I don't know why, but I just don't like regular Ricky as much as some of my other team meteor characters. I decided to try drawing up some alternate concepts for the character.

Here are three alternate Concepts I came up with.

The bottom-left one is a more literal version of the Hedgepossum, replacing the porcupine part with an actual opossum. I don’t know how much I like this design oh, but it keeps the prehensile tail.

The top one is a combination of a mole and a rat. I like the actual design I drew up oh, and moles are usually stereotyped as fat animals, but this version loses the prehensile tail, and that is not something I am sure I want to give up since it removes his third arm, and I would have to rewrite certain scenes where he actually uses his tail. I have a feeling I might have to rewrite some of my book anyway, but still.

The bottom right try is the strategy described by inexorableblob. I took inspiration from a very skinny animal, specifically a snake, and combined it with one of my other favorite animals, be absolutely adorable and weird anteater. Both animals are known for flicking their tongues out and having a diet consisting of animals that are considered pests animals, so these creatures could specialize as exterminators. It’s also possible that the anteaters strength may help the creature be more versatile.

This version doesn’t have legs, but I almost feel like his prehensile tail is more important. Assuming he is part lesser anteater, he gets to keep the prehensile tail. I feel like I might like this version more, but I’ve had the original version for so long and I don’t know if I do want to change him.