Rodent

Evaluation of carbon dioxide euthanasia of female Sprague Dawley rats alone or with unfamiliar conspecifics

Most studies evaluating methods of euthanasia to date have focused on the euthanasia of individual animals. However, larger chambers are commonly used to euthanize multiple cages of animals at once. This study evaluated the use of a commercially available system...

Year Published: 2022Topics: EuthanasiaAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Hickman, D. L. 2022. Evaluation of carbon dioxide euthanasia of female Sprague Dawley rats alone or with unfamiliar conspecifics. JAALAS 61(2), 195-200.

Environmental enrichment for rats and mice housed in laboratories: A metareview

Environmental enrichment has been widely studied in rodents, but there is no consensus on what enrichment should look like or what it should achieve. Inconsistent use of the term “enrichment” creates challenges in drawing conclusions about the quality of an...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Ratuski, A. S., Weary, D. M. 2022. Environmental enrichment for rats and mice housed in laboratories: A metareview. Animals 12(4), 414.

Pre-exposure via wire-mesh partition reduces intraspecific aggression in male, wild-type Norway rats

There are instances when animals are introduced and expected to live alongside unfamiliar conspecifics within zoos, laboratories and wildlife sanctuaries. These pairings of unfamiliar animals may result in stress, trauma, or even death, in addition to reduced confidence in data...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Stryjek, R., Modlinska, K. 2022. Pre-exposure via wire-mesh partition reduces intraspecific aggression in male, wild-type Norway rats. Animal Welfare 31(2), 175-186.

Introducing non-aversive mouse handling with ‘squnnels’ in a mouse breeding facility

Based on queries received during our 2021 LASA 3Rs' presentation, we describe operational highlights and concerns that came up during the rollout of nonaversive handling as standard of care at our mouse breeding facility. We describe the development of the...

Year Published: 2022Topics: HandlingAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Reynolds, P. S. 2022. Introducing non-aversive mouse handling with ‘squnnels' in a mouse breeding facility. Animal Technology and Welfare 21(1), 42-45.

Welfare of encaged rodents: Species specific behavioral reaction of voles to new enrichment items

The enrichment of the environment of captive animals is one of the methods applied to reduce stress of the animals and to assure their proper welfare. However, placing objects in a limited space of a cage does not always have...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Other Rodent, Rodent

Citation: Kapusta, J., Kruczek, M., Pochroń, E. et al. 2022. Welfare of encaged rodents: Species specific behavioral reaction of voles to new enrichment items. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 246, 105522.

Titrating the preferences of altered lighting against temperature in female CD-1 laboratory mice, Mus musculus

Aspects of the laboratory are aversive to mice, such as being housed under bright lights and at temperatures below their thermal comfort, causing stress and poor welfare. While murine thermal preferences are well understood, light preferences in mice are under...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Davis, H. J., Barabas, A. J., Gaskill, B. N. 2022. Titrating the preferences of altered lighting against temperature in female CD-1 laboratory mice, Mus musculus. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 246, 105541.

Thinking outside the lab: Can studies of pet rats inform pet and laboratory rat welfare?

Surveys provide a low-cost means to obtain large amounts of data that are ideal for conducting exploratory research, and they are becoming an increasingly valuable tool in a veterinary context. We investigated whether surveys of pet rat owners might provide...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Handling, Housing, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Neville, V., Mounty, J., Benato, L., Hunter, K. et al. 2022. Thinking outside the lab: Can studies of pet rats inform pet and laboratory rat welfare? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 246, 105507.

Why does lifelong conventional housing reduce the sociability of female mice?

Compared to peers raised in well-resourced, 'enriched' environments (‘EE'), female laboratory mice from conventional barren cages are more aggressive to their cage-mates, and less sociable with familiar non-cage-mates (especially if these too are from conventional housing, ‘CH'). But how do...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Housing, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Kitchenham, L., Nazal, B., Adcock, A. et al. 2022. Why does lifelong conventional housing reduce the sociability of female mice? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 246, 105532.

Thinking outside the lab: Can studies of pet rats inform pet and laboratory rat welfare?

Year Published: 2022Topics: Handling, Housing, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Effects of multimodal analgesic protocol, with buprenorphine and meloxicam, on mice well-being: A dose finding study

The anesthetic or analgesic agent of choice, route and frequency of anesthetic or analgesic administration, and stressors induce distress during the perioperative period. We evaluated a multimodal analgesic protocol using buprenorphine and meloxicam on the well-being of mice. Twenty-four Slc:ICR...

Year Published: 2021Topics: AnalgesiaAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Furumoto, K., Ogita, K., Kamisaka, T. et al. 2021. Effects of multimodal analgesic protocol, with buprenorphine and meloxicam, on mice well-being: A dose finding study. Animals 11(12), 3420.