Effects of experience on the parental responses of male Mongolian gerbils

We examined responses of adult male Mongolian gerbils to nest site and youn g during the hours preceding and days following birth of a litter. We found that (a) male at tendance at the nest site was markedly, reduced for sever al hour following the birth of pups, (b) this lack of contact by males with nest and pups did not result from active exclusion of males from the nest by their mates; (c) males lacking previous experience of pups, but not thos e familiar with pups, avoided contact with pups on the day of their birth, and (4) 3-day-old gerbil pups were attractive even to males encountering yo ung for the first time. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons.