Effects of Different Resource Distribution on Behaviour and Corticosterone Level of Male Mice (Mus Musculus)

Animals housed in a cage with clustered environmental enrichments may deal with higher aggression when they have to compete for depleting resources. In this study, the effects of the way environmental enrichments distributed between individuals were investigated. Sixteen adult male mice (Mus musculus) were housed in four different treatments with manipulation in terms of food choices availability and distribution of resources. Each male was observed for their aggressive and stereotypic behaviours for seven minutes twice a day for five days. The faeces were also collected after each treatment for measuring the corticosterone level in order to indicate the stress level of the mice. The results showed reduced aggression (p<0.05), stereotypic behaviour (p<0.05) and corticosterone level (p<0.05) in both dispersed environment and food available environment compared to the clustered environment as well as in the environment where the food choices were not available. From the results, it can be suggested that resources are better arranged in a dispersed way, so that the resources are easier to be shared. Thus, with lesser aggression and stereotypic behaviour, the welfare of the laboratory mice can be improved and easily managed.