I am performing a series of experiments in SD rats following stereotaxic cannulation. The animals are allowed 7-10 days to recover.
Should I be moving the animals to grouped cages (2 rats/cage) following recovery and before behavioral experimentation?
Rats are very curious creatures and will explore any unusual feature on a cage mate. You cannot expect that group housed rats would ignore a head prosthesis
and will scratch and chew it if they can. If you are studying any social interaction and can continuously observe the interaction you could interrupt any attempt to
damage the head prosthesis.
There are some ways to work around this issue and I can offer advice if I know why you are requiring socialization and if both rats will have an intracranial cannula.
my email is [email protected]
Dr. Walls
Cannulated rats housed together will lead to scratch, slow healing, and potentially severe injuries. Make sure your control group is housed in the same conditions and isolate them following surgery to ensure recovery.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Mathematics