Behavioral Patterns of Laboratory Mongolian Gerbils by Sex and Housing Condition: a Case Study with an Emphasis on Sleeping Patterns
Journal of Veterinary Behavior 30 (2019) 69e79 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Veterinary Behavior journal homepage: www.journalvetbehavior.com Small Mammal Research Behavioral patterns of laboratory Mongolian gerbils by sex and housing condition: a case study with an emphasis on sleeping patterns Camilo Hurtado-Parrado, PhD a,b,*, Ángelo Cardona-Zea, BSc b, Mónica Arias-Higuera, BSc b, Julián Cifuentes, BSc b, Alejandra Muñoz, MSc b, Javier L. Rico, PhD b, Cesar Acevedo-Triana, MSc c a Department of Psychology, Troy University, Troy, AL, USA b Faculty of Psychology, Fundación Universitaria Konrad Lorenz, Bogotá DC, Colombia c School of Psychology, Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia, Tunja, Colombia article info abstract Article history: The behavioral patterns of Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) housed individually and in same- Received 10 September 2018 sex groups (siblings) were characterized. Gerbils were continuously video-recorded 24 hours (day 1) and Accepted 7 December 2018 120 hours (day 5) after housing conditions were established (no environmental enrichment was Available online 13 December 2018 implemented). Video samples totaling 2016 minutes were scored to obtain measures of maintenance (drinking, sleeping, grooming, and eating), locomotor (jumping and rearing), communication (foot Keywords: stomping), and stereotyped behaviors (gnawing bar and digging), which were compared across housing case study conditions and sex. Irrespective of sex or housing, gerbils dedicated between 65 and 75% of the day to Mongolian gerbil Meriones unguiculatus maintenance behaviors; more than 50% of this time was dedicated to sleep. Time allocated to other d d housing conditions behavioral states for example, bar gnawing, digging, and eating remained below 5% of the observation captivity time.
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