Reduction of fluid intake in the guineapig as a measure of adaptability to new housing conditions.

Abstract

Adult male guineapigs transferred from colony housing with access to water bottles with a 1.4 mm (inner diameter) spout to individual metabolic cages with access to water from water bottles with a 0.7 mm spout reduce their fluid intake and body weight considerably during the 2-day experimental period. When bottles with a reduced spout were replaced by easily attainable water cups, animals show a drastic increase of fluid intake within one day. These results show that new housing conditions, e.g., the combination of novel environment and reduced spout size, strongly reduce fluid intake. As a consequence, animals reduce food intake as well as body weight.