Reducing mouse anxiety during handling: effect of experience with handling tunnels.
Handling stress is a well-recognised source of variation in animal studies that can also compromise the welfare of research animals. To reduce background variation and maximise welfare, methods that minimise handling stress should be developed and used wherever possible. Recent evidence has shown th...
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2013-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0066401&type=printable |
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| _version_ | 1849434093544013824 |
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| author | Kelly Gouveia Jane L Hurst |
| author_facet | Kelly Gouveia Jane L Hurst |
| author_sort | Kelly Gouveia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Handling stress is a well-recognised source of variation in animal studies that can also compromise the welfare of research animals. To reduce background variation and maximise welfare, methods that minimise handling stress should be developed and used wherever possible. Recent evidence has shown that handling mice by a familiar tunnel that is present in their home cage can minimise anxiety compared with standard tail handling. As yet, it is unclear whether a tunnel is required in each home cage to improve response to handling. We investigated the influence of prior experience with home tunnels among two common strains of laboratory mice: ICR(CD-1) and C57BL/6. We compared willingness to approach the handler and anxiety in an elevated plus maze test among mice picked up by the tail, by a home cage tunnel or by an external tunnel shared between cages. Willingness to interact with the handler was much greater for mice handled by a tunnel, even when this was unfamiliar, compared to mice picked up by the tail. Once habituated to handling, C57BL/6 mice were most interactive towards a familiar home tunnel, whereas the ICR strain showed strong interaction with all tunnel handling regardless of any experience of a home cage tunnel. Mice handled by a home cage or external tunnel showed less anxiety in an elevated plus maze than those picked up by the tail. This study shows that using a tunnel for routine handling reduces anxiety among mice compared to tail handling regardless of prior familiarity with tunnels. However, as home cage tunnels can further improve response to handling in some mice, we recommend that mice are handled with a tunnel provided in their home cage where possible as a simple practical method to minimise handling stress. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e21b19fa551144bfa88f5b08e252f408 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2013-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-e21b19fa551144bfa88f5b08e252f4082025-08-20T03:26:48ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032013-01-0186e6640110.1371/journal.pone.0066401Reducing mouse anxiety during handling: effect of experience with handling tunnels.Kelly GouveiaJane L HurstHandling stress is a well-recognised source of variation in animal studies that can also compromise the welfare of research animals. To reduce background variation and maximise welfare, methods that minimise handling stress should be developed and used wherever possible. Recent evidence has shown that handling mice by a familiar tunnel that is present in their home cage can minimise anxiety compared with standard tail handling. As yet, it is unclear whether a tunnel is required in each home cage to improve response to handling. We investigated the influence of prior experience with home tunnels among two common strains of laboratory mice: ICR(CD-1) and C57BL/6. We compared willingness to approach the handler and anxiety in an elevated plus maze test among mice picked up by the tail, by a home cage tunnel or by an external tunnel shared between cages. Willingness to interact with the handler was much greater for mice handled by a tunnel, even when this was unfamiliar, compared to mice picked up by the tail. Once habituated to handling, C57BL/6 mice were most interactive towards a familiar home tunnel, whereas the ICR strain showed strong interaction with all tunnel handling regardless of any experience of a home cage tunnel. Mice handled by a home cage or external tunnel showed less anxiety in an elevated plus maze than those picked up by the tail. This study shows that using a tunnel for routine handling reduces anxiety among mice compared to tail handling regardless of prior familiarity with tunnels. However, as home cage tunnels can further improve response to handling in some mice, we recommend that mice are handled with a tunnel provided in their home cage where possible as a simple practical method to minimise handling stress.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0066401&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Kelly Gouveia Jane L Hurst Reducing mouse anxiety during handling: effect of experience with handling tunnels. PLoS ONE |
| title | Reducing mouse anxiety during handling: effect of experience with handling tunnels. |
| title_full | Reducing mouse anxiety during handling: effect of experience with handling tunnels. |
| title_fullStr | Reducing mouse anxiety during handling: effect of experience with handling tunnels. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reducing mouse anxiety during handling: effect of experience with handling tunnels. |
| title_short | Reducing mouse anxiety during handling: effect of experience with handling tunnels. |
| title_sort | reducing mouse anxiety during handling effect of experience with handling tunnels |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0066401&type=printable |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kellygouveia reducingmouseanxietyduringhandlingeffectofexperiencewithhandlingtunnels AT janelhurst reducingmouseanxietyduringhandlingeffectofexperiencewithhandlingtunnels |