Two-headed turtle found on Cape Cod in "especially rare case"

An exceptional baby turtle has veterinarians on Cape Cod seeing double.

The Cape Wildlife Center in Barnstable, Massachusetts, shared a photo Thursday of a diamondback terrapin with two heads. The 5.2-gram hatchling was discovered at a protected nesting site in Wellfleet.

"Our veterinary team will be closely monitoring the little terrapin as we learn more about how their two heads and bodies work together," the center said.

The condition of having two heads is called bicephaly. The center said they've only seen two other turtles like this in the past five years, "making this still an especially rare case for our team."

"While we've encountered this unusual condition before, every case gives us another opportunity to learn more about these fascinating animals' anatomy and physiology," the center said. "For now, our team is monitoring this little one's (two's?) appetite, growth, and behavior closely."

Diamondback terrapins are considered a threatened species in Massachusetts. New England Wildlife Centers CEO Zak Mertz said, "We're looking forward to learning everything we can about these two young turtles."

"What I've heard from the vet team is that they are behaving normally, and both sides are looking very good," Mertz said.

The veterinary team at the center has plenty of experience dealing with odd animal cases. Last year they helped out a screech owl that somehow ended up in someone's bathroom in Barnstable. In 2022, they took in a coyote pup that a family had mistaken for an adorable "lost puppy." And in 2021, they performed foot surgery on a goose under the watchful eye of his mate.