Nursing behavior in rats is impaired in a small nestbox and with hyperthermic pups

The supine nursing posture, which occurs increasingly as growing pups initiate nursing from their recumbent dam, was demonstrated to require more space than that provided in earlier studies of mother-young contact (e.g., Leon, Croskerry, & Smith, 1978). Further, hyperthermic rat pups were shown to be deficient in eliciting normal nursing behavior. During a 4-hr separation from their dam, 7-day-old rat pups were incubated at 34 degrees C (nest temperature) or at 39 degrees C (WARM). Compared to controls, WARM-litter dams showed increased licking of and hovering over pups and decreased upright crouching, while WARM litters showed decreased nipple attachment and weight gain. On Day 13, similar effects occurred after incubation at 39 degrees C (vs. 34 degrees C), but not at 36 or 38 degrees C. The results stress the need for ethologically meaningful conditions and direct behavioral observations to reveal the importance of pup activity in the mother-young dyad.