Two-headed lizard turns heads

A two-headed dragon has been spotted in Kernersville!!!

Head for the hills! Someone, call for a knight in shining armor!

Oh, wait. This dragon is only 3-inches long.

Call off Sir Lancelot.

A two-headed bearded dragon is one of an unusual clutch of lizards that have hatched in the past week at the home of William and Jan Davis. They breed reptiles for their business, Carolina Reptiles and Exotic Pets, that they run out of their Kernersville home.

Bearded dragons - named for the pouch under their chin that they puff up when they feel threatened - are a popular breed of reptile among pet owners, and there are multiple Web sites devoted to their care and feeding. They grow to be about16-inches long.

The little fellow (or lady; we won't know that for about a month more) is a slender, long-tailed grayish-brown lizard with a second head that juts off its right shoulder. It hatched Friday.

"From what I've seen online there's about a one in two million chance of this," said William Davis.

Another two-headed bearded dragon was born last year in Fresno, Calif., and is still going strong. Davis has been in touch with its owner, Barbara Wittes. "She's been giving me advice on what to feed it, and how to get it started," he said. "Most of them don't live long."

Davis said he hasn't named the lizard. "My wife and kids sometimes do," he said, "but we've got so many it's hard to keep track."

The Davises have more than 100 bearded dragons, counting babies, plus other lizards, snakes and frogs that they sell retail and wholesale.

Bearded dragons are some of their most popular critters. "They make a better pet than most lizards," Davis said. "They're really tame. You walk up to the cage and they'll come right up to you, like a little dog in a way."

Babies tend to sell for $50 to a couple of hundred dollars, depending on their markings.

Li'l Doubleheader isn't the only unusual birth in its family. Of 29 eggs in the clutch, there have been nine sets of twins - 10 if you count the two-headed one, which is the result of twin embryos splitting off unsuccessfully. And as of yesterday, there are still three eggs left to hatch, so there could be more twins to come.

"From what I've heard, the record is only four sets of twins," Davis said. He's already sent a letter to the Guinness Book of Records and expects to hear back from them in six or seven weeks.

The eggs came from one bearded dragon; this is the first time she has laid eggs, Davis said, and that number of eggs is about average.

Bearded dragons eat crickets and greens. The babies are already eating small crickets. "The two-headed one is a little slower than the regular ones," Davis said, "but both heads are eating."

The rest of the litter will be sold when they get big enough, perhaps in a month to six weeks. But right now the Davises are planning to keep the two-headed one. Jan Davis is looking for a name for it, perhaps something from Greek mythology.

From his conversation with Wittes, Davis is optimistic about its chances. "All the signs are looking pretty good for this one," he said. "He's eating and moving around and relaxing."

n Tim Clodfelter can be reached at 727-7371 or at tclodfelter@wsjournal.com.