Latest news with #EastBayVivarium
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rare Two-Headed Snake Hatches in California and Beats the Survival Odds
A two-headed California king snake is thriving at Berkeley's East Bay Vivarium after reaching a rare six-month milestone The heads of the snake are named Zeke and Angel, and one of the heads is more controlling than the other The California reptile store says that snake heads likely share one set of internal organs A California king snake is turning heads with its heads. On March 26, the East Bay Vivarium in Berkeley, Calif., announced that it had recently hatched a two-headed snake. "Announcing our two-headed California Kingsnake! This Lampropeltis getula californiae hatched with two heads and is doing very well. He just reached his 6-month birthday," the reptile store captioned an Instagram post featuring photos of the snake and the creature's X-rays According to ABC 7 News, the East Bay Vivarium held off on sharing news of the two-headed snake's arrival when the rare reptile hatched, because two-headed snakes often don't survive long after hatching. Now that the snake has survived for over six months, the reptile store is optimistic about the animal's future. Related: Va. Man Narrowly Avoids Venomous Snake Bite After Finding Copperhead on His Washing Machine "At this point, we expect to live, you know, a typical king snake's life span is 20 to 30 years. We think these guys will be here just as long," Alex Blancherd, the East Bay Vivarium's owner, told ABC 7. The reptile store also told the outlet that it considers the male two-headed snake to be two king snakes fused at the spine, so they gave the creature two names, Zeke and Angel, a name for each brain. While Zeke and Angel each have their own noggin, the East Bay Vivarium believes the snakes share one set of internal organs. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. "The two heads share one stomach, one heart, and all that fun stuff," an East Bay Vivarium employee shared in an April 8 Instagram post. The staffer adds in the video that only one of the snake's heads has eaten so far, and the East Bay Vivarium believes the non-eating head has a malformed esophagus. Both heads seem able to control the body's movements, but the head named Angel appears to have more control of the body. The East Bay Vivarium told ABC 7 News that it does not plan to sell the pet, which will likely grow to be Read the original article on People
San Francisco Chronicle
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
A Berkeley pet store hatched a rare two-headed snake. That was the easy part
When East Bay Vivarium employees Angel Hamilton and Ezekiel White discovered a newly hatched California kingsnake last September, the fledgling reptile had an unexpected genetic twist: two heads. The mood was a blast of elation, followed by a heavy dose of pessimistic doom. 'Our boss said, 'Take all the pictures you can, because it's probably going to die,'' Hamilton remembered. Two-headed reptiles are uncommon in nature — about a 1-in-100,000 shot. The chances of survival are even more slim. Staff at the 55-year-old Berkeley reptile store thought the animal would last minutes, hours or days. But seven months later, the shiny, striped, black-and-white snake, with heads named Angel and Zeke after the workers who found it, seems to be thriving. It is more than a foot long, devours a baby mouse every Tuesday and is developing a budding social media stardom. X-rays suggest the snake(s) could live a full life, growing to four feet and surviving a quarter century or more. 'We now know that he has a functioning digestive system,' White said. 'With a little luck and without unforeseen challenges, he should live many years.' Reptiles, like mammals, sometimes birth conjoined twins. Michigan reptile breeder and YouTuber Brian Barczyk, who died last year, featured frequent videos with his two-headed kingsnakes named Ben and Jerry. A Mississippi breeder has a two-headed turtle named Chop and Stick. The California Academy of Science once featured a pair of two-headed snakes: a garter snake that died after a few years in the 1960s, and a gopher snake that lived 22 years from the 1970s to 1990s. But they rarely survive that long. Vivarium owner John Emberton has seen two-headed baby ball pythons, tortoises and geckos in his 35 years at the store, where hundreds of colorful snakes are hatched every year. None have lived more than a few days. The store kept Angel/Zeke under wraps for six months, before sharing an Instagram reel of the snake feeding on March 30. On a recent Tuesday feeding day, the animal seemed to be thriving, if a bit drunk. Both black tongues flicker as they navigate their habitat, slithering quickly, but often getting trapped as a stick or leaf gets caught in the fork between their heads. White described the snake's personalities as 'clumsy but fearless.' 'The way you set up the environment has to be a little bit simpler,' said the Vivarium's Alex Blanchard. 'They are occasionally fighting over where to go. You don't want them to get stuck, when they're not on the same page.' Both heads have brains that process information separately. But during a feeding, the right head takes charge, biting a small pink mouse until it stops moving, then swallowing the extra-large meal in its unhinged jaw. While Angel and Zeke have longer 'necks' than Ben and Jerry or the Cal Academy snakes, X-rays suggest they share a single heart, lung and digestive system — a good sign for survival. White and Hamilton have a running spirited debate whether the dominant head is Angel or Zeke. But the left head has shown interest in food, and could start eating as an adult snake. Emberton said Angel/Zeke are still in the 'wait and see' stage. If the snake reaches a year old, the Vivarium will consider selling, likely to a zoo or museum. Barczyk said he had offers for $50,000 for Ben and Jerry, but Emberton said that's likely very high. The left head is smaller with one diminished eye, and Angel/Zeke have a visible knot where their spines join, which could lessen their value. But for Vivarium workers, mere survival makes Angel/Zeke the best two-headed snake they could ask for. 'We've had plenty of things hatch that look perfect and didn't make it anyway,' Emberton said. 'Will it last five minutes or 30 years? You never know.'
