Experimental Animals
Online ISSN : 1881-7122
Print ISSN : 1341-1357
ISSN-L : 0007-5124
Original
Color Preferences of Laboratory Mice for Bedding Materials: Evaluation Using Radiotelemetry
Kohei KawakamiBing XiaoRei-ichiro OhnoMohammed Z. FerdausMiki TonguKazuo YamadaTakaya YamadaMasato NomuraYuta KobayashiToru Nabika
Author information
JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

2012 Volume 61 Issue 2 Pages 109-117

Details
Abstract

Preferences for different housing conditions in mice were evaluated by radiotelemetry. Male C57BL/6J and ICR mice were used. Preference for bedding materials in mice was compared among three materials, wood shavings (WS), paper (CF) and cloth (AG), using the length of stay in cages as a parameter. The results indicated that mice stayed longer in a cage with AG than in cages with other bedding materials. The present study confirmed our previous results and thereby indicated that radiotelemetry is a useful method to evaluate impacts of housing conditions on animal welfare. In the second part of this study, we used radiotelemetry to evaluate color preference of the mice for cloth bedding material. In C57BL/6J mice, staying time in black cloth was significantly longer than that in white cloth. In ICR mice, staying time in white cloth was significantly longer than that in black cloth. The mice preferred the environment with the same color as their fur, which may be important for animal welfare.

Content from these authors
© 2012 Japanese Association for Laboratory Animal Science
Previous article Next article
feedback
Top