ABSTRACT
The retro-orbital bleed is a commonly used method to collect a relatively large volume of blood from the mouse. See the Appendix on page 87 for information on calculating the blood volume and maximum blood sample volume of the mouse. The trainers at the Research Animal Resources Center (RARC) recommend using 10% of the total blood volume as the maximum amount that can be collected at one time. To allow for an adequate recovery period, we further recommend that the maximum amount be withdrawn only once every 2 weeks (based on 10%). Daily samples can be collected as long as the cumulative blood volume does not exceed the calculated maximum over a 7-day period. Anesthesia is required to perform this technique.
