Bits for Pets Blog

A rodent-eating snake and a hamster have developed an unusual bond at a zoo in the Japanese capital, Tokyo.

Their relationship began in October last year, when zookeepers presented the hamster to the snake as a meal.

The rat snake, however, refused to eat the rodent. The two now share a cage, and the hamster sometimes falls asleep sitting on top of his natural foe.

“I have never seen anything like it,” a zookeeper at the Mutsugoro Okoku zoo told the Associated Press News agency.

The hamster was initially offered to Aochan, the two-year-old rat snake, because it was refusing to eat frozen mice.

As a joke, the zookeeper said they named the hamster Gohan – the Japanese word for meal.

“I don’t think there’s any danger. Aochan seems to enjoy Gohan’s company very much,” said zookeeper Kazuya Yamamoto.

The apparent friendship between the snake and hamster is one of many reported bonds spanning the divide between predator and prey.

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He looks like a drowned rat. But clinging to his very own surfboard, this is simply a pet exploring his wild side.

Tofu, as he is known, and his 14-year-old owner hit the waves twice a week at their local beach in Hawaii.

Along with his fellow rat Fin, Tofu catches waves of up to 4ft and even rides tunnels of water known as ‘tubes’.

‘Running on a wheel isn’t enough for Fin and Tofu – they like a more extreme rush,’ said owner Boomer Hodel.

‘When they first started they were pretty shaky and would fall off quite a lot, but now their balance is so good they fall off less than most human surfers.’

The rats – both one-year-olds – surf for 20 minutes at a time before drying off in the sun.

Each time, they are raring to get back to the water. ‘Rats are natural swimmers,’ Boomer said. ‘And they have a very adventurous spirit.’

Hodel started their training by gently pushing the rats into tiny ripples at the water’s edge before moving them on to more advanced waves.

Both the rats can swim and, after some early tumbles, can now perform tricks – often catching tubes in front of stunned onlookers.

Hodel draws big crowds of spectators at his local Laniakea Beach.

He said: ‘They love surfing. Fin’s favourite trick is a tube ride – where the wave breaks over him and he rides through a tunnel of water.

‘Sometimes he falls off his board and I have to take him back to the beach to warm him up with a towel. But he is always raring to get back out there.

‘The first time I took the rats down to the beach it was to give them a wash because they were all dirty. But they loved the water so much I had to take them back.’

The water-loving rats are even on a special diet to stay in shape.

‘It has really boosted their performance,’ said Hodel.

‘I give them high protein, low carbohydrate foods. Rats are natural swimmers and have a very adventurous spirit.’

He made the 1ft-long surfboards himself with the help of pals Jeremy Martin and Akila Barrnett , both 14.

Hodel got the idea when he snapped his surfboard on a big wave and decided to turn each half into a smaller surfboard using sandpaper and fibreglass.

His incredible pets were caught on camera by Hawaiian photographer Clark Little.

He said: ‘I saw these kids walking down the beach with two rats and some tiny surfboards so I went over to see what they were doing.

‘I couldn’t believe it when the rats started surfing. They was really good, surfing very fast and having a grand old time.

‘I thought it was weird at first at first but they both seem to really enjoy it and the rats are good swimmers.

‘Rats are survivors. Maybe that’s why these ones are so good at extreme sports.’
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The Russian space agency has blasted 10 gerbils into space for a 12-day mission to test the possible effects on humans of a flight to Mars.

The small mammals, similar to mice and rats, are being kept in special cages with a supply of nuts and cereals.

Day and night will be simulated and special machines will clean their excrement in the weightless conditions.

The gerbils may find space preferable to returning to Earth – several are to be dissected upon their return.

The furry rodents lifted off from the Russian-run Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan on Friday in a Soyuz rocket.

Gerbils are probably more suited than most rodents for space flight because they conserve body fluids by producing a minimum of waste.

The 10 are all sand rodents, praised as “a very interesting object for research” because they “can live for more than a month without using liquids,” said Anatoly Grogoryev of the Russian Academy of Science.

“This will enable scientists to determine salt exchange mechanisms in zero gravity conditions.”

Gerbils, as many pet owners have discovered, are gregarious and active in daylight, which makes them easy to observe.

The 10 gerbils will be filmed during their space flight.

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A Saudi man’s attempt to smuggle live reptiles out of Egypt in his hand luggage has been foiled by horrified security officers at Cairo airport.

