• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

2 headed ball what to do?

N

nickyp0

New member
Joined
Oct 4, 2005
Messages
253
Reaction score
2
Points
0
Age
45
Location
concord NH
o.k. i have a question all of the cinnamon clutch is out exp this guy and has not poked out at all so i fig it was dead and i cut open the egg and took it out. just to find this and its still alive!!!! what do i do now? both heads are moving
wtf003.jpg
 
Wow. I wouldn't know what to do if I were in your position. Are both heads active and tongue flicking? Did you examine to see if anything else was out of the ordinary besides the obvious 2 heads?
 
You're likely to find this sparks an ethical debate - some feel it's an exciting curiosity and should be kept. There are cases where these have thrived.

Others feel it is not kind to keep an animal in this condition and would cull (euthanise) it. I'm one of the last kind, and would kill this in a humane manner, but it's a really personal choice.

A question is whether it is severely kinked or not - it's hard to see from the photo. If it is, it probably couldn't eat successfully anyway.
 
Oh my....well, I don't breed balls. But if this was a leopard gecko I would cull it.

I guess you could also watch it and see how it does. But I wouldn't hold out too much hope for it.
 
both heads move when you touch them other than that no tongue flicking and it is so badly kinked it looks like a snail
 
nickyp0 said:
both heads move when you touch them other than that no tongue flicking and it is so badly kinked it looks like a snail
Click to expand...

If it's that badly kinked, 2 heads or not, probably in the best interest of the animal if you would put it down.
 
Well I guess the best thing to do it to humanely put the snake out of it's misery.

*Side Note* There was some guy who wanted to purchase a 2 headed snake alive or dead, he posted wanted ads in the classifieds.
 
RobNJ said:
If it's that badly kinked, 2 heads or not, probably in the best interest of the animal if you would put it down.
Click to expand...

:iagree:

Severe kinks would stop it eating and moving, and I would cull it. A hard call, especially when you've worked hard on the clutch, but consider quality of life for the animal.

I don't know if you've followed discussions on euthanasia, but the most humane way would probably be to cool it for a short time (fridge, not freezer), wrap in a cloth and crush BOTH heads as quickly as you can (I have used a hammer). Don't freeze a live animal....

So sorry for these ill fated twins.........:(
 
Helenthereef said:
:iagree:

Severe kinks would stop it eating and moving, and I would cull it. A hard call, especially when you've worked hard on the clutch, but consider quality of life for the animal.

I don't know if you've followed discussions on euthanasia, but the most humane way would probably be to cool it for a short time (fridge, not freezer), wrap in a cloth and crush BOTH heads as quickly as you can (I have used a hammer). Don't freeze a live animal....

So sorry for these ill fated twins.........:(
Click to expand...

In my personal opinion smashing the heads with a hammer isn't humane at all. If you can afford to please take the poor snake to a vet so he can be humanely euthanized.
 
it would cost over $200 to go to the vet to put him down, and they would have to find the heart to do a stick prick to put it down, idk but that sounds like a lot of pain to me
 
There are lots of debates in various thread about euthanasia, it's interesting to do a search and get a lot of opinions.

I used to be a lab tech working with animals, and while physical methods sound horrible to the person, they are the best for the animal. It's all to do with speed. If you cool them first they become torpid and it can be very fast. Pithing is often recommended but you have to be very skillful - a hammer crush on a neonate is fast and certain.

Do not decapitate - studies show the brain can live for up to an hour, hence total destruction of the brain is best way.
 
You could also use co2 to humanely kill it. That way its body is still intack if you were to give/sell it to the guy looking for a two headed snake. Its a shame that the poor guy is kinked that bad.
 
i will put it down, its barely alive as of now, once out if anyone wants to use this guy as a study please let me know. i would hate for it just to give its life for nothing. i fig use it as a learning tool.
 
The hammer works, however, kind of gruesome, and could be difficult to do (mentally for me at least). The only good way to do this, is to do whatever feels right to you. If you are morally conflicted with any idea, don't do it. Everyone will have a slightly different answer, because there is no definite right answer. Don't do something if you morally disagree, because it will stick with you, and you won't forget.
 
the temp was at 85F i did have an incubator problem and had to move them to a back up inc., as for the rest of them you can see them in the post called cut early. the funny thing is ( and i loosely use the word funny ) all the eggs in there had a twin like an egg with in an egg. here is a pic of what i am talking about, now the hatchling is fine he was almost out just got spooked back in and there is this under developed embryo.
eggegg001.jpg
 
Taking it to a vet to get it "humanely euthanized" is playing with fire. Unless the vet is an experienced herp vet, they will probably administer a drug to euthanize the animal. Reptiles are notoriously difficult to euthanize via drugs. In addition, the animal then becomes biohazardous waste due to the toxic chemical in its system. Most of the expense of euthanasia does not come from the drug itself, but from disposal of the animal. They have to be incinerated to prevent scavenging from wild animals, who could also die of the drug.

There is nothing more humane or faster than a quick blow to the head. A hammer strike seems brutal but is far faster (it is an immediate death) than any other method. Bolt guns and a traditional bullet to the back of the head is the fastest and most humane way to kill larger animals. A hammer strike or knife to the brain is the fastest and most humane way to kill smaller animals (I euthanize fish and reptiles with these methods). I would also be very skeptical of using CO2 to euthanize reptiles. Reptiles have a much higher tolerance for CO2 than mammals because of their slower metabolisms. Death would come very slow, and it is tricky to get the dosage of CO2 right without acidifying the tissues of the nose of mouth, causing discomfort, or prolonging death.

If you don't want to use a hammer, take it outside to a flat surface, pick up a big rock, close your eyes, and drop it. Doing this in the woods where you don't have to pick the rock up again is probably best. The biggest key to remember is that yes, you are killing the animal. Don't go half-assed. Make your strike count.

I'm so sorry the little one came out kinked. I would either euthanize it or let nature take its course. I've seen other two-headed snakes live full lives, but that is very rare.
 
btbutler said:
Don't do something if you morally disagree, because it will stick with you, and you won't forget.
Click to expand...

:iagree::iagree:

And I don't want to derail this thread into a discussion of euthanasia methods.

It sounds as though you are coming to a decision about what to do, and honestly it doesn't sound as though this is a survivor. It's a great shame, but I suppose everyone who breeds animals is faced with some sort of similar dilemma at some point.
 
Back
Top