The new Pel, who was originally called Lep but has since been renamed to Chimbroek, is a completely different hamster from our Pel. He’s the same color, but the differences between a male and a female have become quite clear. The differences:

• Chimbroek weighs much more, almost three times as much as Pel
• Chimbroek is significantly larger, about a third bigger than Pel
• Chimbroek has a pointier rear and big paws, while Pel has a rounder rear and small, delicate paws
• Chimbroek truly hoards, he often walks around with enormous cheeks full of food, whereas Pel limits herself to maybe a few seeds
• Chimbroek is a brute, he’s often dirty and occasionally pees on his own tail. He poops in his exercise wheel, in his house, basically everywhere. Pel is always clean, with a shiny coat, and all her things are spotless

Both are fairly used to living with us now. I only heard Pel once in the store, when she was picked up to be put in a box. Chimbroek made angry noises for a few weeks, even just when approached. Now they’re both super tame. We can pick them up and pet them without any problem. They take seeds from between our fingers and lie down relaxed when being stroked.