title: The preferred environmental temperature of newborn rabbits.
abstract: The preferred environmental temperature (TE) and rates of oxygen consumption (VO2) around the thermal neutral range were measured in rabbits on the day of birth and 2, 7 and 14 days after birth. On day 0, the preferred TE was 38.0 +/- 0.8 degrees C, and it fell to 30.4 +/- 0.5 degrees C by day 14. Day-0 rabbits kept for 1 h in a warm (41 degrees C), neutral 39 degrees C) or cool (28 degrees C) environment selected a different TE at 39.8, 39.5 and 37.3 degrees C, giving colonic temperatures (TC) of 40.8, 39.9 and 37.7 degrees C, respectively. A similar phenomenon occurred on day 2, but not on day 7. It was concluded that newborn rabbits select a TE to match that which they experienced in utero and that this preferred TE changes after birth depending on the temperature of their surroundings and the development of their thermoregulatory control.
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000502:physiology*; D001831:Body Temperature; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D011817:Rabbits / Q000502:physiology*; D013696:Temperature