Chew sticks, do mice really care? (2025)

Higginson, K.

Abstract

There are various chewing enrichments on the market for small rodents. In this study we focused on comparing two types, T-Brick and Aspen to see which product enabled more natural chewing behaviours in several strains of mice. A rack of cages was divided, with each half provided either Aspen bricks or T-Bricks. Various strains, sexes and ages of mice were examined weekly to compare soiling on the bricks and chewing analysis. This study showed that wildtype (WT) mice had a clear preference for T-Bricks, whereas transgenic strains exhibited less of a preference for chewing.