Rat Kissy....

Rat & Mouse Gazette: Q & A: "I just got my first rat two weeks ago and we seem to be hitting it off wonderfully. He is a very inquisitive boy, and I just love to let him run around me as I sit on the sofa at night. He has developed a rather strange habit of coming up to my mouth and sniffing at me. He really gets very close, I can feel his whiskers all along my lips. I don't know whether it's my breath or what, but it sure looks like he's giving me a little rat kiss! Is this typical behavior?"

~Meg Stephenson answers:
There are a range of social grooming behaviors that rats seem to share with humans and other animals that are considered by the rat to be part of the rat's social unit. I don't know that any scientific research has been done on this yet, so I will just share my observations with you.

Some rats will really invade your personal space. I had a male rat who would pry open my lips and proceed to investigate my teeth and mouth. I don't usually spread this around, but he would also lick the inside of my lips if I let him. It may be a way of finding out what I have been eating. He was very persistent. Several of my friendliest rats will also bestow kisses - on the mouth and on hands. Other behaviors involve sticking rat noses in ear canals and up nostrils, nibble grooming, and hair grooming. Most of my rats will groom my hands and nibble on my nails. They act like little manicurists. Some will remove hangnails, band-aids, and nail polish.

I believe this is one of the reasons that rats make such wonderful pets. They are able to interact with humans (through these social behaviors) in a way that benefits both species. Maybe I'm odd, but I get all warm and fuzzy feeling when I have the rats out for their evening playtime and I get a rat kiss. It makes up for some of the less pleasant daily stresses in my life.

you can kiss my...rat