That is so great! When rats groom you it is a sign that they trust and love you, so you should feel very happy and proud! 
Sounds like you are doing a good job with them!
Sounds like you are doing a good job with them!
My rats are grooming me!
I met Taco the Rat in my Psych lab last fall. Throughout that semester it was my and my lab partner's job to feed/weigh/clean up after Taco. But I spent extra time with him .. 'cause he was so darn cute. During the Spring semester I was much busier and only managed to visit Taco a few times over the months. So, when I brought him and Lafayette (another lab rat who was handled a lot in the fall, but not so much in the spring) home a month ago, they were not as into the human contact as they once had been. Plus, for the first time they had another rat to hang out with ... so I was probably far less interesting.
After a few days, they started doing the cute thing where when I walked into the room and started talking to them, they seemed excited to hear from me. I spent a good amount of time with my hands in their cage giving them little treats, moving them around (like into the litter when they seemed to need to poop, and out of the litter when they just seemed to be sleeping in there!), and trying to give them some scratches and pets. They weren't too into that last part, though. They seemed to be physically offended and a little freaked out when I stroked them or scratched their fuzzy heads. They were cool with jumping around and playing with my hand (I would lightly poke them on the rear and move my hand away and they would chase it and then jump around and give me their rear end again ... HIlarious) ... but just nice, sweet petting did not seem to be on their agenda.
Going into the third week I realized that the way they got to know each other initially was by grooming each other ... so instead of trying to stroke them, I started "nibbling" them with my finger nails. Lafayette LOVED it. Taco was still a little unsure and slinked away to a hidey-house. Lafayette, though, would just sit down on the spot and let his little eyes close ... so after a couple tries I started morphing the "nibbling" into petting and stroking. He was sold. And since these two are typical males ... anything Lafayette was getting, Taco now wanted ... and so he began to let me "nibble" and ultimately scratch and pet him, too.
Yesterday, when I was giving Lafayette some "scratchies" (which is the dumb term I have started using to name this activity for them), he turned around and started nibbling and licking me! Then Taco ran over and started nibbling Lafayette, and then me, and then Lafayette, and so on. We had ourselves a really cute little grooming party for a few minutes. And another last night. And another this morning. Hehehehe.
These little weirdos totally melt my heart. :lovies:
After a few days, they started doing the cute thing where when I walked into the room and started talking to them, they seemed excited to hear from me. I spent a good amount of time with my hands in their cage giving them little treats, moving them around (like into the litter when they seemed to need to poop, and out of the litter when they just seemed to be sleeping in there!), and trying to give them some scratches and pets. They weren't too into that last part, though. They seemed to be physically offended and a little freaked out when I stroked them or scratched their fuzzy heads. They were cool with jumping around and playing with my hand (I would lightly poke them on the rear and move my hand away and they would chase it and then jump around and give me their rear end again ... HIlarious) ... but just nice, sweet petting did not seem to be on their agenda.
Going into the third week I realized that the way they got to know each other initially was by grooming each other ... so instead of trying to stroke them, I started "nibbling" them with my finger nails. Lafayette LOVED it. Taco was still a little unsure and slinked away to a hidey-house. Lafayette, though, would just sit down on the spot and let his little eyes close ... so after a couple tries I started morphing the "nibbling" into petting and stroking. He was sold. And since these two are typical males ... anything Lafayette was getting, Taco now wanted ... and so he began to let me "nibble" and ultimately scratch and pet him, too.
Yesterday, when I was giving Lafayette some "scratchies" (which is the dumb term I have started using to name this activity for them), he turned around and started nibbling and licking me! Then Taco ran over and started nibbling Lafayette, and then me, and then Lafayette, and so on. We had ourselves a really cute little grooming party for a few minutes. And another last night. And another this morning. Hehehehe.
These little weirdos totally melt my heart. :lovies:
