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Cage size preference in rats in the Laboratory (2002)
| Venue: | Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science |
| Citations: | 1 - 0 self |
BibTeX
@ARTICLE{Patterson-kane02cagesize,
author = {Emily G. Patterson-kane},
title = {Cage size preference in rats in the Laboratory},
journal = {Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science},
year = {2002},
pages = {63--72}
}
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Abstract
The size of an enclosure is an integral part of how well it accommodates a nonhuman animal’s welfare; however, most enrichment studies concentrate on modifying the area inside the enclosure rather than enlarging it. It has been suggested that rats have little need for more cage space, but there is no empirical evidence about rats ’ need for space. This experiment provides preliminary evidence for the preferences of 5 male and 5 female albino rats using T-maze choices followed by 5 min dwelling times. The rats showed a moderate but significant preference for the larger of 2 cages (540 cm2 vs. 1,620 cm2; binomial z, p <.05). When the rats shared the chosen cage with 4 famil-iar cage mates, their preference for the larger cage did not become any stronger (paired t(9) = –.820, p>.05). The results suggest that rats should be given a somewhat larger space allowance but could share it with up to 4 other rats. Appropriate enrichment can be based on observations of wild and feral popula-tions (Brain, 1992; Patterson-Kane, in press). Observations of free-living rats (Rattus norvegicus) have indicated that they typically form large colonies in ar-eas in which there is plentiful ground cover and they create complex burrows
Keyphrases
cage size preference chosen cage free-living rat empirical evidence plentiful ground cover t-maze choice complex burrow female albino rat appropriate enrichment nonhuman animal welfare cage space large colony significant preference little need famil-iar cage mate integral part space allowance enrichment study feral popula-tions cm2 v preliminary evidence
