Rare two-headed Western Hognose snake hatches at Exeter pet shop
Footage of the rare snake being handled after hatching at a pet shop in Exeter.
A rare two-headed snake has hatched at a pet shop in Exeter.
The Western Hognose emerged on its own and appears healthy, staff at Exeter Exotic said.
In an Instagram post, they said: "There appears to be no kinks in the body, just the very tip of the tail is curled. It seems to have no issues with movement either."
The little reptile was born around 19 July and around three weeks later staff are still working out what it liked to eat.
In a caption on a recent video shared by the shop, they said: "The right-hand side head prefers sardine scented pinky heads and will take it from you himself if held up to him.
"The left-hand head is interested in food, but we think the throat may be a little narrower for that head as it seemed to struggle when offered food before.
"Hopefully this improves with time as the snake grows... possibly just having to have smaller food items.
"It is strange to see that the left-hand head will make the chewing motion of eating whilst the right-hand head is eating."
The Western Hognose is a short snake from the plains of America.
The reptile breed is well-known for its scale at the front of its face, which is used to burrow and manipulate its environment.
They are technically venomous snakes, but their venom is very mild and will only cause harm to those that are allergic to the venom.
When threatened, Western Hognose snakes flatten the space directly behind their skull to form a hood much like cobras.
They are known to hiss loudly when under stress or trying to intimidate potential predators, they are much more vocal than other small snakes.
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