Rare two-headed snake found in family's home in Thailand
Newsflare
2020-09-16
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A rare two-headed snake sparked panic when it slithered into a house in Thailand.
The 12-inch long serpent was seen in the dining room while the family were eating lunch on Sunday afternoon in Nakhon Pathom, around 35 miles east of Bangkok.
Resident, Nathanon Thammasithian, said they saw the snake in the corner of the room and were terrified it was venomous.
However, they identified it as a non-venomous puff-faced water snake and scooped it up in a glass jar.
Footage shows how the snake, which the family nicknamed 'Song', was wriggling around full of energy when the family caught it on September 13.
Nathanon said a neighbour had offered to buy the 'lucky' serpent for 10,000 Baht (250GBP) to use in black magic spells, but he had declined.
He said: ''We have never seen a weird snake like this before. It's special.
''We kept the snake in a fish aquarium to keep it safe throughout the night. I didn't want to sell the snake, I didn't think that was the honourable thing to do.''
When superstitious neighbours heard about the mutant reptile, they rushed to their house to worship it for good luck.
Snake rescue teams arrived later the next day to help with the creature. However, by the evening it had passed away. Nathanon is keeping the corpse in his fridge.
Nathanon added: ''One of the snake's tongues was constantly sticking out and it looked like it was having difficulty breathing. We kept checking on it and provided a little bit of food and water, but there was nothing we could do to help it survive.''
The puff-faced water snake, or homalopsis buccata, inhabits fresh water bodies including swamps, ponds and forest streams. They feed on small fish or frogs.
The snake is believed to have had polycephaly, a condition where twins failed to separate during pregnancy because of mutations.
Last month, an 11cm long two-headed Russel's viper was discovered in the Kalyan district of Maharashtra state on August 7.
Indian Forest Services officer Susanta Nanda said such genetic abnormalities lead to ''low survival rates in the wild''.
The 12-inch long serpent was seen in the dining room while the family were eating lunch on Sunday afternoon in Nakhon Pathom, around 35 miles east of Bangkok.
Resident, Nathanon Thammasithian, said they saw the snake in the corner of the room and were terrified it was venomous.
However, they identified it as a non-venomous puff-faced water snake and scooped it up in a glass jar.
Footage shows how the snake, which the family nicknamed 'Song', was wriggling around full of energy when the family caught it on September 13.
Nathanon said a neighbour had offered to buy the 'lucky' serpent for 10,000 Baht (250GBP) to use in black magic spells, but he had declined.
He said: ''We have never seen a weird snake like this before. It's special.
''We kept the snake in a fish aquarium to keep it safe throughout the night. I didn't want to sell the snake, I didn't think that was the honourable thing to do.''
When superstitious neighbours heard about the mutant reptile, they rushed to their house to worship it for good luck.
Snake rescue teams arrived later the next day to help with the creature. However, by the evening it had passed away. Nathanon is keeping the corpse in his fridge.
Nathanon added: ''One of the snake's tongues was constantly sticking out and it looked like it was having difficulty breathing. We kept checking on it and provided a little bit of food and water, but there was nothing we could do to help it survive.''
The puff-faced water snake, or homalopsis buccata, inhabits fresh water bodies including swamps, ponds and forest streams. They feed on small fish or frogs.
The snake is believed to have had polycephaly, a condition where twins failed to separate during pregnancy because of mutations.
Last month, an 11cm long two-headed Russel's viper was discovered in the Kalyan district of Maharashtra state on August 7.
Indian Forest Services officer Susanta Nanda said such genetic abnormalities lead to ''low survival rates in the wild''.
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