Rat snake to wed hampster

From Japan: Proof that almost anything is possible in this world, a Japanese rat snake and a hampster that was thrown into his cage as a live meal have become bosom buddy cell mates, acording to BBC NEWS.

I've always thought of snakes as being rather cold, single mined, nasty little buggers to tell you the truth - see something move, lick lips with scary little forked tongue, lash out and bite, poison and/or crush it and swallow whole.

So, what in God's name happened that this particular snake on spying a moveable feast - the triple cheeseburger of snake meals - suddenly decided, 'nah, bugger it, I think I like this little fella.' It's a bit like a White Pointer swimming up to you and playing 'Flipper' - rolling on its back for a little tummy tickle and a scratch on the snout.

Let me know if you have any ideas...

Snake 'befriends' snack hamster

Aochan, the snake 'seems to enjoy' being with Gohan, the hamsterA 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, the Associated Press news agency reports.
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," zookeeper Kazuya Yamamoto told the Associated Press news agency.
The apparent friendship between the snake and hamster is one of many reported bonds spanning the divide between predator and prey.