How do we study this?
With rats.
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| Harlan Sprague-Dawley rats, to be specific |
Getting comfortable around the rats was one of the first orders of business (after I got certified to handle them, of course) when I arrived in North Carolina. After just a few days, I was put on the official rotation and given my own rats, for which I am responsible for feeding and running experiments.
My day has a pretty regular routine:
- 8:30 Arrive at work
- 8:35 Set up olfactometers
- 9:00 - 12:00 Running four squads of rats in olfactometers (each squad for approx. 45 minutes)
- 12:00 - 1:00 Lunch time!
- 1:00 - 3:00 Run my three rats in the arena
- 3:00 - 4:00 Prepare for lab meeting / dilly-dally
- 4:00 - 5:00 Lab meeting / continue dilly-dallying
I won't lie to you, sometimes there is quiet a bit of dilly-dallying. (Including the wait times for when I'm waiting on the olfactometers.) (How do you think I have the time to write this post right now?)
It's been interesting trying to learn the psychology of the rats. I know there is one line that was ordered from a different supplier, and those rats are a bit more aggressive. Last week, I was trying to take one of them out of the olfactometer, and it just went totally crazy on me. He tried to bite my hand and immediately tried to crawl out to escape. It's strange because Sprague-Dawley rats were specifically bred to be docile, the opposite of aggressive, really. So why did this guy madly want freedom? I was so startled by his rebellion that I actually yelped in surprise. (I start easily.) I was embarrassed but secretly hoping someone heard me and would come to my rescue. The lab tech did and thank goodness.
The roster has now been changed so I don't have to deal with these strangely aggressive rats, only the nice ones. I was having a good time with my rats except...
... this week, my absolute favorite rat to work with has been acting up. He is my first rat of the day, and he's so nice and soft and loving. He doesn't protest at all when I pick him up and he lets me pet him to my heart's content.
But on Tuesday, when I went to go get him, he was all turning around and trying to nip at my hand. (He actually got my glove at one point, just a little bit.)
What the what? Why?
My favorite rat. Gone over to the dark side.
Maybe it's because these rats aren't used to Asians... no Asians in this town who don't staff restaurants, as far as I can tell...
OH! But bright side is that my slowest rat who wasn't doing anything because he wasn't hungry enough to be motivated is finally caught up with my other rats. I felt bad doing it, but starving him for about a week finally got him motivated enough.
But my smartest rat is starting to get smart in a sassy way. Have I been starving him? He's so skinny now, but I don't know. :(
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| Sneaky little devils trying to revolt and escape... |
The roster has now been changed so I don't have to deal with these strangely aggressive rats, only the nice ones. I was having a good time with my rats except...
... this week, my absolute favorite rat to work with has been acting up. He is my first rat of the day, and he's so nice and soft and loving. He doesn't protest at all when I pick him up and he lets me pet him to my heart's content.
But on Tuesday, when I went to go get him, he was all turning around and trying to nip at my hand. (He actually got my glove at one point, just a little bit.)
What the what? Why?
My favorite rat. Gone over to the dark side.
Maybe it's because these rats aren't used to Asians... no Asians in this town who don't staff restaurants, as far as I can tell...
OH! But bright side is that my slowest rat who wasn't doing anything because he wasn't hungry enough to be motivated is finally caught up with my other rats. I felt bad doing it, but starving him for about a week finally got him motivated enough.
But my smartest rat is starting to get smart in a sassy way. Have I been starving him? He's so skinny now, but I don't know. :(
Ahhh! it's great to know so much about your research. I don't let myself pet the mice or rats I work with because I know I'll get instantly attached and get more upset than I already do about the things that have to happen to them in order to get data for my research.
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