,

1. Laboratory animal science
Housing and Caging
Dr. Esam Qnais
Biology Dept.
The Hashemite University

2. Animal house
• Location
• 1- Should be free of noise and separated from
industrial smoke, fumes or other pollutants
• 2- Protected from wild animals
• 3- Separated from chemical laboratory
• 4- A Location which provides for ease in
delivery of supplies, delivery and removal of
animals and removal of wastes is important

3. Construction materials
• Durable and non-absorbent are preferable and
essentially necessary
- Ceramic and plastic covering materials  ok
- Wood  no
- Floors should be sloped and be provided with
floor drains for gravity removal of waste water.

4. Room required
• One or more rooms for each species
• Isolation room
• Quarantine room
• Cage washing and sterilizing
• Storage for feed
• Storage for bedding material and miscellaneous
items
• Diet preparation
• Toilet and shower facilities
• office

5. Location and arrangement of rooms
• Clean and dirty areas should be separated
from animal rooms

6. General construction guidelines
• Corridors should be at least 7 feet wide
• Animal room doors should open into rooms
• All doors should be of sufficient size
• Metal or metal covered doors are preferable and
should be sealed sufficiently to prevent entrance
of insects
• Doors should be self closing
• Exterior windows are not needed if adequate
light and ventilation are provided

7. Environmental control
• Suitable animal housing requires attention to
• 1- macro –environment (within animal room)
• 2- micro-environment (within cage)

8. Animal cages
• Design must be consider comfort of animal
• Must be secure
• Easy observation of the animals without
opening cage
• Minimize air-borne diseases (cages without
lateral ventilation)
• Easy cleaning (rounded corners)
• Easy access to water and feed

9. Types of cages
• 1- Shoe box or solid floor type
• 2- Wire grid floor design (better sanitation and
prevent coprophagy)
• 3- Squeeze cage
• 4- Transport or carrying cages
• 5- Training cages
• 6- Metabolism cages (to collect excreta and to
separate urine and feces)

10. Wire grid floor design
Shoe box or solid floor type
Metabolic cages

11. Construction materials
• Stainless steel, galvanized metal and various
plastics are the primary materials used for
fabrication of cages.
• Plastic should stand heat during sterilization
POLYPROPYLENE CAGE
POLYCARBONATE CAGE
METAL CAGE (S.S)

27. Metabolic cages

29. Collection of excreta and wastes
• Wire floor  absorbent material or flow of
water
• A) shallow pan
• B) roll of paper
• C) flow of water below cages
• Solid bottoms bedding materials

31. Methods of caging
• Rabbit and hamsters usually be housed
individually
• Adults males are likely to fight
• Rabbit  wire floor
• Guinea pigs, Mice and hamsters solid floor
•

32. Feeding
• A diet should be as pellets
• In most cases, Feed are supplied ad libitum and
thus are present in cages continuously
• Feeding device
• A) provide clean feed, readily accessible to
animals
• B) prevent or minimize wastage
• C) prevent or minimize contamination
• D) be easily cleaned and sterilized

33. Feeding device
• Wire baskets
• Bowl

34. Water devices
• Inverted bottle
• Open bowl or cup
• Automatic waterers
• Watering devices, such as drinking tubes and
automated water delivery systems, should be
checked frequently to ensure appropriate
maintenance, cleanliness, and operation.

38. Bedding for laboratory animals
• The absorbent materials used within cages or underneath wire floor
cages to collect excreta is referred to as animal bedding
• Direct bedding
• Indirect bedding
• Bedding should be
• 1- highly absorbent 2- Free of dust 3-Easily removed
• 4- free of objectionable odors 5- able to neutralize odors and
ammonia 6- nonedible 7- Inexpensive and readily available
• 8- Nontoxic 9- Nonfermentable 10- Free of insects and vermin
• 11- should be transported and stored off the floor on pallets, racks,
or carts
• Manufacturing, monitoring, and storage methods used by vendors
should be considered when purchasing bedding products

