Rodent

Guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) welfare: Associations between husbandry practices, human–animal interactions, and animal behaviour (2025)

Research on the welfare of pet guinea pigs and connections between their behaviour and husbandry practices is scarce. Through an online survey among 1181 German-speaking guinea pig caretakers, we investigated husbandry practices (including social composition, housing type, free roaming, enrichment,...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Housing, Human-Animal Interaction, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Guinea Pig, Rodent

Citation: Elsbacher, T., Sommese, A., Waiblinger, S. et al. 2025. Guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) welfare: Associations between husbandry practices, human–animal interactions, and animal behaviour. Animals 15(8), 1157.

Hamster enrichment and social housing (2024)

Providing our animals with the best welfare possible is one of our main goals as Animal Technicians. As we want to deliver the most appropriate care for our hamsters, we have undertaken some research projects of our own to ensure...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Hamster, Rodent

Citation: Devine, A., Boratyn, A. 2024. Hamster enrichment and social housing. Animal Technology and Welfare 23(3), 205–207.

Phenotypical, behavioral, and systemic hallmarks in end-point mouse scenarios (2025)

The state of frailty is a clinical–biological syndrome that affects the older population with a higher risk of functional dependence. Animal models can provide a tool to study this complex scenario. In the present work, we analyzed the physical and...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Humane EndpointAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Castillo-Mariqueo, L., Alveal-Mellado, D., Giménez-Llort, L. 2025. Phenotypical, Behavioral, and Systemic Hallmarks in End-Point Mouse Scenarios. Animals 15(4), 521.

Repeated restraint stress produces acute and chronic changes in hemodynamic parameters in rats

Noninvasive hemodynamic measurements in rats require placing animals in restrainers. To minimize restraint stress-induced artifacts several habituation protocols have been proposed, however, the results are inconclusive. Here, we evaluated if a four-week habituation is superior to a shorter habituation, or...

Year Published: 2016Topics: RestraintAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Sikora, M., Konopelski, P., Pham, K. et al. 2016. Repeated restraint stress produces acute and chronic changes in hemodynamic parameters in rats. Stress 19(6), 621-629.

The calm mouse: An animal model of stress reduction

Chronic stress is associated with negative health outcomes and is linked with neuroendocrine changes, deleterious effects on innate and adaptive immunity, and central nervous system neuropathology. Although stress management is commonly advocated clinically, there is insufficient mechanistic understanding of how...

Year Published: 2012Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Gurfein, B. T., Stamm, A. W., Bacchetti, P. et al. 2012. The calm mouse: An animal model of stress reduction. Molecular Medicine 18(1), 606-617.

Rat 50 kHz calls reflect graded tickling-induced positive emotion

Positive animal emotion (affect) is a key component of good animal welfare and plays an important role in stress-coping and resilience. Methods for reliably inducing and measuring positive affect are critical, but both have been limited in availability. In rats,...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Hinchcliffe, J. K., Mendl, M., Robinson, E. S. J. 2020. Rat 50 kHz calls reflect graded tickling-induced positive emotion. Current Biology 30(18), R1034-R1035.

Burrowing behavior as robust parameter for early humane endpoint determination in murine models for pancreatic cancer (2025)

Due to late-stage diagnoses and limited treatment options, pancreatic cancer is predicted to be the second leading cause of cancer deaths by 2030. Many different murine models were developed over the past decades to test new therapies for this tumor...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Disease/Experimental Model, Humane EndpointAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Brandstetter, J., Hoffmann, L., Koopmann, I. et al. 2025. Burrowing behavior as robust parameter for early humane endpoint determination in murine models for pancreatic cancer. Animals 15(9), 1241.

A method to improve the housing of breeding rats used to produce pups for tissue (2025)

Rats are considered highly social animals. In the wild, they live in groups and develop complex social structures. Regrouping rats is considered stressful. We therefore wanted to keep animals in monogamous pairs so that they could develop a social bond...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Housing, Reproduction, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Booth, K., King, J., Stephen, J. et al. 2025. A method to improve the housing of breeding rats used to produce pups for tissue. Animal Technology and Welfare 24(1), 62–65.

The effects of handling on mouse behavior: cupped hands versus familiar or novel huts or tunnels (2025)

Mice are commonly tail-handled, despite evidence that this is aversive. Alternatives include cupping and tunnel handling; both methods are associated with improved welfare outcomes, including reduced anxiety and improved ease of handling, but tail handling may be perceived as more...

Year Published: 2025Topics: HandlingAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Bodnar, M. J., Makowska, I. J., Schuppli, C. A. et al. 2025. The effects of handling on mouse behavior: Cupped hands versus familiar or novel huts or tunnels. PLOS ONE 20(5), e0323785.

Understanding and mitigating male mouse aggression

We formed a global working group to identify the triggers of aggression e.g. behaviours seen prior to fighting occurring and have identified strategies to mitigate these triggers. We have also identified the signs of a harmonious cage, how to identify...

Year Published: 2025Animal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Baker, T., Ostman, S., Edwaldsson, B. et al. 2025. Understanding and mitigating male mouse aggression. Animal Technology and Welfare 24(1), 49–52.