# How to stop power grooming?



## Rob&Beth (Aug 5, 2013)

Hi, we're having some problems with one rat bullying another, if anyone has any suggestions that would be great, we have had to house one rat on her own as she is causing a ruckus when in the cage with others. She is absolutely fine with them when they are all out together.

Details: So we have 4 rats, one is a neutered male Ernie who we had from a young age and is now 2. We got 3 rescue females around the same age to keep him company when his brother died 3 months ago, introductions with the carrier method went swimmingly and the naughty rat in question (Cocoa) was actually his best friend, always snuggling up together, she was alpha. It gave him a new lease of life and he became more active and confident. Then we went away for a week over New Year and they stayed with my sister, she said there was some pinning and peeping going on between them but they still snuggled up a lot. 

After we got them home, the behaviour got slowly worse, instead of a few peeps it is now full on squealing. I've noticed she is barbering her legs again - when we got them she had been doing that and was the dominant rat in the cage of around 10 rats. Ernie is getting old and has become weaker and waddlier - he has become a squishy. She seems to not like this and keeps power grooming although he submits readily. To be honest I think he is a bit of a baby and she isn't hurting him much, just scaring him. When I open the door he comes rushing out towards me to save him.

When we put Cocoa in the separate cage we put another rat in to keep her company - she started on her too! So I feel awful but we have to keep her alone in the little cage. The cage is next to them and we still get them out to free roam together with no problems. We have tried deep cleaning the cage and rearranging everything (worked for a few hours), carrier methoding them all over again (worked until they went back in the big cage), and trying to "become alpha" by power grooming her firmly with my hand. When I do this she closes her eyes and sort of leans against it. She stops her grooming of Ernie for a bit but goes straight back to it when I close the cage door. She doesn't poof up at any point or show signs of aggression.

Not sure if what we're doing is a help or a hindrance but any ideas would be great. Thanks for your help! 

Beth


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Hi Beth,


I'm sorry to say that there's no easy answer to your problem. So what I think I'm going to do is tell you about my experience with power grooming and maybe we can figure something out that will help in your situation.


When our part wild rat Fluffy went on walkabout for five months outdoors we adopted Fuzzy Rat. At the time we didn't realize that Fluffy was a part wild rat and we pretty much assumed that there was no way she was going to be perfectly fine on her own outside. To shorten the story a bit, when it got cold outside Fluffy came home.


Fuzzy Rat had been an only rat all her life up to that point and she was altogether not pleased with having to share anything with anybody. To make matters worse, Fluffy was only about two thirds the size of Fuzzy Rat. Wild rats don't get as large or as robust as most domestic rats. After a rather tricky but successful introduction the two rats seemed to get along pretty well. But tensions would build and every few days during free range time the girls would have a boxing match and skirmish and then they seemed to get over their disagreements.


One day I discovered that Fuzzy Rat had started power grooming Fluffy, in fact, she had shaved a significant bald the spot on Fluffy's derrière. Then one morning we found an actual bite mark on Fluffy's thigh. But, strangely enough Fuzzy Rat was hiding in her hut and keeping her distance from Fluffy. When my daughter took Fuzzy Rat out of the cage she was distressed to find two pairs of fang marks around Fuzzy Rats trachea. The fighting and power grooming were over for good.


Fluffy was in all reality a wild rat both by a percentage of her genetics and by five months of living outdoors. She really had no interest in being in charge and she tolerated Fuzzy Rat up to the point that she got bit in the rump, and she turned around and she took Fuzzy Rat by the throat, and sank her teeth in around her trachea right up to a hairs breath of killing her to make her point. Fuzzy Rat was anything but stupid and I suppose in that split-second were her life hung in the balance she had an epiphany that power grooming a vicious part wild rat was a really bad idea, even when Fluffy had been too laid back to put up much of a fight.


There was a lot I still had to learn about rats back then, I watched the situation unfold, kind of like watching children shooting off fireworks in a gunpowder factory. I pretty much knew how dangerous and vicious Fluffy could be, but I didn't realize at the time that I should be trying to communicate the situation to Fuzzy Rat and stop what could have ended very badly.


