Hamsters

Rats – Care, Feeding, & Physiology

Care and Feeding
	Number of Adults	Number of Young				Cage Dimensions*
						Length		Width	Height
Breeding/Lactation	1 female	8				30 cm		20 cm	20 cm
Growing	10-15					60 cm		50 cm	25 cm
Experimental	Varies according to experiment					Variable

Feeding Recommendations	Daily Feed Usage		Fisher Ad-libitum		Larger Strains** Ad libitum		Water Requirement		Begin Dry Food Consumption
	Adult Male Adult Female Preg. & Lactating Females Growing Male Growing Females		12-15 gm 12-15 gm 30-40 gm 12-15 gm 12-15 gm		20-35 gm 15-25 gm 30-55 gm 15-30 gm 14-22 gm		Ad libitum		12 days

Environmental Data	Room Temp.	Humidity		Light		Litter Material
	21-27 °C	45-55%		12 hrs/day		Shavings, beet pulp, corn cob, commercial bedding

Biological Values
Blood Chemical Composition	Water	Calcium	Sodium	Chloride	Phosphorus	Potassium
Blood Chemical Composition	92-94 gm/100ml	6.2 mEq/L	144 mEq/L	110 mEq/L	5.9 mg/100ml	5.9 mEq/L
Values are for plasma, except where noted	Magnesium	Cholesterol	Glucose	Serum Protein	Albumin	Globulin
Values are for plasma, except where noted	1.6 mg/100ml	28-76 mg/100ml	56-76 mg/100ml (whole blood)	6.3 gm/100ml	3.4-4.3 gm/100ml	1.8-2.5 gm/100ml

Oxygen Consumption and Body Temperature	Observed Weight	Temp- erature	Oxygen Consum- ption	Breathing Rate	Heart Beat Adult	Heart Beat Newborn
Oxygen Consumption and Body Temperature	250 gm	38.2 °C	0.88 mlO₂/gm/hr	94/minute (75-115)	382/minute (261-600)	161/minute (81-241)

Hematological Values	Whole Blood Volume (T-1824 dye)	Clotting Time	RBC Life Span	RBC Diameter	RBC Rate of Sedimentation
	58 ml/kg	20 sec.	45-68 days	6.8 microns	0.7-1.8 mm/hr
	Blood pH	RBC	Hematocrit	Platelets	Hb
	7.35	7.2-9.6 10⁶/mm³	46 ml/100ml	706-796 10³/mm³	14.8 gm/100ml

Total and Differential White Blood Cell Counts	Leucocytes	Neutros	Eosinos	Basos	Lymphos	Monos
Total and Differential White Blood Cell Counts	14.0 10³/mm³	3.1 10³/mm³	0.3 10³/mm³	0.10 10³/mm³	10.2 10³/mm³	0.30 10³/mm³

Life Cycle Information
	Weight Adult Male	Weight Adult Female	Weight at Birth	Breeding Age Male	Breeding Age Female	Estrus Cycle
	300-400 gm	250-300 gm	5-6 gm	100 days 300 gm	100 days 200 gm	5 days
	Gestation	Weaning Age	Litter Size	Rebreed After Parturition	Breeding Life Male	Breeding Life Female
	20-22 days 21 days avg,	21 days 40-50 gm	8-12	Immediately	1 Year	1 Year
	Mating Data: Pair or colony: 1 male, 10 females

*	Refer to the "Guide for the Care and use of Laboratory Animals" - NIH Publication No. 85-23, Revised 1985.
	Prepared by the Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources, National Research Council, 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20418
**	Depends on Strain of rats. Some Investigators restrict the feed of “Sprague Dawley” rats. Levels of 21-22 gr/day for male rats and 16-17 gr/day for female rats are levels of feed restrictions frequently used. See Portion-Controlled Diets

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