Handling

The recovery time between early mild stress and final acute stress affects survival rate, immunity, health, and physiology of oscar (Astronotus ocellatus)

This study investigated how the time interval between the last EMS (netting) and the acute confinement stress (AC stress) at the end of the experiment can influence growth, haematology, blood biochemistry, immunological response, antioxidant system, liver enzymes, and stress response...

Year Published: 2023Topics: HandlingAnimal Type: Fish, Other Fish

Citation: Zare, M., Heidari, E., Hosseini Choupani, S. M. et al. 2023. The recovery time between early mild stress and final acute stress affects survival rate, immunity, health, and physiology of oscar (Astronotus ocellatus). Animals 13(10), 1606.

Effect of animal stocking density and habitat enrichment on survival and vitality of wild green shore crabs, Carcinus maenas, maintained in the laboratory

The wide geographic distribution, large size and ease of capture has led to decapod crustaceans being used extensively in laboratory experiments. Recently in the United Kingdom decapod crustaceans were listed as sentient beings, resulting in their inclusion in animal care...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Handling, Housing, Husbandry & Management, Stocking DensityAnimal Type: Crustacean, Invertebrate

Citation: Wilson, C. H., Wyeth, R. C., Spicer, J. I. et al. 2022. Effect of animal stocking density and habitat enrichment on survival and vitality of wild green shore crabs, Carcinus maenas, maintained in the laboratory. Animals 12(21), 2970.

Physiological assessment of the health and welfare of domestic cats—An exploration of factors affecting urinary cortisol and oxytocin

Physiological samples are beneficial in assessing the health and welfare of cats. However, most studies have been conducted in specialized environments, such as shelters or laboratories, and have not focused on cats living in domestic settings. In addition, most studies...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Handling, Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Cat

Citation: Nagasawa, T., Kimura, Y., Masuda, K. et al. 2022. Physiological assessment of the health and welfare of domestic cats—An exploration of factors affecting urinary cortisol and oxytocin. Animals 12(23), 3330.

Validating the use of box training as a refinement to rabbit handling

In the wild, rabbits are prey animals and so the act of being picked up and handled can be extremely stressful for them. Yet, the most used method of handling laboratory rabbits is to grasp the animal by the scruff,...

Year Published: 2023Topics: HandlingAnimal Type: Rabbit

Citation: Kinally, A., Onions, L., Glenn, S. 2023. Validating the use of box training as a refinement to rabbit handling. Animal Technology and Welfare 22(1), 35–40.

Longitudinal home-cage automated assessment of climbing behavior shows sexual dimorphism and aging-related decrease in C57BL/6J healthy mice and allows early detection of motor impairment in the N171-82Q mouse model of Huntington’s disease

Monitoring the activity of mice within their home cage is proving to be a powerful tool for revealing subtle and early-onset phenotypes in mouse models. Video-tracking, in particular, lends itself to automated machine-learning technologies that have the potential to improve...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Behavioral & Cognitive Testing, Disease/Experimental Model, HandlingAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Bains, R. S., Forrest, H., Sillito, R. R. et al. 2023. Longitudinal home-cage automated assessment of climbing behavior shows sexual dimorphism and aging-related decrease in C57BL/6J healthy mice and allows early detection of motor impairment in the N171-82Q mouse model of Huntington's disease. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 17, 1148172.

Handling method affects measures of anxiety, but not chronic stress in mice

Studies in mice have shown that less aversive handling methods (e.g. tunnel or cup handling) can reduce behavioural measures of anxiety in comparison to picking mice up by their tail. Despite such evidence, tail handling continues to be used routinely....

Year Published: 2022Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, HandlingAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Novak, J., Jaric, I., Rosso, M. et al. 2022. Handling method affects measures of anxiety, but not chronic stress in mice. Scientific Reports 12(1), 20938.

Post mortem study on the effects of routine handling and manipulation of laboratory mice

Routine handling and manipulation of laboratory mice are integral components of most preclinical studies. Any type of handling and manipulation may cause stress and result in physical harm to mice, potentially leading to unintended consequences of experimental outcomes. Nevertheless, the...

Year Published: 2022Topics: HandlingAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Assenmacher, C.-A., Lanza, M., Tarrant, J. C. et al. 2022. Post mortem study on the effects of routine handling and manipulation of laboratory mice. Animals 12(23), 3234.

Vole husbandry at Colorado University Boulder

Since they arrived at CU Boulder, we have learned a lot about the voles from the laboratory, other institutions, and our trial-and-error. We hope this information can be helpful to any considering adding voles to their census.

Year Published: 2022Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Handling, Housing, Husbandry & Management, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Other Rodent, Rodent

Citation: Abazaris, J., Hashway, S. 2022. Vole husbandry at Colorado University Boulder. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(4) (July/August), 12-15.

Introduction of gloved hand to cage induces 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations in male albino rats

Rodents emit ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) above the human hearing threshold of ~ 20 kHz to communicate emotional states and to coordinate their social interactive behavior. Twenty-two kHz USVs emitted by adult rats have been reported in a variety of aversive...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Handling, Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Hwang, S.-K., Tyszkiewicz, C., Dragon, M. et al. 2022. Introduction of gloved hand to cage induces 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations in male albino rats. PLOS ONE 17(11), e0278034.

Short communication: Do the tameness of the dams and the sex of the offspring have an influence on the “gentling” effect in laboratory rats?

“Gentling” (soft touching, “taming”) has long-term effects on the behavior of laboratory rats (Rattus norvegicus). Our own studies showed that the use of a “gentling” program in the fourth and fifth week of life resulted in a significant reduction in...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Handling, Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Zausinger, P., Schneider, B. M., Bauer, A. et al. 2022. Short communication: Do the tameness of the dams and the sex of the offspring have an influence on the “gentling” effect in laboratory rats? Journal of Veterinary Behavior 52-53, 45-49.