Rodent

Social relationships and the management of stress

A male's endocrine stress response when placed in an unfamiliar cage is sharply reduced when a bonded female is present.

Year Published: 1998Animal Type: Guinea Pig, Rodent

Citation: Sachser, N., Derschlag, M., Hirzel, D. 1998. Social relationships and the management of stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology 23, 891-904.

Effect of individual versus group caging on the incidence of pituitary and Leydig cell tumors in F344 rats: proposed mechanism

Housing rats in groups seems to be less stressful for the animals than housing them alone.

Year Published: 1998Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Nyska, A., Leininger, J. R., Maronpot, R. R. 1998. Effect of individual versus group caging on the incidence of pituitary and Leydig cell tumors in F344 rats: proposed mechanism. Medical Hypotheses 50, 525-529.

Revolutionary science: an improved running wheel for hamsters

Standard rod wheels (diamter 17.5 cm) are preferred to small wheels (diameter 13.0 cm). Placing a plastic mesh around the floor of the running wheel greatly increases the number of revolutions made.

Year Published: 1998Animal Type: Hamster, Rodent

Citation: Mrosovsky, N., Salmon, P. A., Vrang, N. 1998. Revolutionary science: an improved running wheel for hamsters. Chronobiology International 15, 147-158.

Investigation into the preference of laboratory rats for nest-boxes and nesting materials

Nest-boxes of opaque or semi-opaque materials were preferred to transparent ones and those with enclosed corners were preferred to nest-boxes with open ends. ... A new nest-box was designed, incorporating features apparently attractive to the animals. ... Rats were exposed...

Year Published: 1998Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Manser, C. E., Broom, D. M., Overend, P. et al. 1998a. Investigation into the preference of laboratory rats for nest-boxes and nesting materials. Laboratory Animals 32, 23-35.

Operant studies to determine the strength of preference in laboratory rats for nest-boxes and nesting material

It was shown that the rats would carry out more work to reach a nest-box, with or without nesting material, than to reach an empty cage.

Year Published: 1998Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Manser, C. E., Broom, D. M., Overend, P. et al. 1998b. Operant studies to determine the strength of preference in laboratory rats for nest-boxes and nesting material. Laboratory Animals 32, 36-41.

Prevention of stereotypic wire-gnawing in laboratory mice: Effects on behaviour and implications for stereotypy as a coping response

Three groups of six pairs of adult male laboratory mice of the ICR-strain kept in standard laboratory cages were selectively prevented from stereotypic wire-gnawing for 1, 5 or 10 days, respectively. Behaviour was observed throughout the 12 h dark period...

Year Published: 1998Animal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Wurbel, H., Freire, R., Nicol, C. J. 1998. Prevention of stereotypic wire-gnawing in laboratory mice: Effects on behaviour and implications for stereotypy as a coping response. Behavioural Processes 42, 61-72.

Housing-induced changes in the febrile response of juvenile and adult golden hamsters

Small caged diminish the expression of fever and increase baseline rectal temperature, likely due to a higher stress level.

Year Published: 1998Animal Type: Hamster, Rodent

Citation: Kuhnen, G. 1998/99. Housing-induced changes in the febrile response of juvenile and adult golden hamsters. Journal of Experimental Animal Science 39, 151-155.

Effect of feed and environmental enrichment on development of stereotypic wire-gnawing in laboratory mice

Enrichment significantly reduced stereotypic wire-gnawing in pair-housed male mice by 40%, presumably as a consequence of the cover provided by the cardboard tubes. This is substantiated by observations that the tubes were used as a place to retreat upon disturbance...

Year Published: 1998Topics: Abnormal/Problematic Behavior, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Wurbel, H., Chapman, R., Rutland, C. 1998. Effect of feed and environmental enrichment on development of stereotypic wire-gnawing in laboratory mice. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 60, 69-81.

Circardian rhythmus of heart rate, body temperature and locomotor activity in freely moving mice measured with radio-telemetry

Applications of radio-telemetry are demonstrated and discussed.

Year Published: 1998Animal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Kramer, K. 1998. Circardian rhythmus of heart rate, body temperature and locomotor activity in freely moving mice measured with radio-telemetry. Lab Animal 27(8), 23-26.

Increased number and size of dendritic spines in ipsilateral barrel field cortex following unilateral whisker trimming in postnatal rats

The barrel field area of the primary somatosensory cortex of rodents is a fertile ground for investigating experience-dependent plasticity and its mechanisms, because the neurons in its layer IV are distributed in groups (barrels) which correspond somatotopically to the vibrissae...

Year Published: 1998Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Vees, A. M., Micheava, K. D., Beaulieu, C. et al. 1998. Increased number and size of dendritic spines in ipsilateral barrel field cortex following unilateral whisker trimming in postnatal rats. Journal of Comparative Neurology 400, 110-124.