The motivation of group-housed laboratory mice to leave an enriched laboratory cage (2007)

Sherwin, C. M.

Abstract

Providing environmental enrichment should improve their welfare, and a consequence of this might be a reduction in the animal's motivation to leave an enriched cage. I examined this possibility by housing laboratory mice, Mus musculus, in a cage that provided cagemates, food, water, large floor area, nesting material, a running wheel, shelter, cardboard tube, food stick and chew sticks. The strength of motivation to leave this cage was assessed in an operant consumer demand test....The mice continued to exit the enriched cage and enter the empty one at all the costs imposed... The motivation to exit the enriched cage and enter the empty cage might be due to monitoring, patrolling or information gathering... The motivation to leave a presumably attractive environment to enter a presumably less attractive one could be the result of factors beyond our anthropocentric-based understanding of how the mice perceived their environments.