# Power Grooming/Dominance?



## Aether (Mar 7, 2013)

How long does it last? I heard it may go on for a few days, but I'm not sure. Hope this is in the right place!


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## rattie_lovers (Mar 7, 2013)

if there is a newer pet it will go on for at least until one is established as dominant, could be a week or a month. but it still happens time from time, especially the grooming. just watch out for behaviors where one rat is constantly pinning another one down and nipping him. if you see that a lot chances are they wont make great cage mates.


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## theinkpen (Oct 17, 2012)

Are you sure? My Dom boy stil pins and nips at my other boy and grooms like crazy. They are brothers and are great cage mates. He is super pushy an is always stepping an sitting on my ther boy. I don't see any issues with it though.


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## eaturbyfill (Aug 23, 2012)

My girls sorted out the pecking order in a little less than a week, but occasional dominance grooming after that is perfectly normal as long as there are no signs of real aggression.


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## theinkpen (Oct 17, 2012)

Yeah. I mean they are almost 5 months and do it daily. Rumble (who is clearly alpha) always wins but Ziggs doesn't seems to care. He just lets it happen and maybe let's out a squeak if its too rough and rumble backs off. I have always assumed they were just wrestling.


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## Rumy91989 (Dec 31, 2012)

My girls generally have a bought of power grooming daily, but I think they're in a period of transition between alphas. My old gal, Euphie, is too old and slow to keep her hold over the pack now so Yuki, Lulu, Ashe, and Luna have been back and forth grooming each other trying to figure out who will take her place. They don't seem to be able to resolve the issue, but other than one or two tussles a day ending in some grooming it doesn't seem to be much of a problem. I generally assume that, as long as there's no hostility and they all seem to be getting along well outside of the grooming sessions, it's normal and nothing to worry about.


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## ratazana (Jan 26, 2013)

My two boys are five month old brothers, & they power groom daily... I'm not even sure who is the more dominate rat at the moment, I think my rats are still figuring it out... Sometimes I get nervous because their squeaks during grooming are getting louder, especially at night... I just try to let them sort it out themselves. I once noticed a tuft of fur laying at the bottom of the cage. I examined my rats & couldn't find a bald spot on either of them, so I'm not sure which rat was barbering the other. That was the first and only time I've noticed any pulled out fur, so I'm not too worried about it right now. Are there any other signs that shows a rat is dominate besides power grooming?


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## PeachPeach (Jun 22, 2012)

We get tussles and power and grooming daily here, too, and I expect it will continue. They have a pecking order sorted out, but wrestling is still fun


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## Aether (Mar 7, 2013)

Thanks, guys. At least a few times a day Othu will take a few minutes to constantly pin down and groom Aza. There's a lot of squeaking, but other than that they seem to get along fine and always sleep together.


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## alexn (Sep 30, 2012)

Happens in our cage i'd say every 2-3 days. One of them will be on heat, and they get all antsy. Doesn't usually last very long, and they aren't hurting each other.


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