Extraordinary videos show a two-headed snake which is being raised by a family after it was discovered in a backyard.
Wildlife educator Tanee Janusz, 39, adopted the western rat snake when a fellow member of her naturalist society found it slithering around his garden.
The reptile, which is 10 months old and a foot long, has two heads due to a genetic defect which affects just one in 10,000 births.
The deformity – caused when the embryo does not divide fully – means the animal has two brains but a single respiratory system, digestive tract and body.
Mom-of-three Janusz has named the heads Filé and Gumbo and refers to them as “the twins” because they have different personalities.
While Gumbo is the dominant side, both are “feisty” and they often end up wrestling after trying to go in opposite directions.
Janusz, of New Orleans, Louisiana, now tours schools, libraries and scout groups educating people about the rare animal.
She said: “When I first saw them I thought they were the neatest little things ever. Two-headed snakes are not totally unheard of but they are pretty rare and this is the first time I have been in charge of caring for one.”
“I have three kids who thought it was the coolest thing in the world. At first, I was trying to figure out what they needed to eat because their mouths are very small. It’s kind of gross, but they eat newborn mice and I buy them frozen.”
“When snakes eat their jaws expand so it had to be something they would be able to eat with no jaws because of the way their heads are angled. I also have to make sure they don’t have a lot of water in their bowl because the dominant side will drag the less dominant side through the water.”
“Because they have two heads, they have different thought processes so one will go one way and the other will want to go in the opposite direction. One will go one way and the other will be like, ‘Oh no.’ They will almost wrestle – twisting and turning. They are a little easily intimidated so they want to try and bite me sometimes, but they have itty bitty mouths.”
“They are feisty and they will rattle their tails and flatten out their head to be like, ‘Hey, we might be dangerous.’ When people see them they cannot believe it’s a snake with two heads. Some people online get scared, but they are small enough to be cute and they fit into my hand.”
Janusz, who has been a wildlife educator for over 20 years, added that had the animal not been rescued, it would likely have been killed because it slithers slowly.
Many two-headed creatures die prematurely due to genetic issues, but Filé and Gumbo have a clean bill of health since their rescue in September.
The two-headed snake is cared for by Janusz and her children Nick, 17, Josh, 14 and Katie, 11, who also look after their mom’s other rescue animals.
The clan includes seven snakes, a frog, three turtles, two cockroaches, millipedes, a tarantula, a bearded dragon, grasshoppers, a hedgehog, birds, dogs and a cat.