SLIDELL, La. (WWL) - A Louisiana rescued a two-headed snake, which she said has two brains and two different personalities.
Tanee Janusz, who lives in Slidell, has a variety of pets that she has rescued, including turtles, lizards and other snakes. Her most recent acquisition is a two-headed western rat snake, which is about a year old.
She named the snake Filé and Gumbo, who was found by a friend in his backyard. Tanee said it is a product of one egg that didn’t fully divide.
"They have two brains, they both have different dispositions because one is more feisty than the other one," Janusz tells WWL-TV. "They share a digestive tract."
Two-headed snakes are not unheard of, but they are rare, which is why Tanee hopes they can become great animal ambassadors to educate others about snakes.
"I want people to see them and get reeled-in and then we get to talk about their wild counterparts, their normal single-headed snakes and how great they are for the environment,” she explained.
Western rat snake is a nonvenomous species and can be found throughout North America. You can follow Filé and Gumbo’s adventures on their own Instagram page: @Chasingtanee, or on Tanee's website, Nature to Geaux.