The chinchillas—which Nitze describes as “a cross between a squirrel, a hamster, a guinea pig, and a bunny” with “the softest fur in the world”—lived in rodent luxury in Martin and Nitze’s sophomore room in Mather House. Nitze spent two weeks constructing a two-tier cage for the critters, a five-foot-tall structure complete with ramps, steps, a wheel, and a hammock.

When their building manager and resident dean learned of the rodents’ presence, the students were ordered to remove the animals as quickly as possible. Unsure where to take the pets, Nitze brought the cage to the Porcellian Club, where he left an explanatory note telling members: “Don’t panic.”

The chinchillas ate the note. When the perplexed final club authorities finally identified the creatures’ owner, they, too, demanded that the animals leave. Nitze’s brother, visiting from Washington, D.C., drove the chinchillas home.

Martin and Nitze’s run-in with the pet police has not stopped them from keeping animals in their room, though; today, the surviving member of the pair of turtles resides in a tank in their common room. Nitze says a resident tutor and a security guard have spotted the turtle, named Blarney, and have not complained.

“If they really made us get rid of this f—ing turtle, I just wouldn’t,” Nitze says. “It’s just so ridiculous.”

Some students go to great lengths to hide their pets. The rat owner says she keeps the curtains of her common room permanently closed to avoid detection, the python owner tied the snake in a pillowcase to move him in and out of DeWolfe, and many students requested anonymity for this story.

Others are less concerned with secrecy.

Maria F. Barragan-Santana ’14 says she thinks her proctor knows about the fish in her room. Her floor in Thayer conferred to determine the name of the fish, eventually christening it Colonel William Henry Thayer IV.

“It’s not like it’s going to walk out of my dorm,” Barragan-Santana says. “The worst thing that could happen is the bowl breaks. Then all you have is water all over the floor and a flopping fish.”

ANIMAL HOUSE

Caring for a pet can be a struggle for students, who must balance busy schedules, cramped quarters, and long breaks with an animal’s need for stable care.

Nitze, who spent winter break in New Zealand this year, realized just hours before his flight from Boston that he needed to buy food for Blarney before leaving. He raced to PetSmart, where he purchased five seven-day feeders to leave in the turtle’s tank.

“There’s this awful blizzard, but Blarney’s probably going to starve to death if I don’t leave something,” Nitze recalls thinking as he set off through the snow. The break was a success: “Not only did he survive, so did all the fish” who were sharing the tank at the time.

The hamster owner left a Tupperware container full of feed in Mashie II’s cage when he went home for two weeks this winter. He worried that the hamster might “turn stupid and not know where the food was,” but she survived.

Students also worry about the possibility of a pet escaping. “A couple times I forgot to close the cage,” the hamster owner admits. When Mashie I, a now-deceased hamster, once disappeared, her owner sealed the cracks along the walls of his room and put out dishes of food to try to lure her into the open.