Mouse (Mus) burrows: Effects of age, strain, and domestication

A new type of soil material for a burrowing chamber for mice

“…This finding differs from the findings of Adams and Boice (1981) or Dudek, Adams, Boice, and Abbott (1983), who showed that the C57BL/6 burrowed more eagerly than the BALB/c. This discrepancy may be attributed to ease of digging actions in the cottonshavings soil, which permitted BALB/c to burrow more.…”

Marble burying reflects a repetitive and perseverative behavior more than novelty-induced anxiety

“…Studies addressing the burrowing behaviors in both rats and mice have been published over the last several decades (i.e., Ruffer 1965; Berry 1968; Pinel and Treit 1978; Adams and Boice 1981; Pinel et al 1989; Schmid-Holmes et al 2001). Rodents generally engage in digging behavior to build burrows in the wild that serve a variety of purposes including safety from predators, food storage, thermoregulation from harsh climate conditions, and nesting (McNab 1966; Studier and Baca 1968; Fleming and Brown 1975; Boice 1977; Bouchard and Lynch 1989).…”

A critical inquiry into marble-burying as a preclinical screening paradigm of relevance for anxiety and obsessive–compulsive disorder: Mapping the way forward

“…Digging can be regarded as the primary action by which more complex tasks-namely, burrowing or the burying of objects-are achieved, and it refers to the displacement of a substrate using mostly the forepaws (Layne & Ehrhart, 1970). Burrowing-that is, the construction of tunnels for habitation (Adams & Boice, 1981;Sherwin, Haug, Terkelsen, & Vadgama, 2004)-and burying-that is, the displacement of either aversive (De Boer & Koolhaas, 2003) or nonaversive (Poling, Cleary, & Monaghan, 1981) objects beneath any available substrate-thus represent the application of digging to a more specific outcome.…”

“…However, strain variation in digging, burrowing, and burying behavior is common (Deacon, Thomas, Rawlins, & Morley, 2007;Layne & Ehrhart, 1970;Weber & Hoekstra, 2009;Webster, Williams, Owens, Geiger, & Dewsbury, 1981). Furthermore, there is evidence that laboratory-reared rats and mice show comparable burrowing activity to their wild-type counterparts when they are afforded living conditions that allow for the complete expression of digging activity (Adams & Boice, 1981;Boice, 1977;Jirkof, 2014;Weber & Hoekstra, 2009). Indeed, digging and burrowing serve analogous purposes across both natural and laboratory settings and are central to rodent survival and social structure (Deacon, 2006;Ebensperger & Blumstein, 2006).…”

“…Indeed, when studying digging and burrowing behavior in laboratory mice, it has been demonstrated that such behaviors persist in cages that already contain extensive burrow networks. However, although digging and burrowing are natural and persistent under laboratory conditions, even in the offspring of captive-bred animals (Adams & Boice, 1981;Weber & Hoekstra, 2009), such behaviors are subject to modification by a number of factors, including preexposure to the burying substrate-which results in decreased, albeit persistent, burrowing activity (Schultz, 1972)-as well as the burying substrate itself, which can influence the number of burying episodes and the overall measurable digging activity (Layne & Ehrhart, 1970;Webster et al, 1981). Furthermore, gross digging behavior can also be influenced by genetics, even in closely related species, which can exhibit notably different burrow architecture and digging activity (Dudek, Adams, Boice, & Abbott, 1983;Layne & Ehrhart, 1970;Weber & Hoekstra, 2009;Webster et al, 1981).…”