Callum returned to the same spot the next day feeling refreshed after a very long and well deserved nap and a full belly. It could be noted that the enclosure was still there, although the fish and plants didn't seem very fresh anymore. No matter. He threw them out and replaced them with some fresh food he had brought, meat, berries, and some leaves. Finding a way to transport water was probably the hardest part, as he took quite a while to find a rock that had a large enough dent in it to be used as a bowl. Not to mention, he had to transport it all the way here without spilling it. It had taken several attempts, but he had finally managed to bring a full bowl of water back to the enclosure, and placed it in.
Now that this was all finished, all he would have to do is to find some young lava rat and red mouse. That could be a bit hard, considering they wouldn't be running around everywhere like the older ones. Perhaps he could check along the walls of the tunnel to see if there were any dens.

It seemed there were no dens to be found in this area. Was he just blind or was he searching in the wrong place? Perhaps he would have to travel further in order to find what he was looking for. Maybe after the chaos yesterday all the mice had moved away to another safer place to live. Traveling further than he had last time, he eventually stumbled upon a hole in the tunnel. Well tunnels were technically holes, so would this be a hole in a hole then? But could you put holes in holes? Anyway, he found a den in the wall.

He struck quickly. Callum managed to fit his paw into the den and felt around until he could feel himself grasp something moving and pulled it out. Huh, that was a grown one. Not what he was looking for. He went back in and felt around again until he found another, and this time it was rather young. Exactly what he needed! He had purposely come on a full belly this time mostly so he wouldn't be tempted to eat the prey he caught. Even though he was full now, it was still incredibly tempting. But he refrained. Callum brought the young mouse over to the enclosure and dropped it in.

Now he had to find a young lava rat. He assumed they also lived in dens similar to the mice, although it may have a slightly different appearance. Definitely larger that was for sure, they were at least ten times larger than mice! Finding a larger hole should be an easier feat, or at least he hoped so.
Sure enough, Callum didn't have to poke around for too long before he found a rather large den. It was big enough so that if he laid on his belly, he was able to gaze into it to see the rats that lived inside. Aaaaand he saw exactly what he needed. Although they would put up a fight. Just sticking a paw in and taking one out wouldn't work quite as well.

Since the opening of the den was bigger this time, Callum found he was able to shove both paws into the hole. Then the adults showed up. He really didn't want to kill more than he needed to, but they just wouldn't stop biting him. The dragon quickly dispatched the two rats and took the young lava rat he needed out of the den, walking back and placing it in the enclosure with the mouse. He gained burns from the ordeal, and it would definitely take a bit for them to heal over. His paws hurt when he walked on them, which would be highly inconvenient for a while. But oh well. Now that the hardest part was figured out, all he had to do now was take care of them until they grew up.

[Assume offscreen Callum provides the rat and mouse with food and water until they grow]

It was a good day. Callum thought his plan had been going on rather successfully too, until a week later he returned to see that the mouse was... missing. And the rat looked unusually plump. It took a few seconds for the dragon to connect these two thoughts. Shoot. It had happened again. That was great. Just great.
He sat there as he slowly took this all in. All that hard work! Well, it wasn't like he could blame the lava rat after all. Since there wasn't anything else to do with it now that the experiment had failed, he released it from the enclosure. Now it could go about terrorizing more of those red mice.
He was so exhausted he wasn't even able to let out a very angry and hot huff. Ah well. He could always try again later, and with some other animals next time. For now he would settle for the prey he could find easily. Maybe even journey to further caves for week long trips. That could work.
Callum left, already thinking of which caves he could try exploring. Maybe somewhere cold.

Exit Callum