Maternal Moving

Overview and Meaning

When a dam moves a pup, she will pick it up in her mouth and move it to a safe area. This safe area is typically the current nest, and if the nest is threatened, she will move the pups one-by-one to a different area in the cage. A dam rarely needs to move or rearrange the entire litter; unless the nest or the litter has been agitated.

Description

The dam will pick up a mouse pup using her mouth and physically move it to different location. 

Classification

Maternal Behavior

Contexts

Social

Variants

Maternal Moving - Pup Retrieval