Hostname: page-component-5db58dd55d-pjp64 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-06-15T09:29:23.689Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An examination of nest-building behaviour using five different nesting materials in C57BL/6J and BALB/c mice

Part of: Lab Animals Collection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

B Obermueller ,
C Castellani ,
H Till ,
B Reininger-Gutmann  and
G Singer
B Obermueller
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Research, Medical University of Graz, Roseggerweg 48, 8036 Graz, Austria Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Surgery, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 34, 8036 Graz, Austria
C Castellani*
Affiliation:
Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Surgery, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 34, 8036 Graz, Austria
H Till
Affiliation:
Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Surgery, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 34, 8036 Graz, Austria
B Reininger-Gutmann
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Research, Medical University of Graz, Roseggerweg 48, 8036 Graz, Austria
G Singer
Affiliation:
Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Surgery, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 34, 8036 Graz, Austria
*
* Contact for correspondence: christoph.castellani@medunigraz.at
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the 'Save PDF' action button.

The aim of our study was to assess the nest-building behaviour of two mouse (Mus musculus) strains using different nesting materials and examine possible sex- and housing-specific effects. Adult mice of two strains (C57BL/6J; n = 64 and BALB/cAnNCrl; n = 99) were randomly allocated to the following housing groups: single-housed male, single-housed female, pair-housed male and pair-housed female. One of the following nest-building materials was placed in each home-cage in a random order: nestlets (Plexx BV, The Netherlands), cocoons (Carfil, Belgium), wooden wool, crinklets and compact (all three, Safe, Germany). The following day, nests were rated applying a nest-scoring scale ranging from 0 to 10, the nests were removed, and a different nest-building material provided. In both tested strains, nestlets achieved the highest nest-building scores when compared to the other four nest-building materials. All nest-building materials scored higher in BALB/c mice compared to C57BL/6J animals reaching statistical significance in crinklets only. Sex comparison revealed that female C57BL/6J mice only scored significantly higher using crinklets than males and BALB/c female mice were rated significantly higher using wooden wool, cocoons and compact than their male counterparts. While pair-housed C57BL/6J animals built higher-rated nests than single-housed mice in the C57BL/6J strain in all five materials tested, the scores were not significantly different in the BALB/c strain. Results of the present study reveal significant strain-, sex- and housing-related influences on the complexity of nests using different standardised building materials. Such observations need to be taken into account when planning the optimal enrichment programme for laboratory animals.

Keywords

animal welfarebehaviourenrichmentlaboratory micenest buildingnest-building materials

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 30 , Issue 4 , November 2021 , pp. 467 - 477
Copyright
© 2021 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

