Includes refinements to diet, bedding or flooring, cage changing, lighting, temperature, noise levels, etc.
Bedding influences various parameters in the housing of laboratory mice, such as health, physiology and behaviour (often considered as being integral parts of welfare). Notwithstanding existent studies about bedding preferences of individually tested mice, data...
Despite the reported advantages of corncob bedding, questions have emerged about how comfortable animals find this type of bedding as a resting surface. In this study, encephalography (EEG) was used to compare the effects of...
Unlike rodent management, captive maintenance of venomous snakes poses a considerably greater risk to operators and those around them: specific protocols are, therefore, required. Traditional techniques used by hobbyists and professionals involve frequent direct contact...
The authors provide an update to their 2006 report on the successful large-scale captive breeding of the 13-lined ground squirrel (TLGS; Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) in their colony, now a single-source supplier of purpose-bred TLGSs for several...
Changing soiled cages is an integral part of husbandry, yet it can be a source of stress for both animal and animal care technician. In one case, large geriatric rats weighing around 1 kg did...
For groups of pigs to cope adequately with their housing conditions they need sufficient static space (occupied by the body of the pig), activity space (for movement between different functional areas and behaviours relating to...
Wooden objects are often used as nonhuman primate enrichment to provide variety and novelty, promote exploratory behavior, and supply an outlet for curiosity. However, concerns have been raised regarding the ability to sanitize wood by...
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the behavioural and physiological responses to environmental disturbances (live and recorded dynamite explosions) in laboratory non-human primates in preparation for a future tunnel construction underneath our...
On Swiss rabbit breeding farms, group-housed does are usually kept singly for 12 days around parturition to avoid pseudogravidity, double litters and deleterious fighting for nests. After this isolation phase there is usually an integration...
This study analyses the preferences, as well as the lying behaviour, of sows with various types of mat in a group housing system lying area. The sows in the trial could choose between six bays...