Assessment of the use of two commercially available environmental enrichments by laboratory mice by preference testing

In the field of biomedical research, the demand for standardization of environmental enrichment for laboratory animals is growing. For laboratory mice, a wide variety of environmental enrichment items are commercially available. Most of these comply with the demands for standardization, hygiene and ergonomics. Whether these items also comply with their actual purpose, to enhance the well-being of the mice, is often not assessed scientifically. In this study, we tested the preference of mice for two commercially available nest boxes differing in shape and material: the Shepherd Shack/DesRes (SS/DR) and the Tecniplast Mouse House (TMH), in a simple preference test. To indicate strength of preference, both nest boxes were also tested against a highly preferred nesting material. Preference for the most preferred nest box was investigated further. Our results indicated a strong preference by mice for the SS/DR, but not for the TMH. Furthermore, nesting material was almost always combined with the SS/DR, but not with the TMH. More elaborate testing of the SS/DR in an automated preference test system confirmed that mice spent significantly more time in a cage in which an SS/DR is provided. Differences between both nest boxes are discussed with regard to their attractiveness to mice. It is also argued that enrichment should primarily be developed in concordance with the animals' needs prior to the marketing of enrichment tools.