Pregnant ARS Ha (ICR) Swiss mice were allowed to select from 10 commercially available bedding products for parturition and rearing young. Combinations of bedding materials were most often selected. Products of wood origin were overwhelmingly preferred. Rates for the selection of bedding materials from the 20 tests were Aspen Bed 100%, Cedar Shavings 75%, Pinewood Shavings 45%, Ab-Sorb-Dri 5%, and Stop "'0" 5%.The purpose of this study was to determine if pregnant Swiss mice preferred a specific bedding material for parturition and rearing young.
METHODBedding test units, with 12 individual chambers, were constructed from poster board coated with fiberglass. A standard top from a small rodent cage was suspended in the center area to provide water and food. Hardware cloth with .64-cm mesh was placed on top of the chamber and held in place with lead Ten different commercial bedding products were donated for testing (Table 1). A 10-cm 3 volume of each bedding material was placed randomly into different chambers with two chambers and the center area remaining free from bedding.Twenty female ARS Ha (lCR) Swiss mice were raised and bred in opaque rodent cages. Shredded newspaper, sterilized with ethylene oxide, was used for bedding. Individual pregnant mice were plaeed in the bedding test unit 3 to 5 days prior to parturition. Purina rodent chow and water were provided 'ad lib. Room temperature was maintained at 72°r with a relative humidity of 40%-60%. The test units were maintained in an isolated building with limited access.Each mouse was allowed to select the bedding preferred for parturition and rearing of her young. Newborn young were counted the first day following birth. The mother and litter were then left undisturbed for I week. At I week of age, the young were counted and placed into a small standard opaque rodent cage with their mother. The cage was bedded with the same material selected originally. At 3 weeks of age the young were again counted and the test terminated. The bedding units were sanitized after each test. Twenty consecutive tests were conducted. RESULTS products were mixed. Nests were all built in the chambers of the test units; never in the center area. With the exception of Stop "0" in Test 7, all bedding selections were products of wood origin. Bedding preference percentages from the 20 tests were Aspen Bed 100%, Cedar Shavings 75%, Pinewood Shavings 45%, Ab-Sorb-Dri 5%, and Stop "0" 5% (Table 3). Survival of young was not greatly influenced by the bedding materials selected except in Test 7 where nearly 50% did not survive the first week. The bedding selected and number of young born and surviving at I and 3 weeks of age are presented in
1. Opaque, vertical dividers were used to create either one or two feeding spaces in front of each cage. Three hens were housed in each 310 x 510 mm cage. 2. The effects of these dividers on feeding, extending head out of the cage front and agonistic behaviour were compared with undivided areas. Body weights were also recorded. 3. Compared with controls (unmodified feeding space), birds with two feeding spaces per cage spent less time feeding and head out, had fewer feeding bouts, received fewer agonistic head pecks overall and weighed less at the end of lay. 4. Access to the food trough was through 5 spaces separated by the vertical wire divisions of the cage front. Regardless of treatment group, most activity at the cage front occurred through the second space in from either side of the cage. 5. The data are discussed in relation to the social controls which may affect trough use, the potential for improving cage design by modifying the design of the feeding area, and the validity of research trials which use food trough dividers to separate treatment groups.
Harran Fringe-fingered Lizard, Acanthodactylus harranensis has been assumed to be endemic to Turkey so far. Here an ancient personal finding from Syria is presented that was recorded ten years before the classification of the species. The newly acquired distributional data of this endangered species is discussed, including the consequences about the survival of the species.
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