Male and female Sprague‐Dawley rats (Charles River, Italy) were housed under a 12‐h light/dark cycle, in individual cages with ad libitum access to chow and water, unless otherwise stated. They were a minimum of 5 weeks of age at the start of testing (approximately 150 g). Adult male shrews (Suncus murinus) weighing approximately 40‐60 g (n = 10 total) and adult virgin female shrews weighing approximately 35‐45 g (n = 10 total), were bred and maintained at the University of Pennsylvania; they derive from a Taiwanese strain and initially were supplied by the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Shrews were single housed in plastic cages (37.3 × 23.4 × 14 cm; Innovive [San Diego, CA, USA]) under a 12‐h light/dark cycle in a temperature‐ and humidity‐controlled environment. Shrews were fed ad libitum with a mixture of feline (75%, Laboratory Feline Diet 5003; Lab Diet) and mink food (25%, High Density Ferret Diet 5LI4; Lab Diet) and had ad libitum access to tap water except where noted. All studies were carried out with ethical permissions from the Animal Welfare Committee of the University of Gothenburg, in accordance with legal requirements of the European Community (Decree 86/609/EEC) and Institutional Care and Use Committee of the at Penn State University and University of Pennsylvania. All efforts were made to minimize suffering. The following doses of peripherally (intraperitoneally [IP]) delivered OT were used in this study: 0.25 mg/kg (2.48 E‐07 mg/kg), 0.5 mg/kg (4.96 E‐07 mg/kg), 1.0 mg/kg (9.93 E‐07 mg/kg), 2.0 mg/kg (1.99 E‐06). OT‐B12, Roxy, and BRoxy doses were used at 4.964 E‐07 mol/kg, unless otherwise noted.