# Rat squeaks when I touch him?



## Zilla (May 9, 2012)

I posted a topic about him in the general section, but for anyone who didn't see that, I recently adopted a hairless rat who was very neglected by his old owner. He's been sick with a URI and has been really lethargic, but he's been doing better the last few days and become a lot more active.

He hasn't been acting overly afraid of me, and now that he's feeling a bit better he's been getting very curious when I stick my hand in the cage to feed him or rearrange things, coming over to sniff and put his front paws up on my hand. He's not super interested in treats, even if I lay them on the cage floor and walk away, but if he decides he's hungry he will eat from my hand. So he doesn't really seem too afraid of me... he doesn't hide, and when I open the cage door he comes right to me and will crawl into my lap.

But all of that changes if I so much as lay a finger on him. All I have to do is gently brush my finger against his back (or any other part of him) and he freezes and lets out the most pitiful squeak and shoves his head into the bedding/my lap/etc etc like he's trying desperately to hide. Every time I touch him. But as soon as I stop making contact with his body, he's back to sniffing and pawing my hand. I took him out to change his cage, and as long as I wasn't touching him he was fine. When I put him back he even curled up for a nap and boggled at me.

Is this normal for a rat that isn't feeling well and has been through a big move? Or is there maybe something wrong with him? I thought he might be in pain, but he does it even if I just barely brush him, and it doesn't matter which part of his body it is. I'm hoping it'll pass as he gets more used to me, and I wouldn't be so concerned if he seemed all-around scared of me, but he doesn't.


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## minnehaha25 (Mar 14, 2012)

My boy does that too i dont know why he really just doesnt like to be touched


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## 1a1a (May 6, 2011)

I'd give him a gentle prodding all over to determine if the squeaking is from pain, it sounds more like a submission squeak though. He should come around.


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