Todd Ray must have a lot of cash snaked away.
Why else would he spend $50,000 on a snake, even one that is two-headed and albino?
That's how much the owner of the Venice Beach Freakshow said he paid for "Medusa," a four-year-old double-headed Honduran Milk Snake born in Florida.
"I've wanted her since the day it was born four years ago," Ray told The Huffington Post. "I went back and forth with the owner and the price just kept getting higher."
Ray already holds a Guinness World Record for having the biggest collection of two-headed animals, but he considers "Medusa" the crowning jewel.
"This snake is perfect," he said. "Some other two-headed snakes are beautiful, but they have a kink where the heads become one. Medusa doesn't. It's as if she was meant to have two heads.
Medusa is 3 feet long, but she is a handful, according to Ray -- especially at feeding time.
"I flew her in from Florida and, usually, I give them a week before feeding to get them used to their surroundings," he said. "But she was moving around so much I thought she was looking for food."
Ray said with most two-headed snakes, he feeds them one at a time with a playing card between their heads to keep them from biting each other.
"I bring a mouse up to them and both opened their mouths," he said. "Then the right head struck and yanked the mouse right out of my hand.
"Then the left head grabbed the mouse's butt end. I couldn't believe how quickly they were eating. They were going to meet in the middle -- and these types of snakes eat other snakes!"
Ray had to grab a Butcher's knife and cut the mouse in half before the right head swallowed the left.
"Now I know to have two mice ready at the same time and have two more ready," he said.
Ray plans to put Medusa on display at the Venice Beach Freakshow starting Saturday, and expects her to be a big draw.
"I really think she is the star -- especially for snakes," he said. "I wouldn't have spent that much money if she wasn't so valuable."
