Nesting Material as Environmental Enrichment Has No Adverse Effects on Behavior and Physiology of Laboratory Mice
Environmental enrichment may improve the quality of life of captive animals by altering the environment of animals so that they are able to perform more of the behavior that is within the range of the animal’s species-specific repertoire. When enrichment is introduced into an animal’s environment, it is important to evaluate the effect of the […]
Modulation of Aggression in Male Mice: Influence of Cage Cleaning Regime and Scent Marks
Group housing of male laboratory mice often leads to welfare problems due to aggressive behaviour. From a welfare perspective, individual housing is not a preferred solution to these problems – and so we sought other ways of reducing aggression between male mice. Aggression peaks after disturbances such as cage cleaning. Transfer of olfactory cues during […]
The naked truth: Breeding performance in nude mice with and without nesting material
In laboratories, mice are housed at ambient temperatures between 20 and 24 °C, which is below their lower critical temperature of 30 °C, but comfortable for human workers. Thus, mice are under chronic thermal stress, which can compromise many aspects of physiology from metabolism to pup growth. These effects may be exacerbated in nude mice. […]