Rodent

Behavioral or nutritional drive: Which motivation affects rates of food grinding in CD1 mice?

Wire mouse feeders used in laboratory mouse cages typically hold enough food to feed 5 mice for two weeks. However, some mice gnaw the food provided into powder, which they do not ingest. The ground-up food fills the cage, resulting...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Abnormal/Problematic Behavior, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Gaskill, B. N., Davis, H., Gosselin, R. P. et al. 2025. Behavioral or nutritional drive: Which motivation affects rates of food grinding in CD1 mice? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 284, 106533.

Infrared thermography for temperature measurement in adult female C57BL/6NCrl mice: A comparison with rectal probe and subcutaneous transponder

Body temperature is an easily measured clinical parameter that provides important information about an animal’s health and welfare. In the context of animal experiments, temperature monitoring provides relevant data needed to manage animal care and has been embraced as a...

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

Citation: Fiebig, K., Jourdan, T., Kock, M. et al. 2025. Infrared thermography for temperature measurement in adult female C57BL/6NCrl mice: A comparison with rectal probe and subcutaneous transponder. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 64(1), 120–131.

Analysis of individually ventilated cage (IVC) microenvironments during 21-d cage change frequency for mice using two different bedding types

The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals provides recommendations on sanitation frequencies for rodent caging equipment; however, it allows for performance standards to be used when extending this frequency for individually ventilated cage (IVC) caging. Our institution...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Felgenhauer, J. L., Copio, J. N., Suri, A. M. et al. 2025. Analysis of individually ventilated cage (IVC) microenvironments during 21-d cage change frequency for mice using two different bedding types. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 64(2), 259–265.

Assessment of postoperative analgesic efficacy and animal well-being using a novel triaxial accelerometer device, the rodent fitbit-like telemetry device

Accurate postoperative pain management is crucial for good animal welfare and science. We sought to evaluate mouse postoperative pain management efficacy by measuring activity using a novel triaxial acceleration device—the Rodent Fitbit-like telemetry device (RFB)—to monitor home cage activity. To...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Analgesia, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Campbell, M., Tolwani, A., Tolwani, R. et al. 2025. Assessment of postoperative analgesic efficacy and animal well-being using a novel triaxial accelerometer device, the rodent fitbit-like telemetry device. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 64(3), 457–467.

Light cycle phase effects on behavioral responses to stress exposure in rats

Animal models enable investigation of the impact of stress on emotional-behavioral performance to facilitate understanding of posttraumatic stress symptoms experienced in humans. Refinement of animal stress models could lead to a reduction in the number of subjects needed to detect...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Brown, C. E., Borrell, A. C., DeMar, J. C. et al. 2025. Light cycle phase effects on behavioral responses to stress exposure in rats. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 64(1), 64–75.

The effects of subcutaneous ketamine on postlaparotomy analgesia and behavior in female Sprague–Dawley rats (Rattus norvegicus)

Multimodal analgesia provides superior pain control compared with single-agent analgesic approaches. However, certain analgesic drug classes such as NSAIDs and opioids may be contraindicated in some studies due to their mechanisms of action, highlighting the need for alternative analgesic options....

Year Published: 2025Topics: AnalgesiaAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Alionhart, R. E., Carlson, M. M., White, A. R. et al. 2025. The effects of subcutaneous ketamine on postlaparotomy analgesia and behavior in female Sprague–Dawley rats (Rattus norvegicus). Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 64(3), 468–479.

Contactless monitoring of respiratory rate variability in rats under anesthesia with a compact 24GHz microwave radar sensor (2025)

Objective The objective of this study was to develop and validate a noncontact monitoring system for respiratory rate variability in rats under anesthesia using a 24GHz microwave radar sensor. This study aimed to address the need for stress-free monitoring techniques...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Anesthesia & Sedation, Biological Sampling & Physiological MeasurementAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Sun, G., Kurosawa, M., Ninomiya, Y. et al. 2025. Contactless monitoring of respiratory rate variability in rats under anesthesia with a compact 24GHz microwave radar sensor. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 12.

Tracking ‘tails’: Refining motor activity monitoring in rats and mice (2025)

Motor activity monitoring is used in specialist regulatory toxicology studies to investigate test item related neurobehavioral effects. Introduction of a new video tracking software system which detects the centre point, tail base and nose tip of rodents to individually track...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Behavioral & Cognitive Testing, Biological Sampling & Physiological MeasurementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rat, Rodent

Citation: Reading, R. 2025. Tracking “tails”: Refining motor activity monitoring in rats and mice. Animal Technology and Welfare 24(1), 53–56.

Risk factors for barbering in laboratory mice (2025)

Barbering is a common abnormal behavior in laboratory mice, where mice pluck their own fur and/or the fur or whiskers of their cage mates. Barbering mice are a concern for welfare and research quality, as well as serving as a...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Abnormal/Problematic BehaviorAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Ratuski, A. S., Theil, J. H., Ahloy-Dallaire, J. et al. 2025. Risk factors for barbering in laboratory mice. Scientific Reports 15(1), 7456.

A guide for junior technicians: The importance of giving the correct amount of nesting in a mouse IVC and the benefits of an enriched cage (2025)

During our experience of working on the breeding floor of the University of Cambridge's Anne McLaren Building, we have recognised the importance of giving the correct amount of nesting and the benefits of additional enrichment.

Year Published: 2025Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Pitcher, L., Stringer, A. 2025. A guide for junior technicians: The importance of giving the correct amount of nesting in a mouse IVC and the benefits of an enriched cage. Animal Technology and Welfare 24(1), 65–66.