It is not uncommon that malfunctioning in watering valves or leaks of water bottles result in the accumulation of water in rodent cages (especially during holidays and on weekends), a circumstance that can have serious...
Environmental conditions such as housing and husbandry have a major impact on the laboratory animal throughout its life and will thereby influence the outcome of animal experiments. However, housing systems for laboratory animals have often...
Many aspects of the research animal's housing environment are controlled for quality and/or standardization. Of recent interest is the potential for environmental enrichment to have unexpected consequences such as unintended harm to the animal, or...
Cage-cleaning frequency does not have a clear effect on welfare in male rats.
This book contains a wide range of information of huge complexity on rat behavior. The book has three objectives. The first objective is to present an introduction of rat behavior. In choosing the rat as...
In this article, laws and guidelines relating to rodent enrichment are reviewed, the natural behaviors of select rodent species are discussed, and an overview of widely used types of enrichment in laboratory rodent management is...
The question was asked: "In your own experience, what is the least disturbing technique - from the subject's point of view! - of blood collection for rodents?" In summary, it is fair to conclude the...
A review of the literature shows that a consensus on the definition of changes constituting environmental enrichment has yet to be reached. For this reason, the results of studies on the effects of rodent enrichment...
Some recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (the Guide) are based on best professional judgment. Our current efforts are directed toward replacement with data-driven standards. We demonstrated earlier that...
This article provides details to consider when preparing to use animals in biomedical research. The stress of transport and receipt of animals into a new environment mandate the need for a period of stabilization and...