Competitive Licking?

[Bathos]

My 3 girls lick me a lot.  They'll lick for 10 minutes at a time.  The boys (neutered) can't get to me very well because there's almost always a girl or two licking my hand when they are out.  I've had female rats before, but none of them have licked much at all.  In fact they seem to prefer licking me to hanging out on my shoulders and playing with my hair.  Is it normal for rats to lick this much?  Is this some sort of unhealthy obsessive behavior, or is this normal?  I have noticed my alpha and beta Paisley and Trouble (aptly named) pushing other rats out of the way to lick my hand, especially the boys.  None of the rats have bald or wet spots and I haven't noticed the girls licking each other (or the boys) much.  Between rats it seems to be the 10 seconds or less grooming sessions I'm used to seeing.  What does all this people-licking mean?

-Liz

[Kristy R]

From my experience and from what I've read it means they love you!  I really don't think it's something to be too worried about it.  I'd say they're just trying hard to see who can claim mommy the mostest cuz they you oh so much!!  I'd say it would only get bad if they start to draw blood of any sort, but I don't see that happening.  One of my boys LOVES to lick me.  The other one can really never be convinced that I'm nummy enough to lick.  It really just depends on the rat I'm sure

[RNPaulie]

I have two boys that will lick my skin off lol and my two girls are HUGE kissers/lickers-- they will actually stop running around to come give kisses!

[Bathos]

Thanks for the replies.  I'm glad to hear there's nothing wrong with them!  I guess I just never had licky rats before. 

When they get to my fingernails or my ring they're not quite sure what to do and a lot of times they will try to remove the hard object that *obviously* doesn't belong there.  They'll start out gently but get more and more persistent with it unless I ask them to stop it.  over time they've learned and gotten better about it, but occasionally they still try and see how much they can get away with.  They're such funny little creatures!

[WS]

It's love, grooming and also... you may be deliciously salty. 

My last batch of rats have not been lickers.    -- I prefer rats to be licky and kissy~ 

[Addicted2Rats]

I prefer licky, kissy rats too!!  I've got a couple that lick occasionally.

Deb

[artemish]

Thanks for the replies.  I'm glad to hear there's nothing wrong with them!  I guess I just never had licky rats before. 

When they get to my fingernails or my ring they're not quite sure what to do and a lot of times they will try to remove the hard object that *obviously* doesn't belong there.  They'll start out gently but get more and more persistent with it unless I ask them to stop it.  over time they've learned and gotten better about it, but occasionally they still try and see how much they can get away with.  They're such funny little creatures!

Yup. Most of my boys are pretty licky. At first I thought that maybe they were craving salt or something, but it seems pretty normal. They will definitely try to remove a fingernail if you let them, though.

[WS]

painted fingernails seem to be more offensive and foreign than plain looking natural nails... but I've had rats who wanted to extract finger-nails period! LOL   Others, have known what they are and have delicately  groomed around them.

 


Rings are another "must remove" item.  ha ha

[Twixter]

Oh man... when I have a ring on, it's over for me. Hehe, my girls will chase my hand around, pin it down and start licking and pulling at the ring like their lives depend on it.
They also have a thing about brightly colored fingernails, lol.
They're VERY licky. They especially love licking earlobes.