Enforced restraint of rodents: A discussion by the Refinement & Enrichment Forum (2007)

Barley, J., Mikkelsen, L. F., Francis, R. et al.

Abstract

The question was asked: "Rodents are often restrained for data collection procedures, such as blood collection and injection, by coaxing them into tubes, for example syringe cylinders or perspex tubes. What can be done to buffer the stress response of rodents to enforced restraint in tubes?" Enforced restraint is not necessarily an intrinsic stressor for rodents. If an animal has been well familiarised with the handling personnel and with the restraint tube, the tube kept dark and the duration of the restraint session kept short enough to forestall overheating, behavioural signs of stress can be avoided. It needs to be demonstrated whether physiological stress parameters reflect baseline values in animals that seem to accept tube-restraint.