Rats or Mice
Hi,
For my science project, i am doing an experiment on rats or mice. Lets say i do it on rats for now. I get 3 rats, and put them in 3 differant cages. I feed Rat #1 normal Rat food, and give him normal excersize. I give Rat #2 a High Fat diet, and give him loads of toys, a wheel ect. Rat #3 is feed a high energy food, and is in a plain cage, nothing else whatsoever. I note behaviours each day, and weigh them every 4 days.
I have cheaked with both my local vet, and my science teacher, and it is NOT animal cruelty. My vet is really keen to see the results (And i am happy she is, cause i want to be a vet). Should I use Mice or Rats?
Rats are intelligent, and are more like humans... But they are expensive, and i have never owned one befoure. Mice are cheap, and i already own 2 (Which are in a massive cage, big enough to house 10 mice comfortably).
Any help will be apresheated!
Sam
Answers:Your vet is apparently not all too experienced with rat and mouse care... First major ethical issue: How long were you planning on conducting this experiment? If you want to study the effect of food intake, it's going to have to be more than a few weeks. Both rats and mice are highly social animal species and should be kept in a minimum of same-sex pairs. (This applies to rats of both sexes, and female mice. For male mice it depends on the mice, some will start fighting as they get older and will kill each other if not separated.)