Our Sociability Apparatus consists of a 3-chambered cage, with grey opaque walls, a special non-reflective grey-colored floor and 2 grid enclosures.
Many authors have shown that a 3 chambered box can be used to test, among the others:
- Social Novelty Preference
- Sociability
- Dominance
- Mum-Pup interaction
After a period of habituation the subject sociability is determined by measuring the time spent by the freely-moving subject in the proximity of the grid enclosures containing the first stranger mouse or rat. A second stranger is then introduced in the box within its enclosure and the preference for the new mouse/rat be easily assessed.
The stranger cage construction, allows the animmals to interact closely; the standard enclosures for mice are 15cm tall with an I.D. of 7cm: a larger model is also available, I.D. 10.5cm, 18.5cm tall). The top and the bottom are made of grey (46503- 003) or white (46503-013) PVC. The grid bars have a diameter of 3mm and are spaced 7mm. In the Rat version, the enclosures are 25cm tall, with an I.D. of 15cm; a cone-shaped lid disencourages the free rat to climb over the stranger cage.
The 46553 Mouse Cage perimetral walls and internal partitions of grey opaque PVC form a 3 compartment box, each 20x40x22(h)cm; two sliding doors (5x8(h)cm), opening on the central compartment, can be closed to confine the animal. Model 46503 with transparent walls is also available: the clear Perspex is ideal for visual observation of the experiment or for side positioning of the video-camera.
Dimensions of the 46502 and 46552 Rat Cage are 120x40x40(h)cm, hence each of the three compartments is 40x40cm. XL versions (respectively 46512 and 56562) are also available 120x80x40(h)cm, in which each compartment is 80x40cm.
Partitions can be easily removed for cleaning (or replaced with transparent ones, if preferred). Transparent lids can be ordered as optional.