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The six-legged bearded dragon is the latest addition
to a family of two-headed animals owned by Grammy award-winner Todd Ray.
The former music producer to heavyweights like Mick Jagger and the
Beastie Boys is now owner of the world's largest collection of
double-headed animals.
As the Huffington Post reports, Ray's exotic collection already includes
a two-headed bearded dragon named Pancho and Lefty that will turn two in
May.
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But Ray, who features his animals in the Venice Beach Freakshow on the
famous California boardwalk, couldn't pass up the chance to add to his
collection.
Jeckyl and Hyde, named after characters in Robert Louis Stevenson's
novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, were born in San Diego
about five months ago, he said.
And despite appearances, the two heads do not appear to be like-minded.
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'Hyde is actually a parasitic twin. He comes out of Jeckyl's side and
his movement is restricted from the chest up,' Ray said, adding that
Jeckyl does the eating, while Hyde seems to only drink water.
Ray has 22 living two-headed animals in his collection, many with names
as unique as their looks.
There is Laverne and Shirley, the two-headed kingsnake, Lenny and
Squiggy the albino hognosed snake and Cheech and Chong, the tortoise.
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He also owns a two-headed goat, a two-headed terrapin and the world’s
only living three-headed creature: a turtle named Myrtle, Squirtle, and
Thirdle.
The Guinness Book of World Records named Ray owner of the largest
collection of two-headed, or dicephalic, animals in January 2010.
According to the organisation's website, he has spent over $157,000 on
his acquisitions.
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Ray also owns a number of preserved two-headed specimens.
But he didn't put Jeckyl and Hyde on display at the Freakshow until
recently.
'I had to acclimate them to the Freakshow,' he told the Huffington Post.
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'Hyde had sand in his eye from being dragged around by Jeckyl. Bearded
dragons belong in sand, but this is unusual so the previous owner was
only doing what he knew from dealing with one-headed reptiles.'
Both are responding well to treatment, he said.
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