Tricia, thanks so much for these comments -- I'm a relative novice and a definite 'layperson' when it comes to rodents. The way I try to figure out puzzling situations is to retrieve what I can from my knowledge of, or research on, rodent habitats/behaviors in the wild, then I attempt to apply that to the relative domestic setting we create for our own colonies. Sometimes of course the only solution is to "punt" when the loose ends don't meet up. When folks like you and Lucien post, lots of those loose ends definitely get tied up!
>>I've frequently noticed that there are some mothers who do much better when they're placed into separate maternity cages. For particularly nervous mothers, sometimes it makes a huge difference how much privacy they have. Some even need the additional security of having their nest area enclosed so that it is continually in darkness or shadow.
This sure makes sense when compared with the tunnel-like surroundings of many wild rodent habitats. I've seen rats and mice both who do not make any sort of 'nest' whatsoever, regardless of whether nesting material is available or not. Others will burrow down as deep as possible or heap up bedding until you can see neither mother nor pups.
>>
>>>>But this, too, got me wondering about the general "colony mind-set" nature of rodents. ...
>>
>>Every colony eventually develops a pecking-order. A sensitive lower-ranked individual may be highly intimidated by the alpha and beta members of the colony. Females feel particularly vulnerable at birthing-time, and may resort to abandonment because they lack the spunk to defend their litters from the incursions of bully-girls.
Ah, pecking order! How could I have forgotten about rank within a colony -- that makes so much more fall into place....
>>
>>Actually, they can go for several hours without it, and still come back okay, provided that they were cleaned at birth, don't get too seriously chilled, and that they don't get badly trampled.
>>.
And this seems to be just what Lucien was describing... that the pups had been cleaned (even if not by the mother) and then were re-introduced to the mother within the solitary enclosure.
Also fascinating to me (and I realize this isn't the right "place" to make this response - I hope Lucien sees this) is the notion of applying behaviors of OTHER species, also "community animals" to try to understand these rodents. I refer to Lucien's comments about kangaroos and lions.... and the production of different types of milk during different stages of lactation, with the outcome being (in the case of the lions) that pups nursing from different females ends up as yet another way to increase the species chances of survival.
The "rules" of survival and basic instinctual behavior within a community or colony-minded species is probably the biggest key to understanding much of what we see within our own feeder colonies. Makes me wonder (and I know it'd be impossible to get true data about this too-broad question) about whether there are notable differences in the overall behaviors observed by those of us who are "small scale" maintaining a few individual cages, and those who house many colonies in large scale rack systems, especially in terms of how these observed behaviors then relate back to rodent behavior in the wild.
More food for thought, I suppose. =)
-----
Rebecca
TSBabe66@hotmail.com
Honored to moderate at Snakefeeders, a great place to buy/sell/trade feeder animals. Come check us out! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/snakefeeders/
