Rodent

Developing a rodent enrichment program

A very well designed inanimate enrichment program for rodents in a pharmaceutical facility is described.

Year Published: 2001Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rodent

Citation: Smith, M. M., Hargaden, M. 2001. Developing a rodent enrichment program. Lab Animal 30(8), 36-41.

Environmental enrichment in BALB/c mice: effects in classical tests of anxiety and exposure to a predatory odor

Our results show that EC mice were more active than SC mice in the elevated plus maze and the open field. Thus, possibly as a direct consequence of frequent changes in their breeding conditions, reactivity to a novel environment was...

Year Published: 2001Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Roy, V., Belzung, C., Delarue, C. et al. 2001. Environmental enrichment in BALB/c mice: effects in classical tests of anxiety and exposure to a predatory odor. Physiology and Behavior 74, 313-320.

Prolactin in rats is attenuated by conspecific touch in a novel environment

Prolactin is released in response to physical and psychological stress, the latter of which involves an animal's interpretation of its environment as potentially dangerous. This interpretation might be altered by social buffering, as defined by the presence of a social...

Year Published: 2001Animal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Wilson, J. H. 2001. Prolactin in rats is attenuated by conspecific touch in a novel environment. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience 1(2), 199-205.

Environmental enrichment: effects on spatial memory and hippocampal CREB immunoreactivity

Environmental enrichment (particularly during the earlier period) improved performance on the Morris water maze and tended to increase immunoreactivity to CREB in the hippocampus.

Year Published: 2001Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Williams, B. M., Luo, Y., Ward, C. et al. 2001. Environmental enrichment: effects on spatial memory and hippocampal CREB immunoreactivity. Physiology and Behavior 73, 649-658.

Handling the cotton rat for research

General recommendations for the housing and handling of cotton rats. Cotton rats are social creatures that can readily be housed together. .. Cotton rats need environmental stimulation to avoid boredom and fighting. They will play with just about anything left...

Year Published: 2001Animal Type: Other Rodent, Rodent

Citation: Ward, L. E. 2001. Handling the cotton rat for research. Lab Animal 30(5), 45-50.

Housing and husbandry conditions affect stereotypic behaviour in laboratory gerbils

An artificial borrow system for caged gerbils is described. Access to the system reduced stereotypic digging. Our experiments have shown that ... flexible timing of separation of adults from juveniles can successfully reduce or even prevent specific stereotypic behaviours.

Year Published: 2001Animal Type: Gerbil, Rodent

Citation: Waiblinger, E., Koenig, B. 2001. Housing and husbandry conditions affect stereotypic behaviour in laboratory gerbils. 3R-Info-Bulletin 16 (January), 1-2.

Ideal homes? Housing effects on rodent brain and behaviour

Pups who have been handled show reduced behavioural and endocrine responses to stress.

Year Published: 2001Animal Type: Rodent

Citation: Worbel, H. 2001. Ideal homes? Housing effects on rodent brain and behaviour. Trends in Neuroscience 24, 207-211.

Animal data jeopardized by life behind bars

Well-implemented enrichment may reduce variability rather than increase it.' The irony is that all this barren environment that has been put upon animals for standardization may be the source of the variability, Garner says'

Year Published: 2001Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: All/General, Rodent

Citation: Knight, J. 2001. Animal data jeopardized by life behind bars. Nature 412, 669.

Individually ventilated cages: beneficial for mice or men? Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 41(1), 13-19

We conclude that the location of the air supply in the cage, cage size, ventilation rate and the presence of nesting material in IVC systems influence the well-being of the animals.

Year Published: 2002Animal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Baumans, V., Schlingmann, F., Vonck, M. et al. 2002. Individually ventilated cages: beneficial for mice or men? Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 41(1), 13-19.

Group housed mice: are they really stressed?

Group housing of male mice has been described as a stressful condition. In particular, subordinate male mice have been reported to show increased levels of stress-related behavioural and physiological parameters. In many studies, however, males are housed in groups of...

Year Published: 2002Animal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Bartolomucci, A., Palanza, P., Parmigiani, S. 2002. Group housed mice: are they really stressed? Ethology, Ecology and Evolution 14, 341-350.