Nicolas Cage Once Bought a Two-Headed Snake For $80,000 Because of a Dream the Night Before
Nicolas Cage has owned a number of animals, including a rare two-headed gopher snake named Harvey. While the actor ultimately donated the snake to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, Cage felt he had to purchase him after a dream. The dream did not feature snakes, but it did make Harvey’s appearance in his life feel fated.
Nicolas Cage spent $80,000 on a snake
One night, Cage dreamt of a two-headed eagle. The very next day, he received a call about a two-headed snake, and he knew he had to jump on the offer. Per GQ, Cage purchased Harvey for $80,000.
Per People, Harvey had a condition called bicephaly. Many snakes with this condition die before hatching, and few survive to adulthood. Harvey, by contrast, grew to adulthood with full use of both heads, “although one was clearly more dominant than the other. Although Harvey had two separate brains, both heads shared a single pair of every other organ.”
The fact that Harvey had two heads meant he had specific care needs. To feed him, Cage would have to put a spatula between the two heads so they wouldn’t fight over their food. This level of care felt like too much, so Cage donated him to the Audubon Zoo, where Harvey lived to the age of 14.
Nicolas Cage refused to put Harvey the snake in a film
Before Cage donated Harvey to the Audubon Zoo, he showed him off to guests at a party. Director Werner Herzog, who was in attendance, tried to convince Cage to put Harvey in a film. At the time, they were working on the film Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.
“I did buy the most haunted mansion in New Orleans, which is known as the LaLaurie Mansion,” Cage told Interview Magazine. “We had a big party, Werner came over, and, at the time, I owned a two-headed snake, which I had spent a lot of money on and subsequently donated to the Audubon Zoo. But I brought it out, and everybody was freaked out by it. Werner said, ‘Now, Nicolas, we have to put that into the movie.'”
Cage refused.
“I said, ‘No, I’m not putting it into the movie because this is personal,'” he recalled. “So he filled the movie with snakes, iguanas, and alligators, but he never got the two-headed snake.”
The actor has a menagerie of animals
Besides Harvey, Cage has welcomed a number of animals into his life. When the owner of a local pet store died, he adopted many of the animals left in the shop.
“My job is to care for them, make sure they’re happy and safe,” he said, pointing to a freshwater turtle. “Eventually, I’ll have to donate him, like I donated my two-headed snake to the Audubon Zoo.”
He also has a well-loved Maine Coon named Merlin.
“He’s so kind and so loving,” Cage said. “Sometimes he puts his arm around me when he’s sleeping, and I think it’s my wife, and I go, ‘Oh, Riko.’ And then it’s Merlin.”
