Rodent
Environmental enrichment for laboratory rats and mice: Endocrine, physiological, and behavioral benefits of meeting rodents’ biological needs
Standard housing for laboratory rodents is characterized by cages that do not always provide an adequate environment to meet the animal’s behavioral needs. When animals are reared under impoverished conditions, negative states such as boredom and distress might arise. Environmental...
Year Published: 2025Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent
Citation: Domínguez-Oliva, A., Hernández-Avalos, I., Bueno-Nava, A. et al. 2025. Environmental enrichment for laboratory rats and mice: Endocrine, physiological, and behavioral benefits of meeting rodents’ biological needs. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 12.
Read MoreRat boredom-like behaviour in a monotonous versus a varied foraging task: Effects of sensory variation
Evidence increasingly reveals that non-human animals in monotonous situations can show boredom-like states, distinctively manifesting as increases in both arousal-seeking, restless behaviour and low arousal, drowsy behaviour. However, task related boredom has been little investigated in animals, but could have...
Year Published: 2025Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent
Citation: Burn, C. C., Ng, K. H. T., Parker, M. O. 2025. Rat boredom-like behaviour in a monotonous versus a varied foraging task: Effects of sensory variation. Animal Cognition 28(1), 57.
Read MoreEvaluation of the effects of enlarged housing on social play and reward seeking in rats
The legal minimum dimensions for laboratory rat housing prevent rats from fully performing their behavioural repertoire. In the regular cages, rats cannot run, climb, or even stand upright. The need to house rats in larger cages has been recognized internationally...
Year Published: 2025Topics: HousingAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent
Citation: Achterberg, E. J. M., Baars, A.-M. J. M., van Hal, D. A. et al. 2025. Evaluation of the effects of enlarged housing on social play and reward seeking in rats. Animals 15(18), 2757.
Read MoreA study into viable wooden enrichment objects for Syrian Hamsters
It is known that due to the continual growth of their teeth, hamsters require a means by which to wear down their teeth and satisfy their natural desire to chew. Due to their foraging behaviour hamsters use their cheek pouches...
Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Hamster, Rodent
Citation: Watson, H. 2020. A study into viable wooden enrichment objects for Syrian Hamsters. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(1), 86–88.
Read MoreAlternative handling techniques to reduce anxiety in laboratory mice
The most common and widely used method to capture and transfer mice from cage to cage is to pick up and restrain the mouse by its tail. Recent studies at Liverpool University, however, have indicated that handling mice by their...
Year Published: 2020Topics: Handling, Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent
Citation: Thorpe, E. 2020. Alternative handling techniques to reduce anxiety in laboratory mice. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(1), 76–78.
Read MoreMirror, mirror, on the wall
When mice are grouped together for the first time it is a novel experience filled with new sights and smells which will stress the animal too much and may cause aggression. It has been proven that mice can see a...
Year Published: 2020Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent
Citation: Reading, P., Reading, R., Branstone, C. 2020. Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(1), 98–100.
Read MoreConfronting crunching: A refinement for the care of mice with the desire to crunch
‘Crunching’ is the term often used to describe the abnormal behaviour of mice that habitually crunch their pelleted diet, causing substrate levels to rise as the crumbs settle on the cage floor ultimately burying the nest. The aim was to...
Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent
Citation: Oralman, T. 2020. Confronting crunching: A refinement for the care of mice with the desire to crunch. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(1), 89–91.
Read MoreRefinements to health monitoring
Green, Amber, Red monitoring system: If a mouse shows any of the listed amber signs, then monitoring is increased to either once or twice weekly (green HC). Mice with 3 amber signs should be on red HC (daily check). Mice...
Year Published: 2020Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent
Citation: Jones, H., King, R. 2020. Refinements to health monitoring. Animal Technology and Welfare, 19(2), 153–154.
Read MoreDevelopment of a sifting cage change method for rats to improve welfare
Normally during a cage change a small handful of dirty bedding is placed into the clean cage but I felt this was not enough to comfort the rats. After trialling a few methods I finally came up with a sieve...
Year Published: 2020Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent
Citation: Henderson, S. 2020. Development of a sifting cage change method for rats to improve welfare. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(2), 145–148.
Read MoreA sweet change to the needle
Our Named Veterinary Surgeon (NVS) suggested providing post-operative pain relief in flavoured jelly to avoid the use of needles. We made up batches of non-medicated jelly to try them with first. We provided this nonmedicated jelly for three days before...
Year Published: 2020Topics: Drug/Substance AdministrationAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent
Citation: Forrest, G., Sattar, A. et al. 2020. A sweet change to the needle. Animal Technology and Welfare 19(1), 73–75.
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