View Full Version : Freak!!!
Went out herping yesterday with a friend, Alex Reid from U of Sask, and came across this lil viridis basking. Took us two good looks to figure out what was going on.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v167/Vanan/Snakes/DSCN1428web.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v167/Vanan/Snakes/DSCN1427web.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v167/Vanan/Snakes/DSCN1430web.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v167/Vanan/Snakes/DSCN1431web.jpg
After the pics were taken, our lil buddy decided to scoot off down a hole while out big cumbersome standard hooks kep clanging on each other. Was quite a comical scene. Here we have three herpers cursing and swearing while looking down a hole. Noone else but us herpers.
JD@reptiles
10-04-04, 10:02 AM
I dont think you can find anything cooler than that! awesome!
Invictus
10-04-04, 10:04 AM
UNREAL!! I think this could very well be the first known case of dicephalism in something other than a colubrid. You should do your best to find this little guy again. :)
awesome find!
And its still living healthy~ (well in a way)
I would love to see it eat~
Leviathan
10-04-04, 10:22 AM
Wow!!! You sure are lucky to have even caught a glimpse of that guy! I thought it strange that only colubrids were born with two heads and no other species and now you have proof that it can happen in rattlers as well... maybe more! Very very cool, you must beam when you look at those pics! Good job Vanan!
Alecia
bighillreptiles
10-04-04, 10:25 AM
cool two heads are better than one lol varry intersting find neaver thout that i would see a two headed rattler is it possable that you found the first congrads
Originally posted by Invictus
UNREAL!! I think this could very well be the first known case of dicephalism in something other than a colubrid. You should do your best to find this little guy again. :)
You mean bicephalism? ;):P
Alecia, the pic weren't taken by me but it still is an awesome find. :) I'm more interested in finding out how it's living and if the insides are intact or does it have 2 hearts.
Simon, both heads flicked their tongues but it seemed that one was the more dominant head. The one which was set straighter on the spine.
Brent Strande
10-04-04, 10:38 AM
Now that is an amazing find! Any estimate on its age by the size of it? I don't know anything about them to make a guess myself. Just curious to know if it may have been surviving for awhile like that!
It's only got it's prebutton and I doubt it's any older than a couple weeks.
Invictus
10-04-04, 10:48 AM
No, I mean dicephalism Vanan... di and bi mean the same thing, but when used in terms of describing the double appearance of a body feature, they use di. Reptiles magazine had a big article recently about dicephalism.
Hey, looked it up. I guess you're right. Learn something new everyday. Thanks for enlightening me. :)
Invictus
10-04-04, 11:06 AM
No worries man. I have a....word knowledge thingy..... that is gooder than most.
lol :D
JD@reptiles
10-04-04, 11:18 AM
Originally posted by Invictus
UNREAL!! I think this could very well be the first known case of dicephalism in something other than a colubrid. You should do your best to find this little guy again. :)
there was a twoheaded timber rattlesnake named double trouble a few years ago. and also a carpet python. it is the second rattlesnake i have seen or heard of like this though.
http://www.geocities.com/thearkfiles/education_files/jungle_carpet.jpg
Tim and Julie B
10-04-04, 11:33 AM
Wow what a find! Can't get much better then that. I wonder if it would have a better chance in captivity or is it doomed either way.
I wonder if both heads venom glads are working properly. Twice as HOT? TB
psilocybe
10-04-04, 12:35 PM
Originally posted by Invictus
UNREAL!! I think this could very well be the first known case of dicephalism in something other than a colubrid. You should do your best to find this little guy again. :)
Wow!!! You sure are lucky to have even caught a glimpse of that guy! I thought it strange that only colubrids were born with two heads and no other species and now you have proof that it can happen in rattlers as well... maybe more! Very very cool, you must beam when you look at those pics! Good job Vanan!
Alecia
Actually, dicephalism has occured in many species and families, not just Colubridae...
The jungle carpet is a good example of a dicephalic boid, and a while ago (maybe a year) a two headed Boa constrictor was for sale...so it's pretty widespread among the families...
Basically, when the cells are dividing, there is incomplete seperation, and two seperate snakes are fused together...this is also similar to siamese twins in humans...
No species is immune from this mutation.
Invictus
10-04-04, 12:47 PM
It seems we've caught Reptiles magazine in a non-truth. Their article about dicephalism stated that it has only happened with colubrids.
Cool pic Jordan, thanks for posting it.
psilocybe
10-04-04, 12:47 PM
Here's a pic of the two-head B. constrictor...it's a small pic, but you should be able to make out the two heads...
http://www.reptilerooms.com/albums/album50/DSC02046.thumb.jpg
I still get excited thinking about it! Talk about unexpected. Vanan noticed the hole so Alex and I went to investigate and then I was screaming, "IT'S GOT TWO HEADS IT'S GOT TWO HEADS!" All three of us were beaming and laughing and quickly taking shots, but that li'l bugger got the best of us.
Actually I'm glad. I wouldn't want to deal with the emails that we got when we posted the patternless rattler that live 'round here. "How much to buy it?" "Can you go catch it for me?" It's like hello? Who are you???
Siretsap
10-04-04, 02:21 PM
Originally posted by Invictus
No worries man. I have a....word knowledge thingy..... that is gooder than most.
lol :D
Lololol, am I the only one who saw this? ;-)
Invictus
10-04-04, 03:00 PM
HAHAHA... glad someone did. :D
Some of us decided to ignore it. :p ;)
JD@reptiles
10-04-04, 05:20 PM
i sure did.
I am suprised Reptiles Magazine said it only happens in colubrids because I have seen/heard of both the Jungle Carpet, and a Brazilian Rainbow (who was dead) with two heads. Maybe the article was written before they were born...I didn't look at the post to see if you said what issue...:P
That's a wonderful find. I bet you were excited. I would have been freaking out!
Marisa
That's wild. LOL you guys have so many cool finds out there... lol... the only snake I have even seen out my way in the past 10+ years is the ribbon snake I caught last weekend :p
Originally posted by marisa
I am suprised Reptiles Magazine said it only happens in colubrids because I have seen/heard of both the Jungle Carpet, and a Brazilian Rainbow (who was dead) with two heads.
I recall a burmese and a ball python as well. Nonetheless, even good magazines still have innacurate information from time to time.
thats awesome to find that in the wild......great photo!
BWSmith
10-05-04, 07:32 AM
Great find. Most of the rattlers we find on the road in the South have NO HEAD! Of course, sometimes it's nearby.
http://www.reptileeducation.com/dor_cane.jpg
Beautiful! A rare site in the wild, you've been very fortunate to see it! =)
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