Environmental Enrichment

Enrichment for a captive environment – The Xenopuslaevis

Tubes were preferred over the other four enrichments. The foliage and the cave showed no preference over each other, similarly the wood and rocks and the tank lid cover were equally preferred. However the foliage and the cave were both...

Year Published: 2004Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Amphibian, Frog & Toad

Citation: Brown, M. J., Nixon, R. M. 2004. Enrichment for a captive environment - The Xenopuslaevis. Animal Technology and Welfare 3, 87-95.

Environmental enrichment for mice

Behavioural responses of outbred and inbred mice to a range of potential enrichments (cloth impregnated with the smell of unfamiliar mice, hessian hammock, half a coconut shell, playback of bird song, control of standard cage) were studied. The results show...

Year Published: 2004Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Brocklebank, S., Mendl, M., Nicol, C. J. et al. 2004. Environmental enrichment for mice. Proceedings of the International Congress on Applied Ethology, 240 (Abstract).

Environmental enrichment in mice decreases anxiety, attenuates stress responses and enhances natural killer cell activity

The importance of environment in the regulation of brain, behaviour and physiology has long been recognized in biological, social and medical sciences. Animals maintained under enriched conditions have clearly been shown to have better learning abilities than those maintained under...

Year Published: 2004Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Benaroya-Milshtein, N., Hollander, N., Apter, A. et al. 2004. Environmental enrichment in mice decreases anxiety, attenuates stress responses and enhances natural killer cell activity. European Journal of Neuroscience 20, 1341-1347.

Effect of enrichment on variation and results in the light/dark test

The aim of this study was to investigate if cage enrichment induces an effect on experimental mean values and on inter-individual variation in the light/dark paradigm using diazepam as the anxiolytic drug. The behaviour of 216 naive adult male mice...

Year Published: 2003Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Augustsson, H., Van de Weerd, H. A., Kruitwagen, C. L. J. J. et al. 2003. Effect of enrichment on variation and results in the light/dark test. Laboratory Animals 37, 328-251.

Foraging enrichment for laboratory rats

The limited-access hopper had a tendency to reduce food consumption, but the time spent feeding encreased. The gnawing sticks provided the rats with the opportunity to gnaw, but did not affect other behaviours or body weight. The foraging device had...

Year Published: 2004Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Johnson, S. R., Patterson-Kane, E. G., Niel, L. 2004. Foraging enrichment for laboratory rats. Animal Welfare 13, 305-312.

Behavioural and welfare benefits using environmental enrichment for social housed rats

Constructing their own nests not only allowed the rats to engage in a species-typical behavior, which presumably enhanced their feeling of security, but it also reduced the incident of aggressive interactions.

Year Published: 2004Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Jegstrup, I. M., Ritskes-Hoitinga, M. 2004. Behavioural and welfare benefits using environmental enrichment for social housed rats. Proceedings of the Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations [FELASA] Symposium, 38-42.

Environmental enrichment for dendrobatid frogs

A hallow coconut insect feeder was developed to increase foraging activity.

Year Published: 2004Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Amphibian, Frog & Toad

Citation: Hurme, K., Gonzalez, K., Halvorsen, M. et al. 2004. Environmental enrichment for dendrobatid frogs. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 6, 285-299.

Enrichment is not always enriching

Study evaluates whether any enrichment provides global benefits to the animal or whether the benefits are specific to the type of enrichment received.

Year Published: 2004Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: All/General

Citation: Hepper, G. P., Wells, D. L. 2004. Enrichment is not always enriching. Animal Welfare 13(S), 243 (Abstract).

Rodent enrichment dilemmas – the answers are out there!

Principles are outlined to help further the implementation of refinements in housing and care of rodents.

Year Published: 2004Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rodent

Citation: Hawkins, P., Jennings, M. 2004. Rodent enrichment dilemmas - the answers are out there! Animal Technology and Welfare 3, 143-147.

Environmental enrichment: Beneficial effects in a rodent model of lead neurotoxicity

Using a rodent model of lead-induced neurotoxicity, we show that environmental enrichment reverses cognitive and molecular deficits induced by this developmental neurotoxicant... At weaning, pups were removed from the lead exposure and housed in isolation or environmental enrichment cages (8...

Year Published: 2004Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Guilarte, T. R., Toscano, C. D., McGlothan, J. L. et al. 2004. Environmental enrichment: Beneficial effects in a rodent model of lead neurotoxicity. Proceedings of the 4th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences - Alternatives to Laboratory Animals [ATLA] 32(Supplement), 236 (Abstract).