Rodent

Mirror, 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.

Confronting 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.

Refinements 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.

Development 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.

A 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.

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.