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. The pair have shared a cage since.

See article with uber cute pix here.

Unlike a certain ball python *cough-Pokey-cough* won't eat ANYTHING right now. No carrots, no mice, no jelly bean, no M&M's**. We are tired of offering her everything in site. So last night, I shoved a mouse down her throat. Well, I force fed her in a gentle way with a thawed mouse and a chopstick. When it was all done she looked up at me in a very annoyed manner and back under her water dish she went! ** It's a Joke people!**