Woman Adopts Two-Headed Snake, Considers It As A Twin

While it is not surprising for some people to opt for reptiles as pets, a mother of three in Louisiana has one of the most unique pets under her watch: A snake with two heads!

As Tanee Janusz, 39, is a wildlife educator, it is not really surprising why she took in the western rat snake with two heads that was found by her fellow member of naturalist society. Janusz believes that, if her friend had not found the snake slithering around his garden, some people would have already killed it as its slithers slowly.

Without question, two-headed snakes are rare.

Janusz said in an interview:

“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.”

Janusz considers the snake as twins, and has named them Filé and Gumbo.

According to her, while they share the same body, Filé and Gumbo have different personalities from one another. Nonetheless, both are feisty and often wrestle when they cannot seem to agree on what direction to go.

The reptile is now almost a year old and Janusz brings it with her in school tours, libraries, and scout groups to educate people about the rare animal. Apart from Janusz herself, her three kids namely Nick, 17, Josh, 14, and Katie, 11, also look after the two-headed snake. Additionally, Janusz also has several other rescue animals: seven snakes, a frog, three turtles, two cockroaches, millipedes, a tarantula, a bearded dragon, grasshoppers, a hedgehog, birds, dogs and a cat.

Unlike other two-headed animals that don’t live long due to genetic issues, Janusz’s pet is now 10-months-old and is in good health.

Two-headed animals happen when the embryo fails to fully divide. This results in an animal having two brains, although they share a single respiratory system, digestive tract and body. While animals with such deformity die prematurely due to genetic issues, Filé and Gumbo have been in a tip-top shape since Janusz adopted them in September last year.

Watch the video here: