Hamster, snake best friends at Tokyo zoo

[rpannier]

I think it's a cute story and rather amusing.

TOKYO - Gohan and Aochan make strange bedfellows: one's a 3.5-inch dwarf hamster; the other is a yard-long rat snake.

Zookeepers at Tokyo's Mutsugoro Okoku zoo presented the hamster — whose name is a tasty rice dish in Japanese — to Aochan as a snack in October, after the snake refused to eat frozen mice.

But instead of indulging, Aochan decided to make friends with the furry rodent, according to keeper Kazuya Yamamoto. The pair have shared a cage since.


Full article is at:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10903211

[Behind the Aegis]

1. Ain't it grand?

Maybe, just maybe, any species can get along with another, if they try hard enough.

[aquart]

2. What IS the snake eating?

[Behind the Aegis]

3. Frozen rats.

The snake stopped eating frozen food, so they tried live food. Instead, they formed a friendship. The snake is again eating frozen rodents, but sleeps with his fuzzy pal.

BTW, the hamster pictured is a fairly rare hamster, in the grand scheme, it was only discovered a 100 years ago. I have a few of them. They are about the size of mice when full grown. They don't bite, unless you hurt them. They are great pets! They are called Roborovskii Dwarf Hamsters.

[Raster]

4. Frozen rodents

Aochan, a 2-year-old male Japanese rat snake, eventually developed an appetite for frozen rodents but has so far shown no signs of gobbling up Gohan — despite her name.

[jpgray]

5. My dwarf hamster was one of my favorite pets (nt)

[Behind the Aegis]

8. I have 8 breeding pairs.

I love mine too. They are fun to watch! Although, they will be 'leaving' soon. :( They don't have a great life expectancy. My cat likes watching them too. :P I bet his reasons are different from mine.

[Skidmore]

6. Perhaps that snake is just saving the hamster for a special

occasion.

[jpgray]

7. Yeah--they misinterpreted the snake's "To Serve Hamsters" book

[RebelOne]

9. That snake is probably not hungry.

When his stomach starts to growl, bye, bye, hamster. Believe me, I know, as I used to have two boa constrictors. I would feed them live rats. If the snakes were not hungry, they would ignore the rats.

[ScreamingMeemie]

10. oops

:kick: :rofl:

[DELUSIONAL]

11. Hippo and turtle, cat and dog -- thanks for the link