BERKELEY, Calif. (KRON) — A pet store in California is the birthplace of a rare snake. People paid a visit to East Bay Vivarium on Wednesday to see this two-headed California kingsnake.
The two-headed snake is a result of a rare mutation called polycephaly, which means “many heads.” The shop says both heads are active, but one head appears to be the main controller of the body.
East Bay Vivarium staff did not expect the snake to live this long since it was born more than six months ago.
How rare is a two-headed snake? According to The Reptarium, for every 100,000 snakes born, only one will be a two-headed snake. That’s a 0.001% chance of that happening.
“I wasn’t sure if I was seeing straight,” said East Bay Vivarium employee Zeke White. “Is that what I think it really is? Because it’s something that everybody knows about: two-headed snakes… But it’s not something I ever expected to see or find here.”
