| Environmental factors (unit) | Value |
|---|---|
| Temperature (ºC) | 20-24* |
| Relative humidity (%) | 55 ± 10 |
| Ventilation (air changes/hour) | 10 – 20 |
| Light- darkness (hours) | 12-14 / 12-10 |
| Minimum floor surface cage | 330 |
| Minimum floor surface cage/ animal (cm²) |
60 (0-20 g) 70 (20-25 g) 80 (25-30 g) 100 (> 30 g) |
| Breeding animal with pups (cm²) | 330 |
| Minimum cage height (cm) | 12 |
| Maximum light intensity (measured at cage/animal level, lux) | 60 |
* A higher temperature is required for newborns, animals that are ill or have undergone surgery and specific genetically altered strains (data modified from source: Van Zutphen, L.F.M., Baumans, V. and Beynen, A.C., Principles of Laboratory Animal Science, second edition, Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, 2001).
| General Physiological parameters (unit) | Value |
|---|---|
| Adult weight (g)
|
20-40 (male) 25-40 (female) |
| Lifespan (years) | 1-2 |
| Heart rate resting (per min) | 300-800 |
| Respiration rate resting (per min) | 100-200 |
| Body temperature (ºC) | 36.5- 38.0 |
| Number of chromosomes (2n) | 40 |
| Body surface (cm²) |
36 (20 g) 130 (50 g) 260 (125 g) |
| Water intake (ml/100 g/day) | 15 |
| Sexual maturity (weeks) | 5 (male and female) |
| Breeding age (weeks) | 8-10 (male and female) |
| Estrous cycle (days) | 4 (2-9) |
| Duration estrous (hours) | 14 |
| Gestation (days) | 19 (18-21) |
| Litter size | 6-12 |
| Birth weight (g) | 0.5- 1.5 |
| Weaning weight (g) and weaning age (days) | 10 and 21-28 |
| Blood values (unit) | Value |
|---|---|
| Blood volume (ml/kg) | 76-80 |
| hemoglobin (g/100ml) | 10-17 |
| hematocrit (vol %) | 39-49 |
| Leukocytes (×1000/mm³) | 5-12 |
| Glucose (mg/100ml) | 124-262 |
