The single housing of laboratory rats may be recommended in some situations such as hypothesis-driven or test-specific studies, during electroencephalogram recording of phases of sleep and after surgical procedures. However, as single housing of laboratory...
This study was conducted to confirm our previous reports that group housing lowered basal heart rate and various evoked heart-rate responses in Sprague-Dawley male and female rats and to extend these observations to spontaneously hypertensive...
Barbering (incessant grooming) is an abnormal behavior causing alopecia and commonly affects various strains of laboratory mice, including C57BL/6J. Barbering-induced alopecia is a potential symptom of brain impairment and can indicate a stressful environment. We...
This study compared 4 bedding substrates (corncob, paper, hardwood chip, and wire-bottomed cage inserts) and 2 routes of blood collection (lateral tail vein and retroorbital sinus) in 6 male C57BL/6NCrl mice. Mice were maintained with...
In laboratories, mice are housed at 20-24C, which is below their lower critical temperature (30C). This increased thermal stress has the potential to alter scientific outcomes. Nesting material should allow for improved behavioral thermoregulation and...
Animal models of early-life stress and variation in social experience across the lifespan have contributed significantly to our understanding of the environmental regulation of the developing brain. Plasticity in neurobiological pathways regulating stress responsivity, cognition...
Stereotypic behaviors are repetitive invariant behaviors that are common in many captive species and potentially indicate compromised welfare and suitability as research subjects. Adult laboratory mice commonly perform stereotypic bar-gnawing, route-tracing, and back-flipping, although great...
Guinea pigs are difficult to oral gavage dose. Previous adverse effects from this dosing method, using rigid catheters, had caused an earlier endpoint to studies and loss of data. We therefore developed a prototype gag...
Handling of laboratory rats can increase physiological and emotional stress, leading to a fearful relationship with humans. We hypothesized that the affective quality of handling techniques used during routine care influences the animals' fear of...
Environmental enrichment aims to improve the wellbeing of laboratory animals and provides an opportunity to improve experimental reliability and validity. Animals raised in more stimulating environments have improved learning and memory as well as more...