Mookie and Timmy: the saga continues

[mulder]

So! Timmy adn mookie have been having daily play dates for a week now. things are going from good to super with their interacting, so i stuck mookie in timmy's cage to see what happens ( i know i shouldn't have, but i did) and after some initial sniffing adn investigating...they seem to be curling up together. well, more timmy curling up and mookie joining him....i think things are going okay. they'r ein timmy's tank right in front of this desk, so they're not 2 feet away, i'm carefully watching. i have not heard any eeping, which is a first. Timmy cries wolf, he eeps adn weeps and screams fo rnothing, i've seen it. all mookie has to do is step on him and he cries out. but today, nothing! still i see mooking sniffing around, leaving the sleepy spot, coming back, sniffing, leaving, sniffing, back to the spot, sniffing.
what i'd like to know, is hot do i tell things are not going well. what body language adn noises to rats make when unhappy or irritated? other than "excessive" grooming.....it always seems like a lot lol

[Turkeyman]

Ooh sounds good, I think they'll be fine in the long run and make excellent playmates. Even if they do wrestle, that's completely normal so long as there isn't any blood or excessive loss of fur. We can only hear rats when they are irritated or scared or angry or hurt, by them squeaking. All other real vocal sounds they make are out of our hearing range. If they're happy though, they'll usually grind their teeth(which I'm sure you know). If they wrestle and squeak a lot, I wouldn't worry too much...just look for injuries. I think mookie's just leaving to sniff around because he's in a completely new place -- I would be doing that too