Confronting crunching: A refinement for the care of mice with the desire to crunch (2020)

Oralman, T.

Abstract

‘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 evaluate the effectiveness of the cruncher barrier and garner the valued opinions of other Animal Technologists. 40 cruncher cages, containing 135 mice were used to assess frequency of food top-ups, base changes and nest scores. Consensus between Animal Technologists strongly indicated the cruncher barrier is beneficial in reducing crunching. As a result, animals were not disturbed as frequently due to the reduction of food top-ups and base-changes required.