Two heads are better than one | Coolum News | Local News in Coolum

A TWO-HEADED snake was on display for the first time at an Ipswich reptile festival at the weekend as hundreds of families flocked to the showgrounds.

The two-headed spider children's python as well as a conjoined turtle were the star attractions at the inaugural Scales and Tails Australia Reptile Festival in Ipswich.

Snake farmer Warwick Denshire said the conjoined snake was very unusual and the first of its kind he had seen survive.

“It's very uncommon to get a conjoined snake and it's very uncommon for them to survive,” he said.

“There seems to be a difference of opinion between the two brains.”

The Newcastle farmer said the 10-month-old 35cm-long snake had one set of internal organs and he had to be careful to feed both heads smaller food it could digest.

Mr Denshire said people had at first called for him to euthanase the animal because it might not survive but it was now living a happy, healthy life.

Turtle breeder Craig Latta's two-headed common eastern snake neck turtle called Hydra has six legs, three lungs, one stomach and one tail and scuttled around for amazed reptile-lovers.

The Sunshine Coast man said the turtle was found in New South Wales and given to him to look after as it would not have survived in the wild.

Mr Latta said the turtle's heads used to fight against each other but they now worked together.

“One can be up surfacing for air while the other one is feeding,” he said.

The Crocodile Hunter's father Bob Irwin was another attraction at the festival, sharing his opinions on conservation with fellow wildlife enthusiasts.

Mr Irwin, who worked closely with Australian reptiles in his youth, said events like the reptile festival helped keep people aware of current wildlife issues.

Mr Irwin also used the event to highlight the need to stop land clearing in Ipswich to protect the area's koalas.

“The government have had years and years to get this right and they've just made a mess of it,” Mr Irwin said.

“We've lost 50 per cent of our koalas in three years - which is terrible.

“And 50 per cent of the females left are infertile which makes it even worse because we can't get the breeding programs going.

“We've got to have progress with a little bit more thought going into it so we don't destroy the very reason we all came to this part of Queensland,” he said.

Ipswich snake breeders and publishers of Scales & Tails magazine, Troy and Denver Kuligowski, organised the festival.

They said they were thrilled with the number of people who came to see the reptiles.