02-05-2025
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.
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"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.
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"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
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