2007-01-23 06:49:06 · 8 answers · asked by stephanie s 1 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
Nope that's how rattys show love. It's no diffrent then a puppy licking your face. He's just grooming you and showing you love. Con-g-RATS!
2007-01-23 06:51:59 · answer #1 · answered by EYoungmom88 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's grooming you :) My rats do it all the time but they love messing around with my ears and eyes and chewing at my hair.
If you've only got the one rat, it'd be wise to get another. They need the company of their own kind...
2007-01-23 17:59:35 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
don't worry, it's like a puppy licking you. I read in a comment where you are asked if you have a licking stone. DON'T put one in! They don't need one and they can get to muck salt in their bodies and it will eventually kill them... It's because of the nitrate in the mineral. Mind you! If Food Security and Safety have had the same knowledge about salt 300 years ago, it would have been considered as a minor POISON if taken in tomuch quantity.
It's only out of love that he licks you ;)
2007-01-23 16:06:10 · answer #3 · answered by Mikomiky 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
mine licks me, u wanna hear somthing cute? My 2 week old rat Charlie thinks my pregnant Guinea pig is his mother! She cares for him and bathes him too! They eat sleep and cuddle together!!! Its too adorable! She is a true mother!
2007-01-23 16:38:43 · answer #4 · answered by ~Damaris~ 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
licking your fingers is fine...he's grooming you..or maybe licking the salt off of your skin (does your rat have a salt/mineral lick?)
Just remember to wash your hands before handling food etc.
as to the tongue licking...I would discourage that..it is not sanitary!!
2007-01-23 14:54:53 · answer #5 · answered by spottedmyappy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
umm you let him lick your toung!?!?!? thats kinda weird!!! but i think it's great that you love your rat so much.
2007-01-23 16:36:22 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes.
2007-01-23 15:22:00 · answer #7 · answered by Tom 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Rats are very exploritory creatures and they check out everything with their teeth. Your baby is being very gentle in grooming your hands with what we in the Rat Fancy call, "love nibbles". It's not love as we would think of it in human terms, but he's treating you like he would treat another rat in his colony. This is a very good thing for you as it means the baby accepts you and the bonding is going to be very easy.
And if you got him a same-sex cage buddy you could see the same grooming process going on rat to rat. Rats love the company of their own kind, as well as the attention of their care-giver.
We also came up with an endearing name for rats that like to pry open your lips and clean your teeth and tongue for you...We call these rats, "Rodentists".
Rats are fussy groomers, and they don't like "bumps" of any kind. They like things to be smoooooooth, so they will remove that spinach from between your teeth, trim your nails and your hang-nails, trim your eyelashes and your eyebrows, shorten your haircut, stick their nose in your ear, and up your nose, and nip off those stray hairs. They will even smooth those warts and moles, and remove your band-aids.
Edit:
Mikomiky, re, salt/mineral blocks. Unlike other rodents that are primarily vegetarians, rats are omnivours and with such a wide variety of foods available to them, they get enough salt/minerals in their diet. Any animal, including rats, will die if it has too much salt resulting in an electrolyte/fluid imbalance in the body.
Bonding with your rats:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=bonding+with+your+rats&ei=UTF-8&fr=ks-ans&ico-yahoo-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAnYM54NvMNPtXBeKUqFf2zcazKIX%2FSIG%3D111gjvvgj%2F*-http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch&ico-wikipedia-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAs6qPmKbEGuHV570VYkOMTkazKIX%2FSIG%3D11ia1qo58%2F**http%253a%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSpecial%253aSearch&p=bonding+with+your+rats
Rat Care:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=Careing+for+your+rats&ei=UTF-8&fr=ks-ans&ico-yahoo-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAnYM54NvMNPtXBeKUqFf2zcazKIX%2FSIG%3D111gjvvgj%2F*-http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch&ico-wikipedia-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAs6qPmKbEGuHV570VYkOMTkazKIX%2FSIG%3D11ia1qo58%2F**http%253a%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSpecial%253aSearch&p=Careing+for+your+rats
And if you would like to join a group of other rat-keepers to talk about rat-care, may I suggest a rat-only Yahoo Group, including my own Holistarat.
spazrats
http://spazrats.tripod.com
Specializing in the care of pet rats for over 10 years
2007-01-23 17:18:26 · answer #8 · answered by spazrats 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