# Rat wiggles tail when petted?



## Pippa1538 (Aug 1, 2013)

My new rat Oreo is about 6 or 7 weeks old. Whenever I pet her(she seems to like it!) she wiggles her tail! I'm not sure what this means. I've read that it can be some sign of aggression, but she isn't aggressive at all.


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## Voltage (May 15, 2013)

Oh my girl Arya did that once. She sadly has not done it since.

Rat daddy says that it is your rat trying to communicate with you and you have to respond to it as they are trying to get a reaction.
I didn't respond to Arya when she did it unfortunately because I was recording.
I think she has deemed me a stupid human who can't understand her.
She still loves me though, stupid human or not.

Unfortunately my phone won't let me link the video

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## ratclaws (Nov 11, 2012)

Voltage said:


> Oh my girl Arya did that once. She sadly has not done it since.
> 
> Rat daddy says that it is your rat trying to communicate with you and you have to respond to it as they are trying to get a reaction.
> I didn't respond to Arya when she did it unfortunately because I was recording.
> ...


It's just a reflex action that some rats get when you pet them. It's like when you stroke a dog, and some dogs will kick out their leg if you stroke them in a certain place. My gf's rat Bella wriggles her tail like mad when you skritch her. She loves to be stroked though! So it's also definitely a sign of contentment.


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

My boys have only ever done this when they're annoyed (never aggressive) but they definitely aren't happy when they do it. Most often they do it when they're having out time and enjoying their play and then we put our hands on top of them (for like long stroking or just to hold them in place for a second) and they will wiggle their tails then. The more often we stop them, the more their tail wiggles.

I guess it must be like bruxxing how it can either mean really happy, or stressed.


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## ratclaws (Nov 11, 2012)

It really depends on what's happening and how the rat usually reacts. Sometimes, the tail wriggling and flicking can mean aggression. I've seen one of my girls do it when we introduced one of my gf's rats to her.


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## Anathema (Jul 31, 2013)

I have seen my rats do it when they are nervous, but a couple have also done it when I am stroking them. I think it can mean different things when their tails wiggle.


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## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

My rat only does a tail wiggle when he gets into super-hyper-crazy mode. It shakes from base to tip in wide wiggles.

I wonder if there are different types of wiggles?


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## Mitsy (Apr 8, 2013)

It's like a cat the wiggle their tail when you pet them when happy but they will also do it when they are mad in kinda of a flicking motion. Sense you were petting your rat and it was wiggling its tail then I think it was happy. 


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