Are the effects of different enrichment designs on the physiology and behaviour of DBA/2 mice consistent?
Environmental enrichment is intended to improve the well-being of laboratory animals. Although many researchers have indicated that environmental enrichment may enhance animal well-being, there is some evidence that enrichment differs in its effects on physiology and behaviour between species and strains. The present study focuses on the effects of different enrichment designs on the physiology and behaviour of male and female DBA/2 mice. A total of 48 DBA/2J mice, 24 males and 24 females were used for this experiment. Upon arrival at about 3 weeks of age, the animals were randomly allotted to three experimental groups: NE, non-enrichment; E1, enriched with nest box, wooden climbing bar and nest material according to Scharmann (1993); E2, enriched with horizontal and vertical dividers, modified from Haemisch and Gärtner (1994). Same-sex groups of four mice were housed for 12 weeks in type III Makrolon cages with (E1 or E2) or without (NE) enrichment objects. Behavioural performance (Op
