Special surgery rescues rare 2-headed snake HISS-TERECTOMY!
ARARE two-headed western rat snake is getting a second chance to slither in the sunshine after life-saving surgery to remove her ovaries!
Docs at Saint Louis
Zoo Endangered Species Research Center and Veterinary Hospital say they removed two ovaries from the doubleheader, named Tiger-Lily — and the constrictor is convalescing nicely!
The odds of a snake wriggling into this world with a duplicate dome are astronomical — herpetologists say only one in 100,000 are hatched with a bonus brain.
Folks at the reptile center at the southeast Missouri zoo say this can happen when there’s a mutation during reproduction, called bicephaly, “when there is an incomplete splitting of an embryo.” Tiger-Lily had been in the middle of rattling around the state to show off her novel noggin — until she sneezed up traces of blood during a feeding, says naturalist Lauren Baker. “This immediately raised a red flag with our staff.”
Zoo vet Michael Warshaw explains why they had to take immediate action or risk losing Tiger-Lily to the great snakepit in the sky “Under normal circumstances the ovary would grow follicles, then ovulate them as eggs to eventually be laid. In TigerLily’s case she began the reproductive cycle, but the follicles did not ovulate and instead continued to grow and remain static in her ovary. “Over time this led to inflammation and the risk of infection!”
The zoo announced the two-pated patient would soon be back to touring the state.
“I am so happy that our two-headed gal is getting the care she needs and we’re wishing her a safe and speedy recovery!” hisses Baker.