[Husbandry appropriate to the species for African naked mole rats (Heterocephalus glaber)].
It is reported about the keeping of a group of Naked Mole Rats (Heterocephalus glaber; nine males and 13 females), which had been imported from Kenya in 1996. The animals are kept in a small experimental room without windows at permanent darkness, 30 degrees C environmental temperature and relative humidity above 70%. They live in a glass container, to which a collapsible system of plexiglass tubes is connected. The moles are daily fed ad libitum with different fresh root crops. Until today three adult animals of the colony have died (tooth problems; bite injuries; parturition complication). The first queen of the colony had three litters with altogether 10 puppies, of which four are still alive. It died during its last litter caused by a complicated stillbirth. The female established after that as new queen in the colony had up to now only one litter with two puppies, which did not survive. The evaluation of the motor activity of the naked mole rats - continously recorded by video techniques - showed the period length of their circadian activity rhythm on the average with 24 h 13.5 +/- 14.4 min. It is supposed that the activity of the mole rats is regulated by the alteration of the local earth magnet field running in a 24-h rhythm.
Petry
H
H
Institut für Physiologie, Physiologische Chemie und Tierernährung Tierärztliche Fakultät der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München. hpetry@tiph.vetmed.uni-muenchen.de
D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000254:growth & development*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006799:Housing, Animal; D008297:Male; D019577:Mole Rats / Q000502:physiology*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D012931:Social Environment; D016019:Survival Analysis