Two headed snake in the city
A two-headed Russell’s viper was born at Friends of Snakes Society’s shelter. A recently rescued Russell’s viper gave birth to 18 live young ones at the Sunday. All the hatchlings were healthy, except one which was born with a rare genetic condition resulting in two heads instead of one.
A two-headed Russell’s viper was born at Friends of Snakes Society’s shelter. A recently rescued Russell’s viper gave birth to 18 live young ones at the Sunday. All the hatchlings were healthy, except one which was born with a rare genetic condition resulting in two heads instead of one.
This genetic condition is called polycephaly (in this case dicephaly or two-headedness), where the splitting of the embryo is abruptly halted, leading to two heads on a body. “This is the first time, in two decades of this organisation, we are witnessing a living specimen with this genetic condition. This may occur frequently in the wild; however, such specimens do not live for long and hence, are seldom witnessed by humans.
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Both the heads of this Russell’s viper are functional. However, possessing two heads is a disadvantage, in terms of mobility and coordination, hence they are preyed upon before they reach adulthood or they might starve to death due to inefficient hunting abilities. This specimen would be kept in captivity at the FOS shelter and care would be provided to it.
It cannot be relocated along with its siblings, as it would never survive in the wild,” informed Avinash Visvanathan, general secretary, Friends of Snakes Society.
