Maternal behaviour in the guinea pig (Cavia aperea f. porcellus:): A comparison of multiparous, and primiparous, and hand reared primiparous mothers

Previous studies of the effects of parity and social isolation on maternal behaviour in guinea pigs were either concerned with subsets of maternal beh aviour or based their conclusions on small data sets. The aim of the presen t experiment was to give a more detailed and complete description of matern al behaviour, including the effects of the sex of the pups on maternal beha viour. Three groups of females - multiparae (n = 23), primiparae (n = 8), a nd hand reared (primiparae) (n = 8) - were compared with regard to a number of measures for maternal behaviour. Differences among the three groups wer e fairly small, multiparae were more active in grooming during the first 10 days, admitted ventrum contact more often and approached and left the pups less often between days 14 and 24. Hand reared primiparae did not differ f rom mother reared primiparae. Some new aspects of maternal behaviour of guinea pigs were noted, e.g. moth ers lick female pups more often in the anogenital region than male pups.