In laboratories mice are typically housed at ambient temperatures (Ta) of 20–24 °C, which are below their average preferred Ta of ≈30 °C. Adjusting laboratory Ta is not a solution because preferences differ depending on...
Nesting material has been reported to be beneficial to mice by providing environmental enrichment as well as a means of thermoregulation. Cotton nesting material has been reported to cause conjunctivitis in athymic nude mice. We...
Captive groups of primates often exhibit higher rates of aggression than wild, free-ranging groups. It is important to determine which factors influence aggression in captivity because aggression, particularly intense aggression, can be harmful to animal...
The welfare of zoo animals depends on a combination of physical, social, dietary and other ecological characteristics of the captive setting. We analysed the influence of the transfer of an adult couple of hamadryas baboons...
The aims of this paper are to discuss the most appropriate housing, husbandry routine and enrichment for ferrets .. without compromising science.
Each chapter follows a consistent pattern describing the behavioral characteristics of the species featured. Reference is made to the natural state before domestication, leading us through the various changes to the present, demonstrating along the...
Mice are housed at temperatures which increase their basal metabolic rates and impose high energy demands to maintain core temperatures. Thus, energy may be reallocated from other biologic processes to increase heat production. We hypothesized...
In laboratories, mice are housed at ambient temperatures between 20 to 24 °C, which is below their lower critical temperature of 30 °C, but comfortable for human workers. Thus, mice are thermally stressed, which can...
Some experimental procedures are associated with placement of animals in wire-bottom cages. The goal of this study was to evaluate stress-related physiological parameters (heart rate [HR], body temperature [BT], locomotor activity [LA], body weight [BW]...
Improving the home cages of laboratory mice by environmental enrichment has been widely used to reduce cage stereotypies and anxiety-related behaviour in behavioural tests. However, enrichment studies differ substantially in type, complexity and variation of...