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  • 13 hours ago
TWO-HEADED TURTLES OVERCOME EARLY STRUGGLES TO REACH ONE YEAR MILESTONE
WITH VID
By Pankaj Yadav
Watch as a rare group of two-headed turtles beat the odds after facing serious health challenges during their first year of life.
Joseph Morena, from New Jersey, USA shared an update on his unique animals, explaining that AquaTerra Exotic Pets cares for one of the largest living collections of two-headed animals.
In the early days, the turtles named Barf and Belch, along with Rough and Tough faced life-threatening difficulties, including nearly drowning in less than an inch of water shortly after arriving.
After emergency intervention, they survived, leading their owner to permanently adjust their habitat to extremely shallow water due to their poor swimming abilities.
Flipping over was another major issue, with the turtles often unable to right themselves. While Barf and Belch gradually improved, Rough and Tough continue to struggle due to their wide bodies and low centre of gravity.
A more varied diet, including shrimp, has since helped strengthen and improve their condition.
Although both pairs remain small for their age, their caregiver notes that reaching the one-year mark is already a significant milestone for two-headed turtles.
ENDS
Transcript
00:00Now that Barf and Belch and Ruff and Tuff are a year old, let's look back at some of the
00:02issues
00:03they faced and how they progressed. Let's start with the biggest, and that's drowning. The first
00:06day we got Barf and Belch, they drowned in less than an inch of water. After CPR and, I hate
00:10to
00:10admit, mouth to mouth, they made it through. Since then, I learned my lesson to keep them in very
00:14shallow water. And same goes with Ruff and Tuff. They are horrible swimmers as well, and I never
00:18want to give them a chance to drown. Flipping. Both would take turns flipping over, and were never
00:21able to right themselves. Luckily, Barf and Belch grew out of it and could flip themselves over,
00:25but on the other hand, Ruff and Tuff, since they have such a low center of gravity and are so
00:28wide, they still struggle to this day. They don't do it as much now, but it's still an ongoing
00:32concern. Head size. Barf's head is still bigger than Belch's. This only caused an issue once when
00:36Barf bit Belch, but other than that, they've been doing pretty well. And then, of course, Barf and
00:39Belch's overall shape. Even with all the proper UVB, calcium, supplements, their shell still curled up,
00:44almost like a spoon. And it was also still pretty soft for their age. I feel like a lot of
00:47that had
00:48to do with them only eating the blackworms, but now that they're eating shrimp and a much varied diet,
00:51their shell looks much better. And it's also much harder. Oh, and of course, the last problem they're
00:55facing is that both Barf and Belch and Ruff and Tuff are still pretty small for their age,
00:58but once again, they have two heads, so let's just be happy they made it to a year, and hopefully
01:02many more.
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