References

Andre, V, Gau, C, Scheideler, A, Aguilar-Pimentel, JA, Amarie, OV, Becker, L, Garrett, L, Hans, W, Holter, SM, Janik, D, Moreth, K, Neff, F, Ostereicher, M, Racz, I, Rathkolb, B, Rozman, J, Bekeredjian, R, Graw, J, Klingenspor, M, Klopstock, T, Ollert, M, Schmidt-Weber, C, Wolf, E, Wurst, W, Gailus-Durner, V, Brielmeier, M, Fuchs, H and Hrabe de Angelis, M 2018 Laboratory mouse housing conditions can be improved using common environmental enrichment without com-promising data. Public Library of Science Biology 16: e2005019. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2005019Google ScholarPubMed
Aske, KC and Waugh, CA 2017 Expanding the 3R principles: More rigour and transparency in research using animals. European Molecular Biology Organisation Reports 18: 1490–1492. https://doi.org/10.15252/embr.201744428Google ScholarPubMed
Aujnarain, AB, Luo, OD, Taylor, N, Lai, JKY and Foster, JA 2018 Effects of exercise and enrichment on behaviour in CD-1 mice. Behavioural Brain Research 342: 43–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2018.01.007CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bailoo, JD, Murphy, E, Boada-Sana, M, Varholick, JA, Hintze, S, Baussiere, C, Hahn, KC, Gopfert, C, Palme, R, Voelkl, B and Wurbel, H 2018 Effects of cage enrichment on behavior, wel-fare and outcome variability in female mice. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 12: 232. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00232CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumans, V 2005 Environmental enrichment for laboratory rodents and rabbits: requirements of rodents, rabbits, and research. Institute for Laboratory Research Journal 46: 162–170. https://doi.org/10.1093/ilar.46.2.162Google ScholarPubMed
Bayne, K 2018 Environmental enrichment and mouse models: Current perspectives. Animal Models and Experimental Medicine 1: 82–90. https://doi.org/10.1002/ame2.12015Google ScholarPubMed
Bayne, K and Wurbel, H 2014 The impact of environmental enrichment on the outcome variability and scientific validity of laboratory animal studies. Revue Scientifique et Technique 33: 273–280. https://doi.org/10.20506/rst.33.1.2282CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Benn, DM 1995 Innovations in research animal care. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 206: 465–468Google ScholarPubMed
Bult, A and Lynch, CB 1997 Nesting and fitness: lifetime reproductive success in house mice bidirectionally selected for thermoregulatory nest-building behavior. Behavior Genetics 27: 231–240CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Deacon, RM 2006 Assessing nest building in mice. Nature Protocols 1: 1117–1119. https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2006.170CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
European Union 2010 Directive 2010/63/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council. EU: Brussels, BelgiumGoogle Scholar
Garthe, A, Roeder, I and Kempermann, G 2016 Mice in an enriched environment learn more flexibly because of adult hip-pocampal neurogenesis. Hippocampus 26: 261–271. https://doi.org/10.1002/hipo.22520CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaskill, BN, Gordon, CJ, Pajor, EA, Lucas, JR, Davis, JK and Garner, JP 2012 Heat or insulation: behavioral titration of mouse preference for warmth or access to a nest. Public Library of Science One 7: e32799. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0032799Google ScholarPubMed
Goto, T, Okayama, T and Toyoda, A 2015 Strain differences in temporal changes of nesting behaviors in C57BL/6N, DBA/2N, and their F1 hybrid mice assessed by a three-dimensional monitoring system. Behavioural Processes 119: 86–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2015.07.007CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hess, SE, Rohr, S, Dufour, BD, Gaskill, BN, Pajor, EA and Garner, JP 2008 Home improvement: C57BL/6J mice given more naturalistic nesting materials build better nests. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 47: 25–31Google ScholarPubMed
Jirkof, P, Cesarovic, N, Rettich, A, Fleischmann, T and Arras, M 2012 Individual housing of female mice: influence on postsurgi-cal behaviour and recovery. Laboratory Animals 46: 325–334. https://doi.org/10.1258/la.2012.012027CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jirkof, P, Fleischmann, T, Cesarovic, N, Rettich, A, Vogel, J and Arras, M 2013 Assessment of postsurgical distress and pain in lab-oratory mice by nest complexity scoring. Laboratory Animals 47: 153–161. https://doi.org/10.1177/0023677213475603CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaliste, EK, Mering, SM and Huuskonen, HK 2006 Environmental modification and agonistic behavior in NIH/S male mice: nesting material enhances fighting but shelters prevent it. Comparative Medicine 56: 202–208Google Scholar
