Source of Mice: The Jackson Laboratory
Age (wks): 4-25 wks at testing
Breeding: Diversity Outbred mice were obtained from the production facility at The Jackson Laboratory. Founder and CC strains were bred in the research animal facility. One mating pair (siblings at 8-16 wks of age) per side of a duplex cage. Wean age is 3-4 wks.
Test Facility: Animal facility at The Jackson Laboratory
Feed: Lab Diet: 6% fat content lab diet feed. LabDiet Specially Formulated Autoclavable Laboratory Animal Diet, PMI Nutrition
Water: Clean acidified water (pH 2.5-3.0 to prevent infection by Pseudomonas species); changed weekly.
Bedding: Wood chip bedding. Additive bedding used to keep the cage dry made from alpha cellulose (SSP).
Cage Type, Distributor, Material, Size: Clear Acrylic Duplex Boxes: Individual housing units for mice. Duplex II Mouse Cage, Thoren Caging Systems, Inc., Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Husbandry: Cage change occurs once a week and is not performed on the same day as testing. The cages are changed on the same day every week. In the current protocol cages are changed on Fridays of each week.
Cage Density: 1
Cage Enrichment: Nestlet (Ancare Corp, Mellmore NY.) and Shepherd Dome Shack (Animal Specialties and Provisions, LLC Quakertown, PA)
Light / Dark Cycle: 12:12h
Health Status and Monitoring: Welfare Checks are performed by Animal Care Technicians to ensure the health and wellbeing of the subjects.
Subject Identification: Ear punch
Additional Notes: Metal tongs used to handle mouse transfers; Spor-Klenz working solution used to sterilize forceps between animals. See Reversal Learning for exceptions on diet.