A specialized turtle farmer in southeastern China was left astounded after hatching a two-headed red-eared slider turtle. This unique turtle is the only one among millions of eggs the farmer has ever incubated, as reported by the Nhan Dan Newspaper.
The two-headed turtle was born at a farm in Nanfeng District, Jiangxi Province, China, just over a week ago. The farm owner was taken aback upon discovering the creature with two heads.
The media did not disclose the farm owner’s identity. The farm owner mentioned incubating approximately 30 million turtle eggs but had never encountered a two-headed turtle before. This exceptionally rare turtle is a first-of-its-kind case.
The aberrant turtle has two separate heads growing from one body. However, unlike most two-headed creatures that are often frail and struggle to move, this two-headed turtle is robust.
It measures about 2.5 cm and can comfortably crawl and move around. Both heads of the turtle are undistorted and are feeding well, according to the Daily Mail.
Red-eared slider turtles typically grow over 30 cm in length and live for 50 to 70 years. Local media reported that the two-headed turtle might be a result of an unusual problem during the embryo’s cell division process.
In August 2015, a snake breeder in Nanning City, Guangxi Province, southern China, hatched an extremely rare two-headed Chinese cobra. As the snake has two separate brains, it occasionally moves in two different directions.