Causation of the ontogenetic development of stereotypic digging in gerbils
To determine the factors that cause the development of stereotypic digging, features in the captive environment of young Mongolian gerbils,Meriones unguiculatus, were varied. It was hypothesized that stereotypic digging develops because stimuli that control digging motivation are lacking. A regulatory model of motivation was used to examine whether digging motivation is decreased by the performance […]
Gerbils Prefer Partially Darkened Cages
A test system previously described by Blom et al (1993) was used to investigate the preference of the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) with respect to light intensity in their cage, by comparing a standard transparent rodent cage with three cages darkened by either 25, 50 or 75 per cent. The ten animals included in the […]