The Use of the Techniplast Mouse House® in Four Strains of Mice

Abstract

To combine the good qualities of a dark shelter with the possibility of the staff to monitor the animals without  disturbing them, a transparent plastic shelter with a red tint has been designed for mice. As the mice do  not see red colours, but perceive them as being grey or dark, this design is thought to provide a dark shelter  for mice. As humans do see red colours, the red transparent material allows for inspection of the animals  while they are inside the shelter. 

However, recent studies and anecdotes seem to indicate a preference in some strains for not using the  red houses. Four strains of mice, C57BL/6/Bkl, Balb/c/Bkl, CBA/BomTac and Bkl:NMRI, were housed  individually with access to a red house as the only shelter. The result showed that there were significant  differences in the time spent in the red house and the number of entries between the strains with NMRI  mice – and to some extent the Balb/c - spending less time and demonstrating a higher number of entries in  the red house than the pigmented strains.