Keisala, T, Minasyan, A, Jarvelin, U, Wang, J, Hamalainen, T, Kalueff, AV and Tuohimaa, P 2007 Aberrant nest building and prolactin secretion in vitamin D receptor mutant mice. Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biolology 104: 269–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsbmb.2007.03.031CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kim, MJ, Han, KH, Yum, MS and Lee, PCW 2019 Early-stage paired housing improves social interaction in neuronal Uba6-defi-cient mice. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Commununications 514: 545–549. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2019.04.167CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koo, TK and Li, MY 2016 A guideline of selecting and reporting intraclass correlation coefficients for reliability research. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine 15: 155–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcm.2016.02.012CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Latham, N and Mason, G 2004 From house mouse to mouse house: the behavioural biology of free-living Mus musculus and its implications in the laboratory. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 86: 261–289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2004.02.006CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lijam, N, Paylor, R, McDonald, MP, Crawley, JN, Deng, CX, Herrup, K, Stevens, KE, Maccaferri, G, McBain, CJ, Sussman, DJ and Wynshaw-Boris, A 1997 Social interaction and sensori-motor gating abnormalities in mice lacking Dvl1. Cell 90: 895–905. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-8674(00)80354-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCrum-Gardner, E 2008 Which is the correct statistical test to use? British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery 46: 38–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjoms.2007.09.002CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Research Council 2011 Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. NRC: Washington, DC, USAGoogle Scholar
Olsson, IA and Dahlborn, K 2002 Improving housing conditions for laboratory mice: a review of ‘environmental enrichment.’ Laboratory Animals 36: 243–270. https://doi.org/10.1258/002367702320162379CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schander, JA, Aisemberg, J, Correa, F, Wolfson, ML, Juriol, L, Cymeryng, C, Jensen, F and Franchi, AM 2020 The enrichment of maternal environment prevents pre-term birth in a mice model. Reproduction 159: 479–492. https://doi.org/10.1530/REP-19-0572CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwabe, K, Boldt, L, Bleich, A, van Dijk, RM, Helgers, SOA, Hager, C, Nowakowska, M, Riedesel, AK, Schonhoff, K, Struve, B, Wittek, J and Potschka, H 2020 Nest-building per-formance in rats: impact of vendor, experience, and sex. Laboratory Animals 54: 17–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/0023677219862004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sherwin, CM 1997 Observations on the prevalence of nest-building in non-breeding TO strain mice and their use of two nesting materials. Laboratory Animals 31: 125–132. https://doi.org/10.1258/002367797780600134CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Suemaru, K, Yoshikawa, M, Aso, H and Watanabe, M 2018 Environmental enrichment alleviates cognitive and behavioral impairments in EL mice. Epilepsy Behaviour 85: 227–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2018.06.016CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van de Weerd, HA, Baumans, V, Koolhaas, JM and Van Zutphen, LF 1994 Strain specific behavioural response to environmental enrich-ment in the mouse. Journal of Experimental Animal Science 36: 117–127Google Scholar
Van de Weerd, HA, Van Loo, PL, Van Zutphen, LF, Koolhaas, JM and Baumans, V 1997 Preferences for nesting material as environmental enrichment for laboratory mice. Laboratory Animals 31: 133–143. https://doi.org/10.1258/002367797780600152CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Loo, PL and Baumans, V 2004 The importance of learning young: the use of nesting material in laboratory rats. Laboratory Animals 38: 17–24. https://doi.org/10.1258/00236770460734353Google Scholar
Van Oortmerssen, GA 1971 Biological significance, genetics and evolutionary origin of variability in behaviour within and between inbred strains of mice (Mus musculus). A behaviour genetic study. Behaviour 38: 1–92. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853971X00014CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wirz, A, Mandillo, S, D’Amato, FR, Giuliani, A and Riviello, MC 2015 Response, use and habituation to a mouse house in C57BL/6J and BALB/c mice. Experimental Animals 64: 281–293. https://doi.org/10.1538/expanim.14-0104CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolfer, DP, Litvin, O, Morf, S, Nitsch, RM, Lipp, HP and Wurbel, H 2004 Laboratory animal welfare: cage enrichment and mouse behaviour. Nature 432: 821–822. https://doi.org/10.1038/432821aCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Würbel, H and Garner, J 2007 Refinement of rodent research through environmental enrichment and systematic randomization. The National Centre for the 3Rs 9: 1–9Google Scholar
Xiong, XD, Xiong, WD, Xiong, SS and Chen, GH 2018 Age- and gender-based differences in nest-building behavior and learning and memory performance measured using a radial six-armed water maze in C57BL/6 mice. Behavioural Neurology 2018: 8728415CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Obermueller et al. supplementary material
Download undefined(File)
File 2.2 MB
Supplementary material: File

Obermueller et al. supplementary material
Download undefined(File)
File 499.9 KB