Rodent

Environmental options for laboratory rats and mice

Environmental enrichment is the alteration of animals' microenvironment to provide them with the opportunity to perform species-specific behaviors that we perceive as positive, while reducing abnormal behaviors. [p. 39] From my experience in providing environmental ernichment benefits for the animal,...

Year Published: 2004Animal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Key, D. 2004. Environmental options for laboratory rats and mice. Lab Animal 33(2), 39-44.

Husbandry refinements for rodents, dogs and non-human primates used in telemtry procedures – Sevenths report of the BVAAWF/FRAME/RSPCA/UFAW Joint Working Group on Refinment, Part B

Year Published: 2004Animal Type: Dog, Nonhuman Primate, Rodent

Citation: Hawkins, P., Morton, D. B., Bevan, R. et al. 2004. Husbandry refinements for rodents, dogs and non-human primates used in telemtry procedures - Sevenths report of the BVAAWF/FRAME/RSPCA/UFAW Joint Working Group on Refinment, Part B. Laboratory Animals 38, in press.

Environmental enrichment facilitates amygdala kindling but reduces kindling-induced fear in male rats

Sixty male rats were housed either in an enriched environment or in isolation, starting immediately after weaning. As adults, they were subjected to either 50 amygdala-kindling stimulations or sham stimulations, followed by testing in an unfamiliar open field. The kindled-enriched...

Year Published: 2004Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Young, N. A., Wintink, A. J., Kalynchuk, L. E. 2004. Environmental enrichment facilitates amygdala kindling but reduces kindling-induced fear in male rats. Behavioral Neuroscience 118, 1128-1133.

Water leakage in rodent cages: A discussion by the Laboratory Animal Refinement and Enrichment Forum

It is not uncommon that malfunctioning in watering valves or leaks of water bottles result in the accumulation of water in rodent cages (especially during holidays and on weekends), a circumstance that can have serious implications for the animals trapped...

Year Published: 2004Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Barley, J. B., Cherry, K. A., Garner, J. et al. 2004. Water leakage in rodent cages: A discussion by the Laboratory Animal Refinement and Enrichment Forum. Animal Technology and Welfare 3, 111-114.

Environmental enrichment for guinea pigs: A Discussion by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum

The question was raised how the environment of guinea pigs can be best enriched in the research laboratory setting. In summary, social-housing is the most species-appropriate living environment for guinea pigs. If a research protocol requires single-caging, guinea pigs should...

Year Published: 2004Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Guinea Pig, Rodent

Citation: Banjanin, S., Barley, J., Bell, L. et al. 2004. Environmental enrichment for guinea pigs: A Discussion by the Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum. Animal Technology and Welfare 3(3), 161-163.

Laboratory routines cause animal stress

Based on a literature review the conclusion was drawn that routine handling, venipuncture, and orogastic gavage lead to elevations of heart rate, blood pressure, and glucocorticoid concentrations that persist for 30 to 60 min or more following the event, suggesting...

Year Published: 2004Animal Type: All/General, Mouse, Nonhuman Primate, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Balcombe, J. P., Barnard, N. D., Sandusky, C. 2004. Laboratory routines cause animal stress. Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 43(6), 42-51.

Environmental enrichment improves cognition in aged Alzheimer’s transgenic mice despite stable beta-amyloid deposition

Environmental enrichment (EE) has been shown to improve cognitive performance and brain indices of cognition in normal mice and rats. .. Beginning at 16 months of age, APPsw mice were put into EE or standard housing for 4 months and...

Year Published: 2004Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Arendash, G. W., Garcia, M. F., Costa, D. A. et al. 2004 . Environmental enrichment improves cognition in aged Alzheimer's transgenic mice despite stable beta-amyloid deposition. Neuroreport 15 , 1751-1754.

Potential for unintended consequences of environmental enrihment for laboratory animals and research results

Many aspects of the research animal's housing environment are controlled for quality and/or standardization. Of recent interest is the potential for environmental enrichment to have unexpected consequences such as unintended harm to the animal, or the introduction of variability into...

Year Published: 2005Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & Management, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Hamster, Macaque, Mouse, Nonhuman Primate, Rabbit, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Bayne, K. 2005. Potential for unintended consequences of environmental enrihment for laboratory animals and research results. ILAR Journal 46(2), 129-139.

New neurons in the dentate gyrus are involved in the expression of enhanced long-term memory following environmental enrichment

Although thousands of new neurons are continuously produced in the dentate gyrus of rodents each day, the function of these newborn cells remains unclear. An increasing number of reports have provided correlational evidence that adult hippocampal neurogenesis is involved in...

Year Published: 2005Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Bruel-Jungerman, E., Laroche, S., Rampon, C. 2005. New neurons in the dentate gyrus are involved in the expression of enhanced long-term memory following environmental enrichment. European Journal of Neuroscience 21, 513-521.

Multiple housing of male CD-1 mice for toxicological studies

Aggression peaked around 10 weeks into the [10 months] study and was usually observed following dosing or cage cleaning, ceasing once human activities in the room were completed.

Year Published: 2005Animal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Bolam, S. 2005. Multiple housing of male CD-1 mice for toxicological studies. Animal Technology and Welfare 4, 86-87.