When Animals... Play With Their Food?

[Typo Lad]

Snake Befriends Hamster Meal (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/J/JAPAN_HAMSTER_AND_SNAKE?SITE=1010WINS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT)

How odd is that? A snake not only not eating a rodent, but sharing it's living space with one and even hanging out.

[StoneGold]

A 120 yard long snake? Seriously? 360 feet?

[Typo Lad]

That DOES sound kinda long, doesn't it?

[Typo Lad]

Ahhhh.

Clarification. (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/photos/T/TOK30101180956.html?SITE=1010WINS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT)

[MsSpring]

So, what is the snake eating then? I mean, does this little hamster have to watch him gobble up fellow rodents.

The picture is kind of cute, although I have this uncomfortable feeling that maybe the snake is just biding his time. Maybe he likes fatter hamsters.

[Charles RB]

There's a sitcom in this somewhere...

[Cotton]

Yeah, then what does the snake eat? I'd rue the day when the hamster makes the snake his best man at his wedding, and the snake eats up the guests. That'll teach 'em hamsters to trust a snake.

[StoneGold]

So, what is the snake eating then? I mean, does this little hamster have to watch him gobble up fellow rodents.

The picture is kind of cute, although I have this uncomfortable feeling that maybe the snake is just biding his time. Maybe he likes fatter hamsters.
Frozen rodents, according to the article. Or one of them.

[Cotton]

Frozen rodents, according to the article. Or one of them.
"Zookeepers at Tokyo's Mutsugoro Okoku zoo presented the hamster _ whose name means "meal" in Japanese _ to Aochan as a tasty morsel 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."

It said the snake refused to eat frozen mice...

[StoneGold]

"Zookeepers at Tokyo's Mutsugoro Okoku zoo presented the hamster _ whose name means "meal" in Japanese _ to Aochan as a tasty morsel 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."

It said the snake refused to eat frozen mice...
Crap, that's what I get for reading while working while watching the Real Ghostbusters.



I ain't fraid of no ghost.

[Sir Tim Drake]

I like the idea of naming a hamster "Meal." I have a friend who has (or used to have) a pet crab named "Lunch."

[Typo Lad]

Later it says that they did get him to eat the ratcicles.

[StoneGold]

Later it says that they did get him to eat the ratcicles.
Then never mind, apparently I can read while working while watching the Real Ghostbusters.



Back off man, I'm a scientist.

[Puma]

at least the clarification explained why the hamster looked so damn big next to the snake

[Shades0077]

That's not a very accurate reference. 120 cm is more like 4 feet than a yard.

I think the snake is just biding his time, lulling the hamster into a false sense of security.

[StoneGold]

That or this snake has the animal equivalent of an eating disorder. Which basically means it would be dead in the wild. Messed up instincts or something. Brain damage?

[Mike Smith]

That or this snake has the animal equivalent of an eating disorder. Which basically means it would be dead in the wild. Messed up instincts or something. Brain damage?

No, it's just all of those PETA meetings finally got to it. That snake is on soy and salad from here on out.

[tricksterpup]

The odds are there is some thing wrong with the snake. Either the temp is off in his cage which would cause him to not eat or that he might be in hibernation mode. Many snakes will refuse to eat during winter months but when spring comes, they are ravenous. But it seemed that the hamster is a last ditch effort to get that guy to eat. If he isn't feeding dead feeds, all snakes that are healthy will go after a live rodent.
Now if this snake starts to eat, that hamster will be lunch, no ifs ands or buts.
I own a few snakes and they all feed on dead frozen feeds. I have seen to many times snakes being attacked by the rodent it is in the cage with. This mainly happens with Rats. To many pets injured or killed by their food. So many breeders will use a dead mouse or snake-sausages.
http://www.t-rexproducts.com/images/70201.jpg

http://www.t-rexproducts.com/images/StkGrp.jpg