A Texas zoo recently announced its two-headed, two-brained, uncoordinated snake is back on public display after the zoo kept the creature secluded for over two years due to a neck injury, CBS News reported Tuesday.
The eight-year-old western rat snake has two heads, named Pancho and Lefty, that have distinct personalities, according to the outlet.
You can now visit a rare snake that has 2 heads, 2 brains and 1 “uncoordinated” body at a Texas zoo. https://t.co/ZxkK6W6j9s
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 15, 2023
“The right brain is much more dominant and tends to control where they go. The left brain is seemingly just along for the ride,” senior zookeeper Maddie Michels-Boyce said, per CBS. (RELATED: Snake Found With Two Heads, Two Brains)
First found in a family’s yard, the unique snake has lived in the Cameron Park Zoo since 2016, CBS News noted. Zoo officials said the snake “probably wouldn’t have survived long in the wild,” per the outlet.
The two brains often issue “conflicting commands to his one body,” leading to “sporadic and uncoordinated” movements, according to CBS. The snake can also “easily injure his neck by trying to go in different directions and getting stuck on branches, rocks, and other obstacles,” according to zoo officials, the outlet reported.
Following an injury to its left neck in Feb. 2021, the snake was kept out of public view and underwent a healing process until June 2022, CBS reported.
The snake, which has now fully recovered, has been placed in a modified aquarium that “does not have many obstacles besides grass,” per CBS.
“We are hoping that this design provides enough cover for the snake to feel secure while also being physically safe, so he does not injure his neck again,” a zoo official said, according to the outlet.