Do young guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) develop an attachment to inanimate objects?

Filial imprinting has been studied extensively in precocial birds. In these studies, inanimate objects were used as imprinting objects. Although attachment to the parents is common in mammals, experiments with inanimate objects are rare and mostly restricted to guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus). The results of these studies are inconclusive. The aim of the present experiment was to assess whether guinea pigs can develop an attachment to inanimate objects. For this purpose, 11 young guinea pig pups were taken from their mothers within 16 h after birth, and subsequently reared individually in the presence of an inanimate object. Between 2 and 35 days of age, the pups were submitted to preference tests as well as separation tests. Neither test provided evidence of attachment: during separation, the pups did not increase their distress calling; moreover, pups preferred a novel object to their rearing object in the preference tests.