Department of Animal Physiology and Neurobiology, Faculty of Biological and Veterinary Sciences, Nicolaus Copernicus University, ul. Lwowska 1, 87‑100, Toruń, Poland.
Department of Vertebrate Zoology and Ecology, Faculty of Biological and Veterinary Sciences, Nicolaus Copernicus University, ul. Lwowska 1, 87‑100, Toruń, Poland.
J Comp Physiol B. 2022 Jul;192(3-4):513-526. doi: 10.1007/s00360-022-01434-9. Epub 2022 Mar 29.
Proper housing conditions are important aspects of animal welfare. Animals housed in enriched environments show less stereotypic behaviours than animals kept in barren cages. However, different types of cage enrichment may affect the results of experimental studies and hinder comparative analyses of animal physiology and behaviour. We investigated whether access to a running wheel, availability of nesting material, and pair housing affect basal metabolic rate (BMR) of Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) under various acclimation conditions. We used 70 adult hamsters (35 males and 35 females) divided into five groups housed under different cage conditions. All individuals experienced the same acclimation procedure: first a winter (L8:D16) then a summer (L16:D8) photoperiod, at air temperatures of first 20 °C then 7 °C under both photoperiods. We found that nesting material and pair housing did not affect hamster BMR, while access to a running wheel increased BMR and body mass regardless of photoperiod and ambient temperature. Thus, we suggest that cage enrichment should be applied with caution, especially in studies on energetics or thermoregulation, particularly in seasonal animals.
适宜的住房条件是动物福利的重要方面。饲养在丰富环境中的动物比饲养在贫瘠笼子中的动物表现出更少的刻板行为。然而，不同类型的笼舍丰容可能会影响实验研究的结果，并阻碍动物生理学和行为的比较分析。我们研究了在不同适应条件下，是否可以通过提供跑轮、筑巢材料和配对饲养来影响西伯利亚仓鼠（Phodopus sungorus）的基础代谢率（BMR）。我们使用了 70 只成年仓鼠（雄性 35 只，雌性 35 只），将其分为五组，每组的笼舍条件不同。所有个体都经历了相同的适应程序：先是冬季（L8:D16），然后是夏季（L16:D8）的光照周期，在光照周期下，空气温度先为 20°C，然后为 7°C。我们发现，筑巢材料和配对饲养对仓鼠的 BMR 没有影响，而提供跑轮则会增加 BMR 和体重，而不受光照周期和环境温度的影响。因此，我们建议谨慎应用笼舍丰容，特别是在研究能量学或体温调节时，特别是在季节性动物中。
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