Snakes, chameleons and baby crocodiles were found in the 22-year-old’s bags as he tried to board a Saudi-bound flight.

Police had become suspicious when X-ray machines at the departure gate gave odd readings. Among the reptiles they found was a cobra, squirming to escape.

The animals were confiscated and turned over to Cairo Zoo.

Brief panic

The passenger, who said he was unaware that transporting live reptiles was illegal in Egypt, was later allowed to return to Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

He had claimed the animals were needed for scientific research.

Witnesses told Egyptian state news agency Mena how the discovery triggered a brief panic among security personnel at the airport.

Mena reported that the haul included about 250 baby crocodiles.

“This is the largest smuggling attempt of Nile crocodiles in the whole of aviation history,” the agency quoted airport vet Yusef Mamduh as saying.

In May, another Saudi national was caught carrying 700 live snakes in his hand luggage at the Cairo airport.

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A man has been questioned by police at LaGuardia airport in New York after smuggling a monkey onto a flight from Florida by hiding it under his hat.

Passengers spotted the animal when it climbed out and perched on the man’s ponytail, Spirit Airlines spokeswoman Alison Russell told reporters.

Ms Russell said the monkey – a marmoset – spent the remainder of the flight in the man’s seat and was well-behaved.

It is unclear whether the unnamed man will face any criminal charges.

The man’s journey originated in Lima, Peru. Ms Russell said it was not known how the man avoided detection there, and during a several-hour stopover in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

When passengers noticed the fist-sized primate on the flight, they asked the man “if he knew he had a monkey on him”, Ms Russell said.

New York animal control officials said the monkey appeared to be healthy, the Associated Press news agency reported.

It said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was planning to quarantine the animal for a month.

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His eldest son Amjad Khan, 21, said his father had been performing at a show in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday when he was bitten by a King Cobra.

Ali Khan, who regularly performs with his beloved snakes for charity and for a living, died at 1am yesterday at Kuala Lumpur Hospital where he had been recuperating.

Amjad Khan related that when his father contacted him on Tuesday to tell him he had been bitten, the family had not been too worried.

“He had been bitten by snakes many times before, including three times by King Cobras. The first King Cobra bit him in Taiping when he was 21.

“So we didn’t think anything would happen. I was just relaks saja (calm),” said Amjad Khan at their flat in Kampung Boyan here yesterday.

On Thursday night, his condition took a turn for the worse. Family members here received a call from Amjad Khan’s uncle to go to the hospital.

Well known for his daring feats with cobras, Ali Khan had also made it into the 1997 Guinness Book of World Records, living in a glass enclosure filled with more than 5,000 scorpions for 21 days. He set another record by living with 400 snakes for 40 days.

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Ageing cats can develop a feline form of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study.

A team from the Universities of Edinburgh, St Andrews, Bristol and California have identified a key protein, which can build up in the nerve cells of a cat’s brain and cause mental deterioration.

Alzheimer’s disease in humans is thought to be the product of the protein ‘tangling’ inside the nerve cells, inhibiting messages processed by the brain.

The scientists believe that this protein is present in cats too, and is proof that they can develop this kind of disease.

By carrying out post-mortem examinations of cats that succumbed to the disease naturally, the team are now able to investigate how the condition develops in felines. This may eventually help scientists to come up with possible treatments.

Scientists have suspected for a long time that cats could suffer from dementia in their old age, and previous research has already revealed the thick, gritty plaques on the outside of elderly cats’ brain cells which are similar to those found in humans.

But, by pinpointing this second key marker, the Edinburgh-led team says we can be sure that cats can suffer from a feline form of Alzheimer’s.

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George Clooney’s beloved potbellied pig Max has died.

The pet passed away at the ‘Syriana’ actor’s Hollywood home from old age. He was suffering from arthritis and partial blindness.

Clooney told the USA Today newspaper: “He was as old a pig as the vets had ever seen. I was really surprised when he went. I’m really upset, he’s been a big part of my life.”

The 45-year-old actor had Max for 18 years, and often spoke of his affection for his pet hog, referring to him as “Max, the star”. He even shared his bed with the pig.

Max is not the only animal friend Clooney has lost this year.

He explained: “It has been a bad year for my pets. I had a bulldog that died this year, too. It’s strange how animals become a bit part of your family. They really become a big issue with you.”

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