Rodent

Environmental enrichment for a small colony of rats.

Our facility predominantly houses mice with a small number of rats used for brain cancer studies. Due to limited space and resource for equipment, we came up with some easy and cost effective ways to improve enrichment for the rat...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Blackburn, N., Cronshaw, G., & Mitchell, M. (2020). Environmental enrichment for a small colony of rats. Animal Technology and Welfare, 19(2), 158.

From Fish to Mice to Monkeys in Research: Challenges and Opportunities for Mental Well-being

This chapter focuses mainly on animals in medical research. Many, especially the smaller species such as rat, mice, and zebrafish, may be seen only a few minutes a day by their human caregivers. Most laboratory animals are kept in confinement...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Abnormal/Problematic Behavior, Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental Enrichment, Handling, Housing, Human-Animal Interaction, Husbandry & Management, Natural Behavior, Regulations & Ethical Review, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: All/General, Fish, Macaque, Marmoset, Mouse, Nonhuman Primate, Rat, Rodent, Zebrafish

Citation: Serageldine, C. E., Robinson-Junker, A., Alvino, G. et al. 2025. From Fish to Mice to Monkeys in Research: Challenges and Opportunities for Mental Well-being. In Mental Health and Well-being in Animals (pp. 308–322).

Personality matters – The interplay between consistent individual differences and mouse welfare in female C57BL6/J mice

To ensure good welfare of animals in human hands, it is essential to modify housing conditions according to the animals’ needs. Traditionally, the effects of such modifications are studied by means of group-level comparisons, thereby widely neglecting consistent inter-individual differences...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Housing, PersonalityAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Sroka, M. G. U., Ambree, O., Dohmen, C. et al. 2024. Personality matters – The interplay between consistent individual differences and mouse welfare in female C57BL6/J mice. Frontiers in Animal Science 5, 1423814.

Managed care of naked mole-rats

Naked mole-rats are a burgeoning model species in the field of biomedical research and are also housed at many zoos throughout the world. These mammals possess many traits that have a large impact on the way that they are kept...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Handling, Housing, Husbandry & Management, Identification Method, Natural Behavior, Rearing & Weaning, Relocation & Transport, Reproduction, RestraintAnimal Type: Mole Rat, Rodent

Citation: Smith, M., Buffenstein, R. 2021. Managed care of naked mole-rats. In: R. Buffenstein, T. J. Park, & M. M. Holmes (Eds.), The Extraordinary Biology of the Naked Mole-Rat (pp. 381–407). Springer International Publishing.

Behavioral Biology of Laboratory Animals

This 30-chapter volume informs students and professionals about the behavioral biology of animals commonly housed in laboratory and other captive settings. Each species evolved under specific environmental conditions, resulting in unique behavioral patterns, many of which are maintained in captivity...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Abnormal/Problematic Behavior, Animal Training, Environmental Enrichment, Handling, Housing, Human-Animal Interaction, Husbandry & Management, Natural Behavior, Rearing & Weaning, Social Housing & Companionship, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: All/General, Amphibian, Baboon, Capuchin, Cat, Cattle, Chicken, Crocodile & Alligator, Dog, Equine, Ferret, Finch, Fish, Fowl, Frog & Toad, Gerbil, Guinea Pig, Hamster, Lizard, Macaque, Marmoset, Mouse, Nonhuman Primate, Other Rodent, Owl Monkey, Pig, Rabbit, Rat, Reptile, Rodent, Salamander, Sheep, Snake, Squirrel Monkey, Turtle & Tortoise, Vervet (African Green Monkey), Zebrafish

Citation: Coleman, K., Schapiro, S. J. (Eds.) 2022. Behavioral Biology of Laboratory Animals (1st Ed.). CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 560 p.

Wound localization and housing conditions dictate repair dynamics and scar formation

Wound healing is a highly orchestrated process involving diverse cells and molecular interplays. Although wound healing assays are commonly used in the field of tissue repair, these experiments exhibit high variability due to their multifactorial nature, with many design factors...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Disease/Experimental Model, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Yampolsky, M., Bachelet, I., Fuchs, Y. 2025. Wound localization and housing conditions dictate repair dynamics and scar formation. Lab Animal 54(3), 68–73.

Jacketed telemetry in rats: A novel non-invasive method for cardiorespiratory phenotyping during treadmill exercise

The development of alternative methods for monitoring cardiorespiratory function without restraint or surgical implantation is attracting growing interest for both ethical and scientific reasons. For this purpose, a new non-invasive jacketed telemetry tool consisting in a radio device maintained in...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological Measurement, External Bodily EquipmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Tanguy, S., Cambier, A., Fontana-Pires, L. et al. 2025. Jacketed telemetry in rats: A novel non-invasive method for cardiorespiratory phenotyping during treadmill exercise. Laboratory Animals 59(2), 215–225.

Inconsistent terminology in rodent anatomy hinders appropriate blood sampling in laboratory animal science: A review of blood sampling techniques on the head of mice

Blood sampling is often performed during animal studies. This is more challenging in mice than in larger animal species owing to their size and lack of blood vessel visibility. Guidelines for blood sampling in mice and papers on animal welfare...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological MeasurementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Štrbenc, M. 2025. Inconsistent terminology in rodent anatomy hinders appropriate blood sampling in laboratory animal science: A review of blood sampling techniques on the head of mice. Laboratory Animals 59(3), 332–341.

Mouse strain-specific habituation to oral metamizole administration

When pain might occur during an animal experiment, sufficient analgesia is necessary. Metamizole is the third most used postoperative pain medication in animal research. The analgesic effect of metamizole is supposed to last 6–8 h in rodents. Therefore, the supplementation of...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Drug/Substance AdministrationAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Schreiber, T., Leitner, E., Brandstetter, J. et al. 2025. Mouse strain-specific habituation to oral metamizole administration. Laboratory Animals 59(2), 192–202.

Breeding planning for laboratory mice

In laboratory animal facilities, due to the rules of mammalian genetics, animals are often produced that do not possess the required genotype for planned experiments. To minimize the number of these animals that cannot be used for the intended research,...

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

Citation: Schenkel, J., Nagel-Riedasch, S., Zevnik, B. et al. 2025. Breeding planning for laboratory mice. Laboratory Animals 59(3), 415–415.