Meet the roommates barking next door.

Photos by Sakke Overlund, Illustrations by Chloe Cohen

Atty

Chihuahua-Weiner mix

Age: 6 years old (turning 7 in December)
Roommate: Caleb Whittaker, Communication first-year
Home: East Fairchild
Personality: Smart, playful, family-oriented
Hobbies: Cuddling, chewing bones, playing with tennis balls
Best Habit: Following directions, making new friends, protecting Whittaker (or at least trying — his small stature makes it difficult to fend off enemies)
Worst Habit: Shedding, begging for food, barking
Fun Fact: Atty threw his back out playing tug-of-war once. Now, ropes are off-limits.

Charles

Syrian hamster

Age: 2 years old
Roommate: Colin Valdiviez, SESP third-year, and honorary roommate Alexandra Hoffman, SESP second-year
Home: An off-campus apartment
Personality: He has a pretty bad personality. Charles doesn’t like being picked up and has bitten several people. However, he is very curious and always on the glass of his cage to see what’s going on.
Hobbies: Biting, sleeping, eating
Best Habit: Being cute and fun to watch
Worst Habit: Biting
Fun Fact: Charles has escaped his cage three times in the middle of the night. Once, Valdiviez and Hoffman found him under a bucket in their roommate’s room.

Why Valdiviez and Hoffman brought Charles to school:
“We brought him to school because Colin and I thought it would be fun to take care of a hamster,” Hoffman says. “I also thought hamsters were super cute and entertaining, and Charles has definitely lived up to that expectation.”

Peach

Netherland Dwarf rabbit

Age: About 9 months
Roommate: Kim Sloan, SESP third-year
Home: Off-campus apartment
Personality: Mischievous, ambitious, curious
Hobbies: Hopping in and out of large cardboard boxes and climbing furniture
Best Habit: Being cute! “She’s mostly just for looking,” Sloan says.
Worst Habit: Liking the taste of paint and chewing on the walls
Fun Fact: Peach is a natural with kids. In fact, she and Sloan have volunteered together at a foster home.
Why Sloan brought Peach to school:
Sloan grew up with pets, so she wanted a furry friend on campus as well. She chose a rabbit specifically for its distinctive temperament. “They’re really unique with how intelligent they are and their ability to grow a strong bond," she says.

Maia

African Pygmy hedgehog

Age: 4 years old
Roommate: Kevin Fitzmorris, McCormick third-year
Home: 560 Lincoln first-year, DU fraternity house second-year, off-campus apartment third-year
Personality: Pokey. “Her first reaction to everything is ‘I will poke.’ Or she’ll hide. Those are the two options,” Fitzmorris says.
Hobbies: Curling up in a ball in a corner and running at night on her wheel
Best Habit: She seems to always curl up in a ball at the right time for photos
Worst Habit: Depending on who is holding her, she chooses suboptimal times to poop and pee
Fun Fact: She’s a mom of eight, and her kits all have the same facial markings and are just as pretty.

Why Fitzmorris brought Maia to school:
“I knew I’d be living in a single for freshman year even though it was a suite, and I wanted some form of a roommate,” Fitzmorris says. “It was definitely the right call up until spring break when the university found out and got mad about her.”