Management, Husbandry, and Colony Health

Levin, Stephen I.; Berger, Diana M. Palila; Gluckman, Tracy L.

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-380920-9.00040-7

Cited by 3 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…LABORATORY ANIMAL MEDICINE floor space or height requirements for housing chinchillas, but recommendations from the pet trade suggest approximately 1-2 ft 2 (0.1-0.2 m 2 ) per animal and 12 in (30 cm) of cage height is adequate (Levin et al, 2012). Chinchillas are very agile and will exhibit jumping and climbing behaviors given the opportunity.…”

Section: Availability and Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wood products containing aromatic hydrocarbons, such as pine shavings, may affect drug metabolism or predispose to respiratory problems and should be avoided (Levin et al, 2012;Harkness et al, 2010). Wood products containing aromatic hydrocarbons, such as pine shavings, may affect drug metabolism or predispose to respiratory problems and should be avoided (Levin et al, 2012;Harkness et al, 2010).…”

Section: Availability and Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biology and Diseases of Chinchillas

Hsu

Chan²,

Wheler

2015

Laboratory Animal Medicine

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Section: Availability and Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Availability and Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biology and Diseases of Chinchillas

Hsu

Chan²,

Wheler

2015

Laboratory Animal Medicine

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“…Zoos’ educational programs may feature close interactions with ambassador animals to introduce conservation concepts (Clayton, Fraser, & Saunders, 2009; Falk et al, 2007; Myers & Saunders, 2002) or biological information (Sherwood, Rallis, & Stone, 1989), and to foster emotional connections to animals (Povey & Rios, 2002). The Saint Louis Zoo uses domesticated chinchillas ( Chinchilla lanigera ) in this role due to their appealing aesthetic, small size, and simple husbandry (Levin, Berger, & Gluckman, 2012; Snow, Mans, & Rylander, 2017). Recent studies on species used as ambassadors have investigated the effects of human contact on animals in these specialized roles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera) behavioral responses to a visual signal preceding handling

2020

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Zoos use ambassador animals in educational programs featuring close contact with humans. Chinchillas (Chinchilla lanigera) at the Saint Louis Zoo are retrieved for programs by a keeper wearing brown handling gloves, but green cleaning gloves are worn during normal husbandry when physical contact with the animal is only incidental. The chinchillas' primary keeper anecdotally reported more reactivity and movement from chinchillas when approached with handling gloves. Animals' behavioral reactions to the presence of humans often include locomotion and vigilance, but these responses may be attenuated by predictability. To investigate these behaviors, handling trials involving brief contact attempts with both cleaning and handling gloves were filmed. Results indicated that chinchillas responded to disturbances by moving, jumping, and adopting more alert body postures. Surprisingly, movement was recorded in longer durations when the keeper attempted to touch the animals with cleaning gloves. This higher arousal may indicate that the animal was not expecting to be handled, yet an attempt to do so was being made. This reaction provides evidence that potentially aversive events should be reliably and consistently signaled.

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“…The reproductive physiology of the hystricomorph chinchilla is somewhat extraordinary compared with that of other non-hystricomorph rodent models typically applied in biomedical research, and these characteristics make the chinchilla very suited for placental studies. The litter size of 1–6 cubs is small for a rodent [ 8 ] ( figure 1 a , b , d ) and very often chinchillas will carry only one offspring. Furthermore, the gestation period of 105–115 days [ 8 ] is long compared with other established rodent models, such as the guinea pig (59–72 days [ 9 ]), rat (21–23 days [ 10 ]), mouse (19–20 days [ 11 ]), hamster (15.5 days [ 12 ]) and even the approximately threefold larger lagomorph rabbit (29–35 days [ 13 ]; figure 1 a , c , d ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The litter size of 1–6 cubs is small for a rodent [ 8 ] ( figure 1 a , b , d ) and very often chinchillas will carry only one offspring. Furthermore, the gestation period of 105–115 days [ 8 ] is long compared with other established rodent models, such as the guinea pig (59–72 days [ 9 ]), rat (21–23 days [ 10 ]), mouse (19–20 days [ 11 ]), hamster (15.5 days [ 12 ]) and even the approximately threefold larger lagomorph rabbit (29–35 days [ 13 ]; figure 1 a , c , d ). The relatively long gestation period allows higher temporal investigations of the placenta and the fetus, and the small litter size circumvents the challenge of pairing individual measurements on the placenta and fetus over time in longitudinal experiments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The chinchilla as a novel animal model of pregnancy

et al. 2017

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Several parameters are important when choosing the most appropriate animal to model human obstetrics, including gestation period, number of fetuses per gestation and placental structure. The domesticated long-tailed chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera) is a well-suited and appropriate animal model of pregnancy that often will carry only one offspring and has a long gestation period of 105–115 days. Furthermore, the chinchilla placenta is of the haemomonochorial labyrinthine type and is therefore comparable to the human villous haemomonochorial placenta. This proof-of-concept study demonstrated the feasibility in laboratory settings, and demonstrated the potential of the pregnant chinchilla as an animal model for obstetric research and its potential usefulness for non-invasive measurements in the placenta. We demonstrate measurements of the placental and fetal metabolism (demonstrated in vivo by hyperpolarized MRI and in vitro by qPCR analyses), placental vessels (demonstrated ex vivo by contrast-enhanced CT angiography) and overall anatomy (demonstrated in vivo by whole-body CT).

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Management, Husbandry, and Colony Health

Cited by 3 publications

References 24 publications

Biology and Diseases of Chinchillas

Biology and Diseases of Chinchillas

Chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera) behavioral responses to a visual signal preceding handling

The chinchilla as a novel animal model of pregnancy

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