# Squeaks while being groomed...good?



## relken0608 (Jul 11, 2013)

I have two males, Clark and Marley. They're my first rats and i've had them for about 2 or 3 months now maybe. I've noticed that whenever Clark grooms Marley, Marley will squeak --tiny little ones. I figured it was normal since it didn't sound like pain and he wasn't trying to get away. Today i was petting Clark (i gathered up some of the loose skin between my thumb and pointer, then scratched with my other 3 fingers while holding the skin. kind of more thorough than my normal petting) and he started squeaking, like Marley does. I want to be sure this is a good thing, like him showing me that i'm dominant or somesort, instead of him saying he's upset, before i continue to do it to him. 

So is the squeaking while being groomed a good sign or bad?


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## EJW323 (Jun 18, 2013)

I've heard different takes on it. The first one being that they're submitting to the other's (be it rat or human's) dominance. Another one I've heard is that they're just grooming a bit too rough and asking the other one to chill out a bit. If not it could just be that they're kind of a cry baby. My little baby Ygritte will squeak whenever she's upset about something. I don't think it's a bad thing, as long as they're friendly towards each other I wouldn't worry too much.


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## Siringo (May 7, 2012)

When my rats do it, the one being groomed sometimes flinches when she squeaks, so I imagine it hurts a little. It's not anything to be concerned about though.


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## ratclaws (Nov 11, 2012)

It's a sign of protest, my girl Rosie does it all the time when she's being groomed. She also does it when I stroke her too hard or for too long. Basically, he's telling you to stop haha.


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## lalalauren (Jul 3, 2013)

My Athos squeaks all the time when the other rats groom him (he's such a pushover), but one time, my boyfriend and I caught him squeaking when he was grooming himself! We figured he was just ticklish :3


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