Behaviour of golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) - Vetsuisse ...

Tab.1 Correlation between the durations of various behaviours+ or - correlation r s >0.3, ++, or -- correlation r s > 0.6, +++, or --- correlation r s > 0.9, blank fields showno significant correlation.Behaviourwheelrunningresting rearing grooming wiregnawingfeeding running gnawing climbingwheelrunning- - - - - - - - - - - -resting 0.000038 + +rearing 0.000000 0.002952 ++ + + + +groomingwire0.000000 0.000000 +++ + + ++gnawingfeeding 0.000000 0.000001 0.000000 + + ++running 0.000000 0.000433 0.000132 0.000397 + ++gnawing 0.000109 0.009750 0.011624 0.000588 0.001295 0.002035 +climbing 0.000000 0.000001 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.001828The important results of the different behavioural activities are listed below.The occurrence of hydrocephalus as a main factor was never significant.Running-wheelAll hamsters used the running-wheel. The average distance was 8.3 km per day(8872 revolutions). The minimum per animal was on average 0.63 km per day; themaximum was 18.56 km per day. During the 10 weeks before the stress treatment,running wheel activity of hamsters was similar in all 4 cage sizes (F = 0.88, N = 59, P= 0.4552). The stress treatment affected running wheel activity significantly in allcage sizes. During the two days after stress treatment running-wheel activity wassignificantly higher than before and during stress treatment (Repeated Measures-ANOVA: F = 5.31, N = 45, P = 0.0068) (Tab. 2).The total percent duration of wheel-running seen in the observationscorrelated with the median of the revolutions per day measured with theChronobiology Kit (r s = 0.60, N = 58, P < 0.0001).13