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Cited by 71Animal Behavior and Welfare StudiesAnimal testing and alternativesPrimate Behavior and Ecology

The importance of burrowing, climbing and standing upright for laboratory rats

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Makowska, I. Joanna, Weary, Daniel M.·2016·Royal Society Open Science
DOI 10.1098/rsos.160136PMC PMC4929907
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Abstract

Standard laboratory cages prevent rats (Rattus norvegicus) from performing many behaviours that they perform in the wild, but little is known about how this may affect their welfare. The aims of this study were (i) to record the propensity to burrow, climb and stand upright in 3-, 8- and 13-month old laboratory rats housed in semi-naturalistic environments and (ii) to compare the frequency of lateral stretching in semi-naturalistic versus standard-housed rats; we predicted standard-housed rats would perform more lateral stretches to compensate for the inability to stretch upright. Rats' propensity to burrow remained constant as they aged (approx. 30 bouts per day totalling 20–30 min), suggesting burrowing is important to rats. Climbing decreased from 76 to 7 bouts per day at 3 versus 13 months, probably because of declining physical ability. Upright standing decreased from 178 to 73 bouts per day, but continued to be frequently expressed even in older rats. Standard-housed rats stretched much more frequently than semi-naturalistic-housed rats (53 versus 6 bouts per day at 13 months), perhaps in compensation for inability to stretch upright and to relieve stiffness caused by low mobility associated with standard housing. These findings suggest that standard laboratory cages interfere with important natural behaviours, which is likely to compromise rat welfare.

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  • Previous Canadian Council on Animal Care guidelines mandated a minimum cage height that did not allow upright standing for most rats; current guidelines recommend a minimal height equivalent to the nose-to-tail-base distance plus 4 cm, which would allow upright standing.

    “Previous guidelines from the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) mandated a minimum cage height that did not allow upright standing for most rats; however, the current guidelines recommend a minimal height equivalent to the nose-to-tail-base distance plus 4 cm, which would allow upright standing.16,28”

    From Ultrasonic Vocalization Analysis as a Novel Metric to Assess Cage Enrichment in Rats (2022) · cites this paper as [28]

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  • The observed behavior of increased upright standing is consistent with another study that also observed an increase in upright standing in a permissive environment.

    “The observed behavior is consistent with another study that also observed an increase in upright standing in a permissive environment.28”

    From Ultrasonic Vocalization Analysis as a Novel Metric to Assess Cage Enrichment in Rats (2022) · cites this paper as [28]

    The Results (Main study; page unavailable) report frequent upright standing in semi-naturalistic cages, and the Conclusion says standard cages prevented rats from standing upright. The paper does not report an increase in upright standing after a change to a permissive environment; it reports that standing declined as the rats aged. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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  • Rats that have the opportunity will stand upright; when unable to do so, they will stretch laterally more frequently, suggesting that the ability to extend the body is important.

    “Consistent with the implied benefit of increased vertical space, rats that have the opportunity will stand upright; when unable to do so, they will stretch laterally more frequently, suggesting that the ability to extend the body is important.”

    From Ultrasonic Vocalization Analysis as a Novel Metric to Assess Cage Enrichment in Rats (2022) · cites this paper as [28]

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Authors
Makowska, I. J., & Weary, D. M.
Affiliations
University of British Columbia (CA)
Corresponding author
Makowska, I. Joanna
ORCID
Venue
Royal Society Open Science
Publisher
The Royal Society
Published
2016-06
Volume
3
Issue
6
Pages
160136
ISSN
2054-5703 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1098/rsos.160136
PMC
PMC4929907
OpenAlex
W2471802517
Cited by
71
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4
FWCI
8.20
Type
journal article
Language
en
Update notices
correction (2017-01-01)
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Royal Society Open Science (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (F10-05562)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
  • Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal testing and alternatives
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
Keywords
burrowing behavior, climbing behavior, standing, cage enrichment

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