Rats are a social species and single-housing, which is often associated with telemetry studies, can affect both their physiology and behaviour. To solve this, studies often use unimplanted cage mates, however this increases the cost of the experiment and the use of animals without directly contributing to the experimental outcomes. Cohousing Mode offers the unique benefit of allowing two rats, each implanted with one telemeter, to be housed together in one cage to improve welfare and reduce costs. Alternatively, the same feature can be used to implant two telemeters in one rat (>350g) to continuously record up to four physiological parameters.
Cohousing Mode is controlled using the TR190 Configurator and ConfigSoft 4.0. The two telemeters must be set to different transmission frequencies and two SmartPads are still required to collect data. The SmartPad on which the cage will be positioned is designated the Primary (1°) SmartPad and this takes over the charging of both telemeters, while also acquiring data from one telemeter. The Secondary (2°) SmartPad acquires data from the second telemeter and can be positioned up to 5 metres away from the cage.
All TR190 Configurators and TR181 SmartPads can be upgraded to be compatible with Cohousing Mode. Configurators with Serial Number >9788 and SmartPads with Serial Number >10050 are already Cohousing enabled. All 5 series telemeters can be used with Cohousing Mode.
For further technical assistance with this or any other issue, please contact ADInstruments Technical Support by clicking HERE.