So I suppose the down side of the story is that power grooming, especially for female rats is sort of a passive aggressive behavior. In my experience, it tends to get worse and can lead up to actual biting. On the upside though, it's something a rat can unlearn. In fact it's something a rat can unlearn very quickly. In my case, we got lucky the Fluffy didn't kill Fuzzy Rat. Despite her natural tendency towards extreme violence, she really did have a lot of self-control for an animal that could be that dangerous both towards other animals and humans.


I think to some degree what makes the situation harder is that often the power grooming happens at night or when you're not around, at least that was the case in our situation.


In your situation, when you have the rats out of the cage Cocoa doesn't exhibit any aggression that you can correct on the spot, which would make it easier to express your objection to the behavior. But, nevertheless, the only way to stop the power grooming is to communicate to Cocoa that it's not all right. I suppose, if you can catch her doing it you can intervene and express your objections by raising your voice and perhaps bopping her swatting her back from the rat she's power grooming. Maybe you can stay attentive and listen for other rats objecting to Cocoa's bad behavior and then step in and take corrective measures.


I think the moral of my story is that power grooming is not some kind of instinctive behavior and it is something that can be stopped and stopped rather quickly. In my case, the rats worked it out for themselves, but I can see where that won't necessarily happen in your case.


With a lot more experience, I now get hands-on a lot more quickly when I see my rats misbehaving. I'm quick to step in and back an aggressor down, and I think it's because of my general high level of involvement with the rats that I've never seen this problem again. Overall, I think I was a more insecure rat handler and just a little bit spooked about finding out I was dealing with a part wild rat who had already seriously hurt somebody. I think I was kind of trying to stay out of the middle, which I know now to have been a bad policy.


In terms of general advice, I'd recommend you get involved and hands-on and try to communicate to Cocoa that her bad behavior will no longer be tolerated. Be the alpha and take charge. Lastly, I'll admit that's a lot easier for me to say than it will be for you to do. Basically it's doable but not easy.


I wish I had a short answer for you, or rather a simple solution, but I hope that there's something that you or perhaps someone else can take away from my story that will prove useful to your situation.


Best luck.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I think you deserve to see the photo... Fuzzy Rat and Fluffy with their #1 human alpha, my daughter...









You would never guess one of these innocent furries was a stone cold vicious rat that tore up cats, stole food from pitbulls, shredded a special forces veteran and took a nice chunk out of my hand... Once social order was finally established in our home she was actually a wonderful friend to everyone.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

One thing this could be, which is fixable, is something like polycystic ovaries. Its not something that people are very aware of, but if you regularly spay rats who have started to get very grumpy and almost hormonal you find that its normal for them to have some sort of changes to there uterus (ranging from cysts to inflammation). Unfortunatly there isn't any way to conclusively diagnose this without taking the ovaries / womb out and cutting them open. But it could well be worth a try if she is fit and well. It may also help with her barbering herself as that's normally a nervous condition. Its a tough one though as it is a surgical procedure, and whilst it has good long term health benefits in terms of reducing the chances of hormonally driven lumps and PT's it is a major operation.

With the right vet and a rat in good nick its pretty straightforward, my girl Skally is currently recovering from a spay with her first lump removal. Within a week she was active, climbing and back in with her sisters, not to mention annoyed that I'd kept her in a hospital cage for so long.


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## Rob&Beth (Aug 5, 2013)

Thanks so much for such a comprehensive answer - we will keep on affirming our status as alpha. We are saying "NO" and picking her up and putting her elsewhere when we find her bullying him. You will be pleased to know that they have been in the cage together this evening with minimal peepage - after giving them some gingerbread as a treat they seemed to forget themselves and play nicely. Weirdly one of the other girls started dominance humping Ernie later, oh well, swings and roundabouts!


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## Rob&Beth (Aug 5, 2013)

And thank you Isamurat for this useful suggestion - I hadn't even considered something like that! Fingers crossed they get over this hiccup in time but will bear it in mind if not.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Not sure if you mean she is barbering her own legs or barbering the legs of another rat too. I have a female who I assumed was barbering her own legs, but one day I saw her pinned my other female down; and while she was barbering a small patch of fur under that female chin, that rat was actually barbering the legs of the female who pinned her down. She never did any barbering of her own legs.


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