{Photos at URL below}
THE SUN (London, UK) 12 November 04 Tortoise and the spare (John Coles)
Photo: Two-toise ... mutant with two heads (Finbarr Webster)
’Ello ’ello — it’s a tortoise with TWO heads.
Shell-shocked owner John Jones did a double take when the creature hatched at his home.
The animal is now two months old and perfectly healthy despite the bizarre mutation.
Both heads work independently — and often chomp on the same lettuce.
Photo: Tor-twice ... creature's two heads chomp on lettuce leaf
John, 66, of Dorchester, Dorset, said: “I’ve kept tortoises for 55 years and never seen anything like it. The egg was the last of 14 to hatch. I had to help it from its shell.”
The Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise has been given two names, Solomon and Sheba, because John is not sure if it is male or female.
He added: “It is running around with my other 37 tortoises. Each head must have a brain because they do try to move in different directions.”
Jill Martin, of the Tortoise Trust, said it could be worth hundreds of pounds to a collector.
She added: “A two-headed tortoise is basically conjoined twins and is fairly unusual.”
Tortoise and the spare
