# Licking + nibbling vs just nibbling?



## chrissy87 (Aug 3, 2017)

I've been thinking about rat behaviour a lot since my rat Choc bit me. Not super hard, but enough to break the skin. Thing is, it was my fault he did that - I thought I was "playing" with him, and he was nibbling me back in a playful manner, but then he full out bit me and drew blood, started hissing and clawing at me. I just didn't read his body language properly.

So today I did some different trust training with a bonding pouch, and at the end of it, Choc was licking me! I was petting him at the time when he started licking me, but then he nibbled me really softly and started licking at my hand immediately after that.

what does that combo of behaviours mean? Was the nibble to say "stop petting me now", or was it a grooming nibble?


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## Shadow <3 (Jan 25, 2017)

Nibbling and lickig is stuff I usually associate with submissive or grooming behaviors. For example, if lie my rats on their backs for over 5-10 seconds, they want up. But they let me know that they don't like this in the sweetest way possible: by licking my hand insesintly or nibbling a bit. 

Then you have nibbling and licking in a situation where the rat is afraid. This works like "scared boggling", where the rat seems to be trying to "appease" me while reassuring themself. This happens if a loud noise scares my rats and they hide in a box, and then I try and forcefully take them out.

But in a cuddling situation, nibbling and licking are absolutely affection and grooming based. I had a girl that LOVED cuddling (especially cheek rubs!) and she would lick and nibble me continuously when I stopped, trying to get me to keep going! 

I'd definitely say in your situation that it's a grooming behavior. If a rat doesn't like being pet, they'll either walk away, head butt you (one of my older girls does this when she's done being pet - careful with this sign as in certain situations it indicates nerological issues), push your hand away (my more mouthy girl does this with her teeth - considering she used to bite when displeased, this is preferable!), or even bite. Trust me, when rats dislike something, they show it!

As for when you got bit, is yor boy perhaps more prey driven and high strung than the others? My biter Blackberry was an adorable pup, so I used to try play fighting with her. Big mistake. She has a crazy high prey drive and is very easily over-stimulated, and this "play" brought her over her threshold. Some rats just can't handle the excitement that hand wrestling brings. Heck, Berry won't even let other rats bounce past her without chasing and pinning them down!

Some rats can handle excitement with grace, others get riled up so fast that playful nipping turns to painful biting in the blink of an eye!

I'd suggest finding more "hand-safe" games to play like chasing a string of cat toy around. In my case, Blackberry (and to an extent, the rest of my girls) took to these chase games very well, and they all enjoy pouncing on whatever I move around for them, whether it be a cat toy or a straw.


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