No one bids for rare two-headed snake

ST. LOUIS -- We the two-headed albino snake is drawing international attention -- but no bidders.

The St. Louis-based World Aquarium put the snake up for sale on ReptiBid for a week, an auction that drew worldwide attention. Aquarium president Leonard Sonnenschein hoped to raise at least $150,000 for educational, research and other programs.

But the auction closed Tuesday afternoon without a single bid, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Wednesday.

Sonnenschein said he was surprised but not disappointed. Besides, he said, all is not lost. He expects to make a deal with a zoo or aquarium this week. He wouldn't list names, but said he had been contacted by two institutions in the United States and a man overseas.

Sonnenschein said the two institutions didn't bid on the snake because many aquariums and zoos are governed by rules that don't allow purchases of animals through auctions. Still, the aquarium felt an auction would make more people aware of the snake and help create a fair market value for We.

"We are a charitable organization, and it behooves a charitable organization to achieve the maximum value for its best interests," he said.

"We'll still achieve a reasonable value for the animal and also the best future for the animal."

The aquarium acquired the snake days after its birth for $15,000. We was considered not only a curiosity and an educational tool, but an investment, Sonnenschein said. She is now 6 1/2 years old, of breeding age and is expected to live another 10 to 15 years.

The aquarium sits on the second flood of the City Museum, an eclectic St. Louis attraction that draws about 650,000 visitors each year.

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, www.stltoday.com.