By: Andrew Bian

Any birthday is a cause for celebration, but it was even more so for Janus, a two-headed Greek tortoise who became the world’s oldest two-headed tortoise. The resident of the Natural Museum in Geneva, Switzerland celebrated a birthday party for the 25-year-old two-headed tortoise. They celebrated with fun events, which included taking photos with the “birthday boy”.

Normal Greek tortoises can live up to two hundred years in the wild, but two-headed tortoises like Janus have trouble surviving. Because they can’t retract their heads into their shells, which makes them vulnerable to predators such as raccoons, and crocodiles.

Thankfully, Janus spent most of his life in the museum and is free from worrying about predators; however, he still has other hardships. Since the turtle has two heads, it has two separate brains. The heads control the front and back legs of the side that the head is on. This can be very confusing and challenging when the two heads want to go to different places. In addition, they can be infected. Janus also have a hard time rolling back up when it’s flipped over. If he is flipped over too long, the Janus can get dehydrated, sunburned, and even die.

Janus’s lead caregiver Angelica Bourgoin says, “The right head is more curious, more awake, it has such a much stronger personality. The left head is more passive and loves to eat.”

Angelica and her staff are dedicated to giving her a long and healthy life. Every day, Janus gets a massage, a green tea and chamomile bath, and a special diet of fruits and veggies. He keeps active by walking and rolling on his own custom skateboard. Bourgoin even talks to the turtle and plays relaxing music to wake him up.