39. • The following products may be used as bedding
• 1- wood shaving
• 2- Ground corn cobs
• 3- Shredded paper
• 4- Certain plant fibers
• 5- Cotton batting and certain other cotton waste
• Bedding may be sterilized and given other
treatments if required
• Layer of 1.5-3.5 cm is satisfactory for small
animals
• Frequency of change  daily or but may be
extended under some conditions

40. Anesthetic Agents for Laboratory
Drugs (mg/kg) Mouse Rat Guinea pig Rabbit Monkey
Ketamine Hcl 22-24 IM 22-24 IM 22-24 IM 22-24 IM 22-24 IM
Pentabarbitone sodium 35 IV 50 IP 25 IV 50 IP 30 IV 40 IP 30 IV 40 IP 35 IV
Thiopentone Sodium 25 IV 50 IP 20 IV 40 IP 20 IV 55 IP 20 IV 25 IV 60 IP
Urethane – NO 0.75 IP 1.5 IP 1.0 IV,IP 1.0 IV
IM-Intramuscular IV – Intravenous IP – Intraperitoneal

41. Diet composition for Rodents: Rat,
Mice, Hamster
1. Wheat flour : 22% 2. Roaster Bengal gram
flour : 60% 3. Ground nut flour : 10%
4. Skim milk powder : 5% 5. Casein : 4% 6.
Refined oil : 4% 7. Salt mixture with starch :
4.8% 8. Vitamins &choline mixture with starch :
0.2%

42. Diet composition for monkeys, Rabbits
& Guinea pigs
1. Wheat flour : 61% 2. Roaster Bengal gram
flour : 28% 3. Casein : 1% 4. Refined oil : 5% 5.
Salt mixture with starch : 4.8% 6. Vitamin &
choline mixture with starch : 0.2% 7. Vitamin C :
50 mg/100 g diet

44. SMALL SIZE ANIMAL OPERATING TABLE

46. •
Laboratory Animal
care

47. Reception
Each new shipment of laboratory animals should be
received, examined and placed in clean cages at a
quarantine room. Shipping containers should not
enter the main facility and should either be
incinerated, incoming animals should be identified
and their arrival appropriately recorded. The name
of the supplier of each shipment should be noted,
along with pertinent observations on the quality
and condition of the animals he has supplied.
Animals that appear sick should be euthanized
without delay.

48. Cleaning of animal house
All cages, pens, racks etc. must be thoroughly
cleaned and disinfected before reuse. As a
general rule, the animal house should be
cleaned every day or alternative day. Animal
cages are most efficiently cleaned and sanitized
with mechanical washing equipment operating
at 83oC (180oF) or higher, for a minimum of ten
minutes

49. Waste Disposal
Dead animals, animal tissue excreta, bedding, unused
diet etc. should be collected with care an in leak proof
metal or plastic containers and incinerated. Waste which
cannot be rapidly disposed of should be stored in a hold
storage area provided for that purpose. Such areas must
be vermin free, easily cleaned and disinfected as well as
been physically separated from other storage facilities.
Dead animals should be properly identified, placed in
disposable plastic bags and immediately incinerated upon
discovery, installing an incineration facility for the
disposal of pathological and animal wastes should be
planned for animal house well in advance during civil and
electrical construction

50. Vermin Control
A properly construction building should be vermin proof,
but may not be free from vermin. Vermin enter on feed,
bedding, man and laboratory animals. Insects and
arthropods thus introduce may act as the intermediate
hosts of certain parasites and may also mechanically
transmit certain other infections. Wild rodents may
transmit a wide variety of bacteria, viruses, and parasites
to the housed species. New facilities should be checked
critically for vermin before any animals are moved in.
training of personnel, good waste disposal, sealing or
eliminating breeding sites, extermination through
pesticides or trapping, and the recovery of all animals. It
is important that pesticides should be applied only under
supervision.