ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on existing scientific literature and a few personal anecdotes to illustrate key features of a rat-centric laboratory environment. When attempting to design species-appropriate captive environments, we must be careful to consider who the animals are, rather than who we assume them to be. Rats emerge from their burrows soon after waking up to forage, socialize, patrol their territory, or explore new grounds. There is evidence that rats are motivated to engage in physical activity for its own sake. Rats enter a “stress hyporesponsive period,” characterized by low baseline glucocorticoid levels and a reduced response to stressors, between approximately postnatal day four and postnatal day fourteen. Indeed, it has more recently been discovered that the most effective way to socialize some rats to humans may be to “tickle” them. Keeping rats in these conditions minimizes their experience of negative emotional states and gives them opportunities to experience positive emotional states.
