I am unable to distinguish SD rats from Wistar externally and waiting for comparing their relative growth pattern is wasting a lot of time as I feel my supplier is tricking me with wistar instead of Sprague dawley. Please help anyone.
Hello Anmol,
They are both albino rat strains, so telling the difference is not an easy task. In general, Sprague-Dawley grow considerably bigger, but are more docile in character (that is, are less temperamental).
A good source of information is Charles-River WWW site. For specific data on the two strains please see the following URLs:
http://www.criver.com/products-services/basic-research/find-a-model/sprague-dawley-rat
http://www.criver.com/products-services/basic-research/find-a-model/wistar-rat
ad use "Growth Chart" and "Pricing" buttons there (the "Pricing" charts will show you some exact numerical values for age-body weight relationship).
Please note that there are several more different Wistar rat strains (other than the 'regular' Wistar rat) listed by the Charles-River source.
Best regards,
Stanislaw J. Chrapusta
Hi Anmol,
I am sorry for possibly misleading you about the relative body weights of Sprague-Dawley versus Wistar rats (that was what I memorized from a long time ago; possibly I was dealing with different Wistar strain at that time). The growth charts shown in Charles-River WWW site tell that Wistar rats grow slower at young age but actually reach much higher maximum body weight.
SJ Chrapusta
Thanks a lot Prof. Stanisław Jonatan Chrapust Sir for sharing these valuable links. I have gone through them and they are indeed helpful in understanding the difference in growth pattern between the two strains.
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