Do newborn rabbits learn the odor stimuli releasing nipple‐search behavior?

Abstract

Rabbit pups do not need to learn postnatally the pheromonal cues releasing nipple-search behavior. Pups delivered by caesarean section were able to attach to nipples as quickly as normally delivered controls in their first encounter with a lactating doe (Experiment I), and pups hand raised to Day 5 without postnatal experience of the nipple-search pheromone even showed an improvement in their reactivity to it similar to normally raised controls (Experiment II). However, 1-day-old pups could be conditioned during the first nursing episode to respond with nipple-search behavior to artificial odors painted on the mother's ventrum (Experiment III). Finally, pups conditioned on Day 1 but subsequently raised by hand or normally nursed showed retention of the conditioned responsiveness when tested on Day 5 (Experiment IV). These experiments suggest that although rabbit pups are capable of rapidly associating odors with suckling, they do not appear to depend on this ability under normal nursing conditions.