A biblical-like creature has sprung out into the world recently, when a two-headed albino milk snake was born – an event of extreme rarity. This comes right on the heels of the three-eyed fish found next to a nuclear power plant in Argentina. In this case, nature alone and its experimentation seems to be responsible.
The snake hatched last week in an incubation container of Sunshine Serpents, outside of Brooksville, FL. A two-headed snake has been heard of before, but it’s extremely rare, a 1 in 10,000 chance. Although this particular snake or snakes, depends on how you want to see it, is an albino, it isn’t actually white. Albino snakes just don’t have dark pigmentation in their skin, instead they appear in bright shades of red, orange and white.
“It’s kind of a freak of nature,” said Parker, who owns and operates Sunshine Serpents. “In the wild, something like this would never survive.”
Albino Honduran milk snakes originate from Central America, can grow up to 6 feet and some have been reported to have lived more than 20 years in captivity. They aren’t poisonous.
Biologists from University of Central Florida say these types of freak events happen when twin snakes don’t separate in time, and in turn get stuck together as one. Most of them don’t hatch, dying in the incubation process, however this one made it, although its health status is still uncertain.
“We don’t know exactly what’s going on on the inside of the snake or how well formed all the parts are,” Parker said.
Photos courtesy of Tampa Tribune.
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