They will get bigger -- RatDewey looks fat and lazy when he is sprawled out sleeping, but you should see him move when he wants to -- Rats can be faaaasst!!

Have to be careful with something like a spray because rats (and horses) can't vomit...

They are competitive, so it is natural for them to snatch, but one trains them at first by letting them sniff and examine fingers for a while -- Feeding from an open hand, like with a horse, is safer, but harder to control. I have only been bitten once and that was when I stepped on a rat with bare feet when living in my tiny RV (6' x 10' inside; a 13' Scamp trailer) -- My son made the mistake of opening the cage door before cutting some meat into small pieces and one of my previous RatLadies accidentally bit him -- Not really any different than any animal bite.

Not sure yet if RatPhooey senses I'm sick or if licking is his way of greeting -- Rats groom each other, so they do the same with human buddies -- They also 'barber', chewing off hair, but that's more of a dominance thing.

So far, no bruxing, where they rub the outer incisors sideways against each other to wear them down and keep them sharp -- When rats do it, they are generally content, so it's nice to have a bruxing rat sitting on your shoulder -- OTOH, when Guinea Pigs do that, they are angry!

Pretty soon, I will start taking them out of the cage and tossing them onto my bed pillow, then catching them and doing it again -- After a while, they will run down to be thrown again -- Then I will graduate to all of them doing it, racing each other to my hands -- They really like games like that.