Adapting Rats To Apparatus

Now that your animals are food deprived, they are ready to be adapted to the apparatus. There are two goals for adaptation- 1) to habituate your rats to the maze and its surroundings so they become relaxed enough to eat food pellets on the maze; 2) to learn to run down the arms to eat the food. The food they will be eating on the maze are called Noyes pellets. By using them we have precise control over the amount of food the rat is eating on the maze.

The adaptation process is divided into stages, listed below. Use the following guidelines as you work through the stages.

• Work with your animals for a maximum of 1 hour per day.
• Immediately after a session, give your rats its regular ration of food to maintain its weight.
• Work with animals only if they have been food deprived for 23 hours.
• You can work through multiple stages on one day.
• Let me or laboratory assistants know if rats do not get past stage 1 after two days
• Place a report of your rats progress for each day in the R:drive WORK DIRECTORY so that the laboratory assistants can keep tabs on your rat’s progress. The laboratory assistants will inform me if you are not submitting daily records to the Work directory
• Continue to put your animal’s weight data in the weight chart.
• Keep G-24 quiet. No visitors until rats are shaped. Distractions will disrupt adaptation.
• As soon as rats complete stages, give them a day off with ample food. Recalculate their deprivation weight after the free food day.
• Have your rats ready to go for the February 7-8 labs.

Stage 1: Distribute 15 pellets in center of maze. Rats have to eat all 15.

Stage 2: Distribute 4 pellets at the entrance of each of the arms that we will be using.

Rats have to find and eat all 16 pellets. Repeat.

Stage 3: Block all arms but one. Place 4 pellets 1/3 of way down arm. Rats have to eat all

4 pellets. Repeat. Use same procedure for all 4 arms.

Stage 4: Same as Stage 3 put pellets are placed 2/3 of way down arm.

Stage 5: Same as 3 and 4 but pellets are placed in food well at end of arm.