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Cell Biology JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Tickling, a Technique for Inducing Positive Affect When Handling Rats

DOI: 10.3791/57190-v
What you'll learn
  • ✓ Apply standardized tickling technique to handle laboratory rats
  • ✓ Reduce fearful reactions during routine husbandry and medical procedures
  • ✓ Measure positive affective responses using ultrasonic vocalization analysis
Protocol

This article demonstrates the standardized application of playful handling, a tickling technique designed to mimic rat rough-and-tumble play. This technique is effective at reducing fearful reactions to humans and generating positive affect when rats are handled for common husbandry activities and medical and research procedures such as injection.

Difficulty
beginner
Total time
~5-10 min/rat per handling session
Model organism
Rat (species unspecified)
Biosafety
BSL-1

Steps

1
Prepare equipment and handling setup

Gather and arrange all necessary equipment and materials for the tickling procedure. Set up the handling environment according to protocol specifications.

▶ 00:57
2
Perform standardized tickling procedure

Apply playful handling using the tickling technique designed to mimic rat rough-and-tumble play. Execute the technique with consistent methodology to induce positive affect.

▶ 01:42
3
Assess ultrasonic vocalization response

Record and analyze 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations before and after procedures such as injection to quantify positive affective states in tickled versus control rats.

▶ 04:00
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