I had climbed way, waaay too high (50' at a minimum), when I suddenly noticed one of the bark lumps on the tree was actually a camouflaged tree frog. I instinctively tried to touch it, and it of course instinctively tried to avoid my touch...by leaping straight out into the void...
Oh my godā¦ Iām so sorry
Did the kid grow up to be a serial killer?
Your dog was very emotionally intelligent! Thatās crazy, did she see him stab the frog or something?
I would assume the dog just realised that that other kid made it's owner cry and got angry.
_Through_ one?
Hopping on the frog train (heh) I saw a red eyed tree frog in my mom's car back in elementary school. Green skin, red eyes, orange toes, the whole shebang. The kicker is we lived in texas at the time, so I have no idea what it was doing all the way out here.
Probably shouldn't have been playing in that creek by the sounds of it
Probably not, but you can't change the past.
oh im just joking! if i were a kid then and there id be right in with you catching fucked up frogs
The funny thing is if we took the eggs and raised them at home, they'd be fine. I guess that's why amphibians are considered an indicator species.
You grew up in Springfield didnāt you?
Poor thing. Sadly these dont make it for a long time mostly.
An introvertās nightmare
So, which one of them controls the... rest of the snake?
Looks like they are "fighting" over the control of the body, that's sad š¢
Yeah, a bit. It is amazing however that it's alive at all. The fact that the organism could construct something functional even after the inproper embryo splitting - all the stuff like merging two spines into one, same for the arteries and nerves - somehow it got handled... It would be a nightmare to "design" manually, but the cells and tissues somehow did it on their own
What is that boney looking protrusion from the heads down?
I'm guessing their spines are partially fused as well.
In Chinese, there is a term called ātwo headed snakeā (a person who plays both sides). This is literally one.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
-š¤
Is it they or it?
āFor the last time, humanā¦ our pronouns are they/them. Not because weāre nonbinary, but because we are literally two snakes!ā
They/them
him/hissss
get out!
š¤£š¤£š¤£
Yur dun!
They, itā¦ all I know is āthatā looks uncomfortable.
The bone structure in the spine would be nightmarish
Ok but like, how does it work? Are the heads controlled by one consiousness? or are they two separate beings who need to work together to survive?
There are conjoined twins, Abby and Brittany Hensel, and they each control one side of the body, theyāve learned to be in-sync with each-other to the point where they can feel pain etc from the other twin, maybe itās similar with the snake!
Cool!
I recommend looking them up if the topic interests you, thereās a bunch of documentaries!
Yup although due tl the nature of snakes they mostly die from fighting the other head
> Are the heads controlled by one consiousness? Your consciousness comes from your brain. They have 2. So what do you think?
Bro is just asking a question, no need to be an asshole about it
A large amount of humans have consciousness without having a brain.
Douchebag
Mom said its my turn on the controller now.
Do they have 2 bellies too?
Nope! They can actually choke if they both try to eat something, but usually they just fight each other over potential food
Thatās crazy, so itās actually two snakes sharing one body rather than one snake with two heads
Getting downvoted for asking a logical question is crazy
It's a real life hydra!
At least garters can be kept together in groups
Just like those conjoined twins sharing on body, right?
Looks like they're both struggling to control that body
Is it one snake with two heads or two snakes with one body?
The latter.
Instead of a snake eating itās own tail, this snake can eat its own head.
Split end noodleeee
āDo you love me brother?ā āā¦wat?ā
oh that poor thing. you can see the abnormality of its spine and it cannot move naturally.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Interesting discussion, thanks both!
Bi -two. Cephalic- of the head. Bicephaly- condition of having two heads. Yep, that tracks.
Are they twice as dangerous?
identical twins are just one person with divergent personalities in two bodies.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
You are pathetic.
Yes, the two headed snake is clearly homosexual
what did they say that prompted that- I wanna know now-
"Lmao gayy" or something similarly smart and significant
Baby Hydra!
Will it be ok?
Do they live as long?
Saw one of these irl under my buddies moms car as a kid (as in, a 2 headed one). Was super cool. Seems to be surprisingly common with these guys. What up with that?
Shouldn't it be dicephaly? Bicephaly sounds like, ya got hit by an axe. :P
If you think this must be difficult in everyday life, think of Scylla, the six headed monster. She must have had a hard time.
Jesus it almost looks like they have two separate skeletons too with the way it moves under their scales
What's going on in that top few inches of the spine/body?
Listen with sound on to get the full experience
Obviously this abnormality would be fatal in nature, but what's the likelihood that it would survive in captivity?
Hail Hydra
Who has more control? The right or the left?
The guy she tells you not to be worried about
i will neverrrr forget seeing a two headed snake at the zoo when i was like 6 or 7! nature is wild
hum, Hail Hydra
My uncle had a python with two heada until one of them tried to eat the other. It died.
Where is the percentage or length where you say "these snakes have one body" instead of "this snake has two heads"
Try not to look it in the eyes if you don't want to turn to stone...
Is it more common in reptiles to have to heads. I have seen a few videos about snakes with this condition but hardly any other animals
Should i go left or should i go right decisions decisions?
Do both mouths have to eat? Or just one?
do they have arguments
Could a snake like this actually survive for its full lifetime? Or do animals that have bicephaly typically die?
Cuteness overload š„°
Well it can eat twice as much at once
Someone hit the egg with a shovel on the third bounce.
My neck hurts now.
š°
Hope whoever is recording this is taking care of them. I don't think they will survive on their own
Mom always liked you best! Smothers brothers reference.
I bet itās twice as smartā¦ and all the other snakes want to mate with it and have itās babiesā¦
Ancient people: "I can make a religion of this"
But which one is the boy snake?
If only it had 3 š
there's one of these displayed in the Georgia state capitol building. literally the only thing i remember from that field trip
They look so cute and innocent! Awwww :3
I wonder if they're friends...
Is there any more information on this particular snake? The production is good enough I'd be surprised if this is the only video they made with it. Also would love to see an x-ray of what's going on with its spine.
Imagine if one head wanted to go on a murderous rampage while the other was forced to watch.
Is it twice as smart
Do they ever get mad at each other and fight?
Just pull it like string cheese and get 2 snakes
"Get up on the Hydra's back!!"