Nursing - High Kyphosis

Mice are an altricial species. During the first few weeks of life they rely on their mother's milk as a source of food and as a way to learn about the food eaten by their mother. The amount of milk received can affect a pup's adult weight and aggressiveness. Therefore, weaning weight of male pups can have long term effects on their ability to become dominant adults (Latham & Mason, 2004). A dam will spend the bulk of her time in the nest on top of her pups to keep them warm and to allow them to nurse.

The dam is immobile in high upright dorsal arch posture supported by rigid fore- and hind-limbs, the head is depressed, the trunks and limbs are bilaterally symmetrical, and pups are attached to the nipple (Coutellier et al., 2008).

Maternal Behaviors, variant of Nursing

Social

The variants of nursing are:

Active Nursing

• Nursing - High Kyphosis
• Nursing - Low Kyphosis
• Nursing - Partial Kyphosis
• Nursing - Dog - Partial Kyphosis
• Nursing - Bear Nursing
• Nursing - Sit - Split Nursing

Passive Nursing

• Nursing - Dog Nursing
• Nursing - Prone Nursing
• Nursing - Pig Nursing