(July 22) — A dragon with two heads and six legs sounds like something out of Greek mythology, not a pet. But for Todd Ray, owner of California’s Venice Beach Freakshow, that’s just what Pancho and Lefty is — or shall we say, are.
The 2 1/2-month-old two-headed bearded dragon arrived safely at Ray’s West Coast doorstep last week, shipped from its birthplace just outside of Dayton, Ohio, through an animal transport company.
As with most of his freak animals, Ray discovered the conjoined-twin lizard on an online forum. And like most of us, the original owner had never seen anything like it. After two months of caring for the remarkable creature, the hobbyist breeder had grown attached to it, but Ray says he persuaded him to make the sale.
“I told him, ‘This is what we do. These are the types of animals that we’re used to taking care of and that we love to bring to the public so that they can see these living miracles.'”
“He was excited about that,” Ray told AOL News. “He didn’t want them to end up in someone’s home or in a situation where they might not make it.”
The immediate payment of nearly $5,000 also helped sway the owner’s decision.
So far, Pancho and Lefty are doing well. Ray closed the Freakshow for several days in order to stay home and ensure the double dragon was adjusting to its new environment. Of course, much of that time was spent just watching the lizard — or lizards — in fascination.
“They’re amazingly cute,” he said. “And their colors are really nice.”
Both heads have been enjoying a healthy diet of crickets and wax worms, and their body has already begun shedding.
They move with relative ease, although sleep can occasionally be a struggle when Pancho wants to rest, but Lefty doesn’t. Lefty will start walking and dragging his twin in a desired direction. When Pancho inevitably wakes up, he’ll start pulling the other way.
But overall, they get along well and never fight.
“It’s like they’re used to having each other there,” Ray said.
He plans to showcase them at the Freakshow once they’ve gotten bigger and are comfortable in front of people. A special terrarium designed to control the high levels of humidity at the beach will be set up for them in their new home.
“I could be making money now, but their value is much more than money,” Ray said. “The typical freak show mentality is to get the money. We’ll get the money, but we make sure we protect these animals because they’re beyond special.”
The find comes just weeks after the showman acquired a two-headed albino hognose snake. Now with 14 live double-headers — not to mention 20 examples of dragon anomalies that didn’t make it past birth, including four-legged conjoined twins and one with two faces — Ray believes his Venice Beach Freakshow is the world’s largest assembly of two-headed creatures.
“One-headed animals definitely seem kinda weird to me at this point,